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Counterpoint vs. Guitar
By Ernesto | October 29, 2007
Lately I’ve been obsessed with counterpoint. Not just counterpoint, but the idea of improvising counterpoint. As if that weren’t enough, I want to do it on the guitar!
Now, for those who may not know, having two or more lines going at the same time can be pretty tough on this beloved instrument of ours. That’s not to say it’s impossible, but it’s not a subject that’s dealt with much; at least not directly.
The most obvious source would be classical music, where many contrapuntal pieces have been arranged or composed for the guitar. Most notably, the lute suites and other pieces by Bach. And one of my personal favorites, Leo Brouwer’s Fuga. But what about improvising?
There are few books that deal with this subject. Mick Goodrick’s The Advancing Guitarist and Jon Damian’s The Guitarist’s Guide to Composing and Improvising have sections on counterpoint. And then there’s ”Counterpoint for Guitar” by Dusan Bogdanovic. This is THE book I’m looking for. Unfortunately, it costs 80 bucks, so for now I’ll be figuring things out on my own. I’ve also been searching for information on lute improvising in the Baroque era, but haven’t found much.
It’s also worth mentioning Ted Greene. While none of his published books touch on the subject, it’s obvious he had great knowledge of baroque counterpoint and how to apply it to guitar. Check out this video if you don’t believe me:
You can also find some lessons on Bach and counterpoint on the Ted Greene website and forum. And I know this is only scratching the surface of what he knew about this.
So basically, I’m picking from different sources, studying, transcribing, and seeing how I can apply it to the guitar.One thing I’ve noticed is that it’s easier to play on the guitar when the parts are closer to each other. However, this limits the range that each voice can cover. As the interval between the parts become larger, things start to get more complicated.
One solution is to use open strings. They can make the seemingly impossible possible, but I’m trying to avoid using to not have a drastic change in tone in the middle of a line.
So the alternative is to use a lot of quick finger movement and position-shifting. You’d be surprised at how far you can get away with by doing this. Still, I run into moments where I have no choice but to use an open string.
I’ll be posting arrangements and ideas I’m working on to give concrete examples of what I’m talking about. That’s it for now. There’ll be more as I go along…
Topics: Counterpoint, Guitar |
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