Here's 'Les Buffons' as in the Phalèse edition of 1570 and in Geisbert's
1969 trancription. Giesbert has added fingering and strumming symbols
that are not in the original.
http://www.pluckedturkeys.co.uk/PhaleseBouffons.jpg
Now some people, like (I hope I'm right in this) Monica and Martyn
think that a piece like this (and many others) might - or even would -
have been strummed. Whenever I have had a run through of this repertoire
- and pieces like this - I've never thought of strumming as first option
but something that might just be added in places.
Martin Shepherd pointed out some examples of strumming in the lute music
of the time but it would seem to be fair to say that out of the
thousands of lute pieces from this time when the lute was the
pre-eminent instrument, strumming occupies only a minute fragment. So
strumming was not a typical or common practice on the lute, it would
seem.Strumming block chords on guitars (on all strings) emerged at the
end of the 16th century (of course, correct me on this if I'm wrong!)
but playing this version of Les Bouffons with strumming would involve
the mixed strumming and plucking style that Foscarini claimed to have
invented in the 17th century.
I play Les Bouffons (and pieces like this) fingerstyle and the fingers
are in position to play the punteado,fingerstyle bits. One of the issues
of the mixed style of the 17th century is that if you do a fancy strum
then your fingers end up half a mile away from the strings and then you
have to get them back to do some fingerstyle play. Also in Les Bouffons,
in the second bar of the second section, if you are strumming, you have
to do a strum which omits the top course. That's a bit tricky to do and
the arranger didn't include the addition of another note on the top
course (fret one) which would make a simple downward strum easy to do
and hardly interrupts the melodic line such as it is.
Stuart
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