Peter Berlind Carlson
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Scarlatti
Cross-string trills sound great when mastered, the technique itself however needs a lot of work…
In my ”Technique book” used in my teaching at the Royal College, I cover the technique over 15 pages and 58 exercises (!)
The chapter ends with this sonata.
The long trills - that are the most difficult in regards of speed - found in measures 1, 3, 7, 33, 36 and 40 can be executed with shorter trill:
Mudarra
The "Harp fantasy" by the Spanish vihuelist and composer Alonso Mudarra presented in this edition, is one of the most remarkable pieces ever written for the instrument, and over the years it has kept on fascinating players all over the world.
This edition attempts to combine the best of two worlds: on the one hand it is firmly based upon the original tabulature found in the book "Tres libros de musica en cifra para vihuela" : Seville 1546, and on the other hand it takes full advantage of modern (?) guitar fingering techniques.
In order to enhance the "harp-like" qualities of the piece, I have given it a "campanella fingering". (I will be the first to admit that Mudarra himself did not finger the piece this way, but this is the way I like it!)
This has led me to alter the octaves of certain bass-notes to facilitate the execution of the piece.
I have kept the guitar standard tuning (i.e.3rd string=G) as it turned out to be the best solution to my intentions.
This arrangement is taken from my book on technique that I use at the Royal College of Music, and ends the chapter on "Campanella fingerings.
A red, red rose
I came across this piece when one of my students – with a puzzled look upon his face – came up to me with a score given to him by the singer that he was working with and said: ”What am I supposed to do with this…" (The score was in Eb-major and consisted of the melody and chord symbols)
I had a quick look through the piece – I immedieately fell in love with it – and told my student that I the next lesson would bring him an arrangement that – appart from being good sounding (I hoped…) – also would serve as an example of various arranging techniques.
Later when the arrangement had been around for a while I knew that many people
– including myself – loved it, but HOW would it sound to a Scottish pair of ears…
I´ve never played, studied or listen closely to this type of music, and it was my first attempt to arrange in this style.
I needed the advice of someone who knew both the classical guitar and Scottish/Celtic music.
The choice was obvious: David!
I mailed the piece to my friend – guitarist and Scotsman – David Russell who replied that the arrangement: ”sounded fine” but – as I asked – suggested one minor change.
When the change was made I mailed him the new version.
The reply now read: "GOOD!"
Thanks for the b-minor David, and I hope that you´ll find it easier to sing in tune on that high D now!
The double stop trills can be given a similar treatment:
Here´s what the original Mudarra tabulature looks like
Here is the original score for A red, red rose
© 2013 by Peter Berlind Carlson. All rights reserved.