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Polyphonic Chops
By Ernesto | January 31, 2008
I’ve been checking out a book called Method for Renaissance Lute by Andrea Damiani. In it, he makes a lot of interesting comments about playing counterpoint on the lute…a lot of which can be applied to guitar.
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Method for Renaissance Lute (english version) By Andrea Damiani. Published by Ut Orpheus. (DM 27) See more info… |
An interesting point he makes is the difference with what is generally considered to be virtuosity, and what he calls contrapuntal virtuosity.
I think most listeners associate virtuosity with speed. When you get right down to it, speed is a very obvious way to show virtuosity. That’s because it sounds difficult. On the other hand, a challenging contrapuntal piece can sound deceptively simple. Usually, only fellow guitarist and really observant listeners will realize and appreciate the difficulty in a piece like that.
This could be why many guitarists known for their harmonic prowess never achieve as high a level of fame. I’m thinking Ted Greene and George Van Eps, for example, who are mostly known for their teaching even though they play *beautiful* music. (If you haven’t already, you should really listen to Ted Greene’s Solo Guitar.)
It’s sad really, because the harmonic capabilities of the guitar still have so much unexplored harmonic possibilities…there’s still a lot of beauty to be found.
Anyway, getting back to the book: like I said, it has a lot of insight into the technique involved in playing counterpoint. There are also plenty of examples, exercises and pieces. I plan on trying them out on guitar, but unfortunately it’s all in lute tab! So I’ll have to sit down one of these days and transcribe a few things to see how it goes.
Topics: Counterpoint |
February 5th, 2008 at 3:41 am
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