Chass cob GoTo Mogarine - Royyst 2005 (ok) ‘ ALL FINGERS AND THUMBS : A new approach , By YEHUDA SCHRYER SOME time ago. while dealing with the tse of the left hand Unumb over the fingerboard (The left hand thumiy revolution. Classical Gultar. July 2003}. I demonstrated how this special technique could expand the range of the guitar's possibili fies, while [ also included a few musical exam- ples. Td like now to go one step further. through a new guitar transcription of Albeniz’s Torre Bermeja: here the left hand thumb ts being treat- ed - for the very first time - as.an equal member of the finger's family: ils use has nol been limtt- ed to the realisation of otherwise unplayable combinations. as it is often used to improve en traditional fingerings. even when they could have been possible. all for the sake of musical improvement, As a resull, the Le-Hand Thumb pops up rather frequenily. and the lefi hand's action on the fingerboard undergoes a radical transformation. Once mastered, the advantages of this new approach reveal themselves: a more Muent playing style. smoother chord connce: tions. prolonged harmonic sustain. legato con sistency et. A handful of unusual techniques have been also included in this transcription. allowing it to be closer to the original than ever before: 20 examples of such instances have been highlight: eat here, and the diligent reader vill find several more in the score itself ‘The leading principle adopted here was to try to remain faithful (o the original whenever possible, regardless of the occasional extra effort implice This goleen rule was followed even in eases when the relative quality gain was hardly noticeable, What a crazy idea. OF course. one could choose to follow the instruments ‘nature’ after all, guitar idioms sound so convincing in Spanish music that close reproduction - with all ts pains - may show little advantage at first, And yes. Albéniz had a guitar In mind when he wrote for the piano ete Subsequently. the original is often modified even when nol strictly necessary. for the sake of instrumental convenience: harmonies are thinned. notes are emtited. transposed, etc. Luckily. in niost cases. the guitar gets gracefully away with this, and indeed. the better transcrip- tions of Torre Bermeja sound convinelng enough just as they are. The trouble begins when one gels a taste of a happier solution, which by comparison makes It very hard to live with anything less (lo me any- way]. And this is no wonder, since the original time after time - proves to be musically superi- This is one of the reasons why. instead of adapting the music o the guitar, I usually prefer to adapt the guilar to the music, whenever humanly possible. In my experience, this gener- ates better musical results, while it encourages technical innovation. It is often surprising how a borrowed instrumental {exture. one which may have seemed incompatible at first, turns out to be both original and effective al the end of the day. ‘And as we all know, some of the most Inspired contributions to the instrument's repertoire were made, and are being made, by non-guitarist com posers: in many cases their relative ignorance of the ingtrument is a blessing rather than a limita- tion, since there is no danger of falling into the rap of idiomatic clichés. as they ‘think outside of the box’ by sheer necessity. The transcription ‘The following examples have been grouped by subject. al the expense of chronological order: the first group shows how some original harmonies and textures could be restored by the use of the left-hand thumb together with other special tech. niques. Afterwards the same means will be used in order to improve on traditional fingerings, enhancing chord connections. playing Muidity ete. The lefl-hand thumb will now be referred as “T or as °CT + pos.’ when used as a half bar, Restored harmonies 1) In other transcriptions a dim.7th chord ts thinned (0 a Uiad. asa recurring note (F sharp) must always be omitted. This may sound sweet enough, yet the magic Is gone. and gone ts the original harmony’s Impressiontstic dimension Here, the whole passage has been faithfully reproduced. = ch oo Ex.1, bars 102-104 é 2) In bars 82-83, the Inner voice (B flat) can now be played and sustained under the running thirds, The result is a more intriguing and richer sonority, like the original's. The left-hand thumb erates with the 4th finger half bar, and a fin- Ker substitution lakes place. Rather complex, yet possibleEx.2, bars 82-83: 3) Bars 110-111: here the running thirds én the higher voices can be reproduced together with the middle voice (B flat) that can be sustained throughout. The left-hand thumb alternates with, the 3rd finger half bar, and careful thought has also been given to {he right-hand fingering, that needs now to support a heavier load. The bass E. is now played on the 4th string which provides - with ils longer sustain and sheer power - a better foundation to the harmony, and a more convi ing drive towards the following, outburst (111). T Ex.3. bars HO-UIL: 4) Bars 30-33 are perhaps the most difMeult to. master, as the use of the LH thumb is much harder on lower positions. And if that weren't enough. a complex finger substitution goes on while the bass and the melody are being sus- tained. Note that the low F bass (bar 30) doesn’t need to be transposed an octave up. and that it ean be sustained throughout (*A*): asa resull, the D flat that follows (bar 31) sounds as an inner voice of the chord. as it really should (B+). In bar 32 a four-note F chord can now be repro: duced (*C*): its inner voices - often left out - pro- vide the ‘inevitable’ resolution to the previous B. flat and D Mat (bar 32. *D*) ; ree EX.S. bars 34-35: 6) Bars 93-94: a four-tiote chord can be repro- duced. while in most guitar transcriptions. you'll find just the bass and the top. Note that the high D ean now reverberate through bars 92-93. as in the original. EX.G, bars 93-94: 7) The harmonies at bars 78-81 can be played in Ghirds throughout, together with the bass. and tenor voiees (low D and A) Whenever natural harmonies don't ft. an artifi- clal harmonic ts coupled bya natural one. Av 0 of special interest occurs when a natural bir monte and an artificial one are produged tot er in (wo adjacent positions (*A*}: “MY and strike strings 2 and 3. while “p’ stops them in a transverse angle, reaching the two adjacent posi- tions at the same time. In another ease, a natural harmonic is coupled by a natural sound (*B4). The natural note, whieh belongs to the lower voice, should be produced as soflly as possible. allowing this ‘transgression’ to g0 ullerly unnoticed cB ae Ex.4, bars 30-33 5) Bars 34-35: the B flat on the bass ean now be held through the nest bar, thanks (o a combina- tion between the Ist-inger fall bar and the 3rd Anger half bar G4). The original harmonies below the melody line (har 35} can he reproduced as. well Ex.7, bars 78-81 Octave shifis 8) Bats 107-108; In other (ranseriptions you'll find this passage transposed an actave down. One is so used to hearing this that the original may sound peettliar at first: but in this ease sticking {o the original is of particular signifi canoe, since by nw the work has reachod its eli max. Wi ls highest note (ably 1 AesthEx.8, bars 107-108 9) THs passaye Is sometimes transcribed an octave lower: some other times it's at the original octave, yet the basses are omitted. ‘Too bad, since there is no problem reproducing the original even with @ traditional fingering, Playing the passage al speed Is a litle more difficult now, but by no cans impossible. And besides, it should be played poco rubato anyway. cm: poco rubato Ex.9, bar 49 Restored textures 10} In other transcriptions the note disposition of the arpesuiio tn the opening section is usually nudified: the lower note ts transferred to the downbeat, in order to allow *p to be the first to H0.(p 3 i 2m/a 1 )as ina typical guitar arpeg- lo, One may go happily along with this, feeling it’s easier and perhaps more natural on the guitar. But then, the original texture’s finesse is com- promised. The dilference 1s subtle, yet signifi cant Ex.10, bar 2 Luckily. sticking to the original is not a problem here, sluce it's just a imatier of retouching the right hand's fingering and getting used to having ‘on the oflteat LayPhe siepeuuio pattern doesn’ need to be mod Tie TEE thats ied now: male the eaniel shill of followed with a campanella by iis unison on the Srd string AY nfs. npvnt @@ © 1G Ex.11, bar 46 also ex.4 & 5. 12) Another example of an unnecessary modifica- tion, often seen in other transcriptions. Here is a solution that is both idfomatic and faithful to the original Ex.12, bars 64-67 13) This passage is often modilied, in order to avoid an awkward position shift that could put at Fisk its smooth flow and free resonance, An inverted hinge bar at pos. V ts the solution here suggested: note that the unison (C) Is now per formed on two adjacent strings. Mi, TO OGD Ex.13, bar 54 Smoother solutions The following examples show the same tech niques introduced before as an alternative to tra ditional fingerings. At Uhis stage Uiey are not applied in order to realise impossible combina. tions, but to enable smoother chord connections. enhance playing fluidity ete. 14) Bars 6-7: Thanks to the left-hand thumb, a Position shift can now be avaided {V to Vil), se that everything can reverberate freely, especially the implied melody’s outline that now can sing out int a more consistent way: Ficnci a 1. bars 6-7 15) The ssn principle applies = on at hang fran 55-50 wn +Ex.15, bars 55-59 16) Again, frequent position changes can be avoided: the harmony can be fully sustained and chord connections become much simpler Ex.16, bars 90-91 17) Bars 93-94: a nasty jump that can be avotd. ect: a combination of the LH thumb half bar (pos. 1 with the third LH finger half bar (pos. X¥) elim- inates it EX.17, bars 93-94 18] Like the left-hand thumb, the 3rd and 4th fir gers half bars can alternate with the other fin- gers. saving several position shifts: EX.18, bars 94-98 19) ere a slurred note a duced simultaneously In bar 84, the top note fs played and the paral- tel third is slurred, ("A%}: Uhis alleviates the per cussive character that a repeated right-hand pat- nai high speed! cars sometimes create The same idea eclioes in the next bar. where the open G facilitates a smooth no-noise lransaction to the next third id a regular one are pro- ES. 19, bars 8185 20) Finally, the high-pitched harmonies that crown the arpegaio cascade at the end of the piece show greater affinity with the original, pro. viding a touch,of bravura much in the spirit of the ending of the piece. “tt Ex.20 Qiuite clearly. this Wanseription is much more demanding than the existing ones. with all its left-hand Uhuml shifts and multiple bars, OF course. one may still prefer more traditional ver sions. and to be quite frank | would find it hard to blame anyone for that. for { myself am able to enjoy them too. providing they are well played Like any transcription, the one here presented reflects a subjective point of view. and it would be only natural If someone else chose to adopt only some of the kleas here presented, or even discard them all! In any case. I wish (o stress that there was no intention on my part to spoll anybody's fun or to blame anyone for not being ‘faithful’ enough, and to any of you that 1 may have left with that impression. | wish to apologise heartily. To those who may choose (o venture in the stormy waters of tis new technique, 1 sigiest caution and patience in the process of its learning, © 2005 Yeluwcla Schryer CNylon Guitar Strings BaZa ted Lc Ma rie DEMANDING Gurrarist! ren Pa enee eres s Lae herd Sree free a cect aed pitas : Oa ne PTT Teena