EXPLORATION ON THE NOTATION OF EXTENDED TECHNIQUES FOR THE GUITAR

EXPLORATION ON THE NOTATION OF EXTENDED TECHNIQUES FOR THE GUITAR

Can I write a piece for guitar using extended techniques and whose notation is

practical and suitable?

In the following paragraphs I shall describe briefly some of the reasons for the

growing popularity of the guitar which is mainly owed to one of the most relevant

guitar players in the twentieth century: Andrés Segovia as David Tanembaum’s

says in his essay in The Cambridge Companion to the Guitar ‘Perspectives on the

classical guitar in the twentieth century’1. Also, a short analysis of four of the most

relevant works for the instrument in the second half of the twentieth centry is

included in order to give a taste of the type of demands that composers have been

posing for the players in the last 60 years. The most common challenges that the

players are faced with are the deciphering of the several symbols that the

composers used to write the piece and the interpretation of such symbols to

achieve the right effect that they wanted. And though all the pieces analysed make

use of verbal instructions, these sometimes do not suffice to convey the message

clearly. So, the purpose of this research is, based on the analysed pieces and

literature, to explore on the sound possibilities that the guitar can offer and write a

piece whose notation is practical and that suits the language of the work itself.

The guitar has undergone several modifications throughout its history, some of the

most significant being the addition of a sixth string, and the development in guitar

construction, which led to a louder instrument that by 1800 had an important

number of adepts between composers and instrumentalists2. Along with these

physical modifications, the playing techniques for the instrument have also

evolved, though not necessarily along with the instrument itself. Many of the

techniques in use nowadays come from the second half of the nineteenth century.

1 Tanenbaum, David Perspectives on the classical guitar in the twentieth century The Cambridge Companion to the Guitar: Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 182-‐206. 2 Bonell, Carlos. The classical and romantic eras The guitar: A guide for students and teachers: Oxford University Press, 1988, pp. 131-‐140.

Francisco Tárrega, says Alexander Bollow in his book ‘The Illustrated History of the

guitar’ brought guitar technique to the point where it was a truly fine art3.

There is one player though, that deserves most of the credit for making the guitar a

popular instrument all over the world, and he is Andrés Segovia. This self-‐taught

guitarist took it upon himself to make the guitar known internationally and he is

also to be thanked for one of the most important developments in the modern

classical guitar: the nylon strings4. Although Segovia was not a follower of the

musical trends of his time, he did work with very important composers that helped

push the guitar repertory in the way that it has developed in recent years. Among

these composers it is important to mention Francisco Tárrega, Federico Moreno

Torroba, Joaquin Turina, Mario Castelnuovo-‐Tedesco, the Mexican Manuel Ponce,

the celebrated guitarist-‐composer Heitor Villa-‐Lobos, Joaquín Rodrigo and Agustín

Barrios as they dedicated many very important works to Segovia, which were later

taken as the basis for other composers to explore and develop new techniques.

However, the guitar repertory is still small in size as not many composers have set

themselves to experiment with the instrument. Many of the most important

composers of this era do not have pieces written fro the guitar, and those who

have, have not exactly pushed the instrument forward as much as they have

pushed other instrument’s possibilities.

Brief analyses of pieces

Luciano Berio -‐ Sequenza IX for guitar

Berio uses mostly fast fingerings, tremolos and flamenco-‐like rasgueados 5

throughout the piece. He rarely makes use of the ability of the guitar to play

3 Bellow, Alexander The Illustrated History of the Guitar: Franco Colombo Publications, 1970, pp. 196. 4 Tanenbaum, David Perspectives on the classical guitar in the twentieth century The Cambridge Companion to the Guitar: Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 182-‐206. 5 Strummings

‘melodies’ and ‘harmonies’ (however chromatic or atonal they may be) at the same

time. Throughout the piece, most of the material used is in ‘one’ layer, what I mean

by this is that Berio, as I stated before uses the guitar mostly for the strumming or

the plucking, although some of the tremolos do have two layers, and there is also a

short passage by the end of the piece where two ‘melodies’ are developed, Berio

does not actually take advantage of the possibility to utilise vertical and horizontal

structures together in the piece.

Nonetheless, there are a lot of interesting left hand/right hand plucking

combinations along with lots of effects and a sheer abundance of material, which

present an important number of notational challenges. The piece starts with a

‘tambora’ effect, this consists of hitting the instrument with the thumb in the

bridge whilst the left had holds a chord. This effect is called for several times in 2

different forms throughout the piece. The first one at the very beginning, and then

recalling the effect by having the chord first strummed and then played in the

‘tambora’ form.

Berio uses several repeated groups of notes, most of which are to be played as fast

as possible. There is one particular group that combines the plucking first with the

right hand with the hammering-‐on and pulling-‐off the string with both hands. This

is notated by using a second stave underneath the main stave in which the places

where the right hand is to hammer-‐on are indicated6, as shown in the extracts

from pages 2, 4, 5, 8 and 11 in example 1. Also, the duration for these short

passages is given in brackets above the first note of the group.

Example 1 – Luciano Berio Sequenza IX for Guitar

Page 2

6 Berio, Luciano Sequenza XI for Guitar: Universal Edition. 1988.

Page 8

Page 11

Leo Brouwer -‐ La Espiral Eterna

The whole piece is written for the player to demonstrate a virtuoso-‐like ability in

finger control as most of the piece, letters A and B, are written in one single layer

and there are virtually no rests, apart for the G.P. at the end of the segment. Letter

A (see example 2) is composed of several groups of notes inside square boxes

which are to be repeated as many times as the performer thinks suitable and

should be played as fast as possible. Letter B (see example 3) is similar in that a

group of notes is to be repeated several times as fast as possible, but here Brouwer

gives the duration for each group. In letter C however, there is a set of passages in

which the intonation isn’t written. A rhythm is given and the player must

improvise the notes to be played and how the will be played, giving great freedom

to the interpreter to explore his/her own abilities to create new effects.

Example 2 – Leo Brouwer La Espiral Eterna7

Example 3 – Leo Brouwer La Espiral Eterna

The composer uses an indeterminate notation throughout the piece, in order to

give freedom to the performer. In letter B, Brouwer writes a pitchless glissando

effect (see example 3), which is accomplished by sliding the thumb and the first

7 Brouwer, Leo La Espiral Eterna: B. Schott, 1971.

finger with the nails of the right hand on the string indicated. This effect is notated

with a squiggly line with an arrow whose head determines the direction in which

the string is to be scratched. And in letter C, Brouwer asks the performer to strike

the fingerboard with both hands independently. As can be seen in example 4, the

composer notates the irregular rhythmic patterns for both hands, down-‐beams for

the right hand and up-‐beams for the left hand, along with verbal instructions on

how this passage is to be played.

Example 4 – Leo Brouwer La espiral Eterna

Alberto Ginastera -‐ Sonata Op. 47

This is the only guitar piece this Argentinian composer ever wrote, his idea for this

piece, was to write a modern piece of a large size for, as he says, most of the

repertoire for the guitar was composed predominantly of short pieces without any

unity of form as opposed to other solo instruments, giving him the idea to write a

piece of sizeable proportions8.

This Sonata is written in four movements: ‘The first movement Esordio, a solemn

prelude, followed by a song which was inspired by Kecua [Quechua9] music and

which finds its conclusion in an abbreviated repetition of these two elements. The

second movement, Scherzo, which has to be played “Il più presto possibile”, is an

8 Sonata for Guitar Op 47. Alberto Ginastera. Preface. 9 The name of a people of the central Andes of South America and their languages (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quechua. Accessed 2 January, 2013).

interplay of shadow and light, of nocturnal and magical ambiance, of dynamic

contrasts, distant dances, of surrealistic impressions, such as I had used in earlier

works. Right through to the end of the theme of the laud of Sixtus Beckmesser

appears as a phantasmagoria. The third movement, Canto, is lyrical and rhapsodic,

expressive and breathless like a love poem. It is connected with the last movement,

Finale, a quick spirited rondeau which recalls the strong, bold rhythms of the music of

the pampas. Combinations of “rasgueados” and “tamboras” percussion effects, varied

by other elements of metallic color or the resounding of strings, give a special

tonality to this rapid, violent movement which thereby gains the overall aspect of a

“toccata”10.’

There is an important number of ‘unusual’ notations in this piece, by unusual I

mean that although most of these notations are common use nowadays amongst

composers, they are still a rarity in guitar music. In the first movement for

example, there are two ‘tambora’ effects11. Ginastera uses three variations of this

effect throughout the piece, one that is to played with the thumb another with the

palm, these two are presented in the first movement, and the other one should be

played with the clenched fist hitting the strings over the sound-‐hole dryly in order

to subdue all vibration12 (see examples 5 and 6). In the second movement, two

types of percussive effects are encountered (see example 7), one that indicates the

performer to play at the head of the guitar, creating a pitchless percussive sound,

this is notated by elongated diamond heads, and one that indicates that the wood is

to be hit with the knuckles. Interestingly enough, all the harmonics for the guitar

are written at sounding pitch rather than an octave lower as it is the common use

in guitar writing. This notation, gives the performer the freedom to choose where

to play the harmonic.

10 Ginastera, Alberto Sonata for Guitar Op 47: Boosey & Haukes, 1981. Preface. 11 Ginastera, Alberto Sonata for Guitar Op 47: Boosey & Haukes, 1981. 12 Ginastera, Alberto Sonata for Guitar Op 47: Boosey & Haukes, 1981. Note, p. 11

Example 5 – Alberto Ginastera Sonata for guitar Op. 47



Stepan Rak -‐ Voces de Profundis

This piece is by and large the most adventurous of all the pieces I’ve selected for

the reference of this research project. The composer uses an astonishing array of

effects ranging from the place where the string is to be plucked in order to get a

different colour or texture of sound, all the way up to the usage of additional

objects (a teaspoon), so as to get the most incredibly varied sounds from the

guitar. This piece is, in my opinion, a success in the exploration of extended

techniques, exploring on the left hand pizzicato; the different types of harmonics

that are possible in the instrument; and the use of partial left hand the pressure.

The piece starts with an instruction that tells the guitarist to pluck the string at

exactly an octave higher from the stopped note; this creates a sweet and warm

sound. The composer notates this effect as a verbal instruction to the player. Then

he inserts a rather noteworthy effect, where the player is to alternate the first and

second fingers whilst the third sustains a B-‐flat on the same string (see example 8).

This is notated by means of both a second staff where the first and second fingers

are notated and a verbal instruction. All the harmonics are notated not in diamond

heads as it is common, but instead Rak uses square and pyramid note-‐heads in

order to convey more clearly the idea that these harmonics are not the ones to

which we are used to, but are harmonics found in other parts of the strings that are

seldom explored (see example 9).

Example 8 – Stepan Rak Voces de Profundis13

13 Rak, Stepan Voces de Profundis: Musical New Services Limited, 1985.

Example 9 – Stepan Rak Voces de Profundis

The composer proposes an important number of effects in this piece creating a

lengthy list of performance instructions for all the ‘unusual’ notations that appear

throughout the score. Many of the notational problems with which Rak has dealt in

this piece, have been solved by the usage of additional staves, especially at the end

of the piece where the composer asks for the instrument to be played with a

teaspoon. Here the higher staff is used to notate the rhythmic patterns for the

teaspoon whilst the left hand hammerings are notated in the lower staff. Also, the

composer utilises different types of note-‐heads along with a verbal instruction on

how these are to be played.

Example 7 – Stepan Rak Voces de Profundis

Comments on notation

With the crescent interest of composers in exploring more and more all the

possibilities of performance, a copious number of notational problems arise. As

Kurt Stone agues in his article ‘Problems and Methods of Notation’ the elements

that were not part of music before are now shaping the factors of the musical new

language14. ‘The chief trends of this development [says Kurt] run into two very

different directions: 1) toward uncompromising exactitude and predictability; 2)

toward chance’. Those composers that choose to go in the first direction have to

deal with a serious problem: that is, the lack of precision of traditional notation.

As every characteristic of the piece needs to be carefully planned, so has to be the

notation with which the ideas are to be conveyed to the performer. Each composer

deals with this problem in their own way, creating more and more non-‐traditional

notations, in order to achieve the necessary exactitude. And although there is, or

should also be, an aesthetic value to the score, practicality must always be the first

concern, as Earle Brown says in his article for The Musical Quarterly: “The notation

and performance of new music (The “decorative” value of a score is in itself a

pleasure but I am more concerned with the possibilities of a notational system that

will produce an aural world which defies traditional notation and analysis and

creates a performance “reality” which has not existed before)”15

The continuous call of composers for new effects and the exploration of new

possibilities the guitar has brought an astonishing array of signs. But this is no

news as these challenges are the same for all the instruments and have always

existed. So, two question arise at this point: 1) should I make use of all these new

symbols that are being created? And develop my own language with this

vocabulary as Cornelious Cardew says: ‘A notation is a language which determines

what you can say, what you want to say determines your language’16; or should I go

ahead and create my own vocabulary depending on my needs and add to the

already extensive vocabulary of notation?

One thing is certain after having seen some of the most important works for the

guitar in the twentieth century, there is yet a long way to go in the exploration of

14 Stone, Kurt Problems and methods of Notation, Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Spring, 1963), pp. 9-‐31. 15 Brown, Earle The Notation and Performance of New Music, The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 72, No. 2 (1986), pp. 180-‐201. 16 Cardew, Cornelius Notation: Interpretation, etc. Tempo, New Series, No. 58 (Summer, 1961), pp. 21-‐33.

the possibilities that offer the guitar. Preparing, for example, the strings to alter

their sound; the use of different objects of various materials to achieve new

colours and textures, and in ‘Voces de Profundis’ by Stepan Rak; and the percussive

richness that can be accomplished by hitting the instrument in particular parts of

the body.

References Books Bellow, Alexander The Illustrated History of the Guitar: Franco Colombo Publications, 1970, pp. 196. Bonell, Carlos. The classical and romantic eras The guitar: A guide for students and teachers: Oxford University Press, 1988, pp. 131-‐140. Cohelo, Victor Anand Picking through cultures: a guitarist’s music history The Cambridge Companion to the Guitar: Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 3-‐12. Tanenbaum, David Perspectives on the classical guitar in the twentieth century The Cambridge Companion to the Guitar: Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 182-‐206. Articles Brown, Earle The Notation and Performance of New Music, The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 72, No. 2 (1986), pp. 180-‐201. Cardew, Cornelius Notation: Interpretation, etc. Tempo, New Series, No. 58 (Summer, 1961), pp. 21-‐33. Guitar. http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/43006. Accessed 26 December, 2012. Stone, Kurt Problems and methods of Notation, Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Spring, 1963), pp. 9-‐31. Scores Berio, Luciano Sequenza XI for Guitar: Universal Edition. 1988. Brouwer, Leo La Espiral Eterna: B. Schott, 1971. Ginastera, Alberto Sonata for Guitar Op 47: Boosey & Haukes, 1981.

Gismonti, Egberto Central Guitar: Editions Max Eschig, 1973. Kucera, Václav Diario Omaggio a Che Guevara: Panton 1971. Musgrave, Thea Soliloquy 1: London 1969. Rak, Stepan Voces de Profundis: Musical New Services Limited, 1985.

EXPLORATION ON THE NOTATION OF EXTENDED TECHNIQUES FOR THE GUITAR

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