Ornamentation
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Introduction
In music, many techniques and ways are not necessary to the structure, harmony, or melody. Ornamentation applied in music to add some extra-musical texture. These methods or establishments incorporated in music to add taste are known as ornamentation. They are only for decoration; however, they can be extremely effective when applied correctly. This method was initially loved, Baroque composers. They, however, say it as a way of moving away from intellectual music since ornamentation was encouraging composition through an emotional response. Ornamentation assisted in drawing listeners by creating moments of tension, emotion, and release; hence was full of textures.
Ornamentation in Eighteenth-Century (1750-1800)
Many profound changes that have taken place over time are fascinating. The changes in guitar during the late eighteen-century point at the intriguing transition seen in instrumental history. Guitar existed before 1750, as was referred to as Barogue guitar, which is very different from the guitar, we have today (Copeland, 2012). The initial guitar was smaller with high pitch and was used predominantly for accompaniments by chord strumming between 1750-1800. However, the guitar went some transformation that prompted the design and unique performance currently seen in music, having lowered pitch and large (Copeland, 2012). Through discussing the instrument that existed in 1750 and the changes that have been seen, it is possible to deduce that the instrument discussed is the one that has brought all these changes. The changes in guitar have, however, influenced the ornamentation and have prompted the understanding of instruments and ornamentation (Copeland, 2012). The nineteenth-century remains the most productive period for guitar hence created a better understanding of performance and the use of ornamentation that acted as insight composers and players of the current music (Copeland, 2012).
The nineteenth century was the year of massive production and understanding of ornamentation and performance in the guitar. This year provided insight for many players and composers to fertile the ornamentation. The approach was instrumental, although there was much music printed letter. A substantial number of the guitar was built during the half-century and a guitar with an instruction manual (Shaw and Auner, 2010). It was made with an instruction manual purely examined for solo guitar together with other instruments. However, more exploration came in 1750-1800. During the examination, the guitar instruction manual enhanced the understanding regarding the technique of which letter became the cornerstone of the nineteen-century mode of guitar performance practice (Copeland, 2012).
Blocked chords
Before 1750, guitars used texture and ornamentation. Textures like rasqueados, counterpoint, homophonic combinations, single-note lines, melodies, and blocked chords were at the center of embellishment. However, some of these textures are still used up-to-date. Significant changes did not take center stage in the use of blocked chords. The examination of the guitar manual during 1750-1800 reveals the steady application of blocked chords in different types of guitars (Copeland, 2012). However, blocked chords were not used in conjunction with other voices or instruments since arpeggios were the preferred texture. The only author who mentioned blocked chords is Gatayes denoting all the chords that were being played at once.
It is, however, not surprising that different players are continuously strumming the chords despite being strange in resgueando practices. Players had the opportunity to employ different techniques and mixtures that were available but also practiced the arpeggiated chords. The continuous use of various techniques made resgueados to be outdated as many players opted for strum chords placed in a simple blocked chord style. These preferences were affected by influence from a different instrument like the harp that greatly arpeggiated chords without using rasqueado techniques or the national taste.
Slurs
The manual of the nineteenth century indicates different types of slurs with varying ways of interpreting them. The most common term slur is in French manual called coule. The description indicates it was used for both ascending and descending slurs incorporating glissandos (Giraldo and Ramirez, 2016). The term is not explained, but readers understand it as legato that is infinite of the term couler meaning flow (Copeland, 2012). The word is used to describe a different type of legato; in Charles Doisy’s manual, the author gives a description of the legato as a liaison. This term is not only used to denote legato articulation but a general criterion of grouping note together like tied ropes in syncopations (Kim et al., 2016). Different author’s works have used the term liaison with the definition going beyond legato articulation.
Tremolo
Tremolo is a technique that was widely used in 1800, with many pieces of work utilizing it extensively. Tremolo is widely used in the music industry currently. Although many manuals not discussing it in the 1750-1800 tremolo has appeared in writing (Copeland, 2012). Tremolo is presently divided into two. First is the common one used in classical guitarist, which consists of the bass note played using the thumb, it also has three notes having the same pitch with a higher register represented by the ring, the first and the second index. The index play is dictated by the standard of guitar fingering and notation of the right hand. The notes are quickly played with the intention of producing sounds as if they are not sustained indefinitely. However, the other tremolo used currently is flamenco guitarist with has an extra note in the upper register. Flamenco uses varieties of right-hand fingering, with the most typical being the thumb note for the low and the first index for the high note in the upper register (Gómez et al.,2011). Flamenco employs different first finger notes for high and low notes when using the standard fingering notation.
Tuning
The use of four-course guitar diminished significantly during the sixteen century paving the way for the five-course Baroque guitar becoming the most influential in the music industry. The use of four-course guitar survived shortly during the nineteenth century and was slightly used during the seventeenth century (Kim et al., 2016). For instance, Juan Carlos Amar and Guitarra Espanola confirmed this assertion and even mentioned the use of four-course guitar 6. The guitar contained a four-course alfabeto chart (Kim et al., 2016). The treaties included both guitars, thus provide a suggestion that the five-course guitar did not perform better than the four-course guitar. However, close to a century, the two guitar existed together and were used side by side in different situations.
The standardization of the tuning of the Renaissance guitar had different standardization despite having some well-known turnings that were used in conjunction amongst some players. Osuna provided information about guitar with two examples; one tuning knows as the temple a Los viejos, which encompasses the four double course with the first tuning in unison to A and above middle C. The second was tuned at the middle C during the fourth –course tune octaves with G and below the middle C.
Stringing Practices
However, many peoples still ask why guitarists added the lower-pitched fifth and the six courses. The development of the metal wound bass string provided an avenue for the extension of the range guitar to a lower tassitura without many changes to the size of the instrument construction. Additional metal wound lower courses enable the guitarist to provide a more substantial base and still strum different chords with the same characters as before. The five-course guitar was slightly bigger than the four-course guitar that made it a different instrument in the music industry (Giraldo and Ramirez, 2015). The succession difference is also apparent in five-course guitar and the six-course guitar. Many guitarists in the eighteenth century had a different opinion regarding the best string set-up that eventually created overlaps and variances in instrument use and design.
. Accent and La Plainte
The meaning of the plainte appears to have changed over time. According to Corrette’s, the term plainte means vibrato. However, the term plainte resolves the upward halftone. Players, therefore, should, therefore, know that the word plainte means vibrato but changed during the eighteen century into a type of slur. Plainte is an articulation or a mechanism of ornamentation of the chordal tones. Bailleux used the term plainte in describing two different tones giving different examples of the same (Copeland, 2012). The first example indicates half tone lower neighboring the octave. The second example resolves into the third (a B). However, there is a limited explanation of this construction with limited execution information.
The term plainte translates to moan or lament. Many authors, though, give a divergent display of slurred figure on the half-tone below the chordal tone plucked on the offbeat. These concepts of ornamentation provide a reflection with many realizations diverging from the note to other related pitch moving back to the vibration or the tremor effects (Kim et al., 2016). The similarities between plainte and springer are, however, recognizable. Plainte, however, resulted in a pleasant and settling effect in the music arena. It is, therefore, vital for players to get the difference existing between vibrato and ascending slur plainte.
References
. Pearson, I.E., 2012. By word of mouth: historical performance comes of age. Performance Practice Review, 17(1), p.5.
Shaw, J., and Auner, J. eds., 2010. The Cambridge Companion to Schoenberg. Cambridge University Press.
Gómez, F., Pikrakis, A., Mora, J., Dıaz-Bánez, J.M., Gómez, E. and Escobar, F., 2011. Automatic detection of ornamentation in flamenco. In Fourth International Workshop on Machine Learning and Music MML.
Giraldo, S., and Ramirez, R., 2015, September. Computational modeling of ornamentation in jazz guitar music. In International Symposium on Performance Science STRUCTURED ABSTRACT (Vol. 2, p. 05).
Giraldo, S., and Ramirez, R., 2016. A machine learning approach to ornamentation modeling and synthesis in jazz guitar. Journal of Mathematics and Music, 10(2), pp.107-126.
Kim, M., Mysore, G.J., Smaragdis, P. and Merrill, P., Adobe Inc, 2016. Automatic detection of dense ornamentation in music. U.S. Patent 9,514,722.
Copeland, J., 2012. Ornamentation In Eighteenth-Century Guitar Music: An Examination Of Instruction Manuals From 1750–1800. Arizona State University.