Rasgueado 1600 Guitar

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Seventeenth-Century Guitar Music: Notes on Rasgueado PerformanceAuthor(s): Sylvia MurphySource: The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 21 (Mar., 1968), pp. 24-32Published by: Galpin Society

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SYLVIA MURPHY

Seventeenth Centuru i t a rM u s i c N o t e s o n asgueado

erformanceost of the information concerning rasgueados found in earlyseventeenth-century books for the guitar containing piecesnotated entirely in alphabet tablature.The subject has hence beenassociatedby musicologistsonly with the performanceof simple songand dance accompaniments ound in these books, and almost invari-

ably dismissedwith contempt. In fact, every major composer for theguitar in the seventeenth century used rasgueadoor single chords orwhole passageswithin his works, and if the transcriber nd performerarenot to neglect this field of seventeenth-centurymusic some know-ledge of the techniqueof rasgueado erformancemust be acquired.The Spanishterm rasgueado,n the context of guitar music, refersto the hitting of the stringsof the guitarwith one or more fingers ofthe right hand.1The strike can be made either in an upwardsdirection(i.e. from the high pitchedstringsto the low ones) or in a downwardsdirection. In the case of the baroqueguitar all the five courses couldbe struck with one blow, although three or four adjacentcoursesmight also be played in this manner. Rasgueadowas known in thesixteenth century, as is shown by Bermudo's statementconcerning atuning for the four-courseguitar:

'Esteteplemasespararom-cesviejos,y Musicagolpeada: ueparaMusicade el tiempo.'2(Thistuning s bettersuited o old romances, ndstruckmusic, hantomusicof ourtime.)Surviving musical sources of this period, however, contain onlypunteado3music for the guitar, printed in fret tablature, ike that forthe lute or vihuela.4Rasgueadowas given new impetus by the inven-tion of the guitar alphabet at the end of the sixteenth century. Itappearsthat this shorthand system of notation originated in 1596when it was explained by Juan Carlos Amat in his treatise GuitarraEspanolay Vandola5 nd called a new invention. Briefly, the guitaralphabetdenotedthe more common guitarchordsby a single symbol,24


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usuallya letteror numeral.Thus rasgueadoerformance ecameasimplematterof striking he chordappropriateo the symbol.Asystem ornotatinguncomplicatedime valueswasgiven by Monte-sardon 16066 ndafter hisdateuntilwell into theeighteenthenturynumerous ublicationsmploying heguitaralphabet ppeared. romc. 1602 to 1629rasgueados usedapparently o the exclusion of punteado,after hisdatethetwo stylesareusually ombined.Amongtheextantpublications ontaining he guitaralphabetare collectionsof Italianpoemswith theguitaralphabet utno other ormof musical otationand collectionsof madrigalswith the guitaralphabetncludedas acontinuopart.There are well over fifty printedworks from theseventeenthcenturywritten for the solo guitarcontainingpiecesnotatedentirelyin alphabet ablature.This music,mainly dances,consists f chordprogressionsn simple imeschemes.Of mostmusi-cal significancere the guitarworks of suchcomposers s Corbetta,Granata,Roncalli,de Visee, Sanz,Guerau,de Murcia, o nameonlythe moreprominent,which,while basicallyn punteadotyle,makeuse eitherof the alphabettself or of rasgueadoechnique.Thustherulesgoverningthe performance f alphabet ablature, articularlythoseconcerningrnamentation,reof importancentheperformanceof the moresophisticated usiccomposedor theguitarn consider-ablequantitiesfter1630.Amat's treatiseof 1596is the sole known survivingexampleofsixteenth-centuryasgueadousic for the guitar.In the firstthirdofthe seventeenthcenturyhowever,it appearshatpunteadoechniquewas consideredheprovinceof theluteplayer, heguitarbeingmoresuited o rasgueadoerformance.nfact,between16o6and1629 heredoes not seemto havebeena singlepublication f frettablatureorthe guitar,althoughn the sameperiodat leastfifty publicationsreknowncontainingheguitaralphabetnsome orm.In1620BenedettoSanseverino rote:

'... mipare, he aChitarrallaSpagnuola,idebbauonareon ebottepiene, nonaltrimente,ercheuonandolaondiminutioni,egature,dissonaze,arebbepiuiosto uonariLiuto,hediChitarrallaSpagnuola,& diminuendoal'instrometoon solosi li viene levare l proprio,naturale, anticotile,ma anco e li toglieaffatto'armonia;alche astaa ciaschedunoivariaramanon diversimodi, econdo'habilitael suoingegno,&inquestomodo odisfarelstile,& totale sservationeelveromododisuonareasopradettahitarrallaSpagnuola.'(Itseems o me thatoneought o playthe SpanishGuitarwith fullstrokes,ndnototherwise,ecauseplayingwithdiminutions,egaturerdissonancess more uited o theplaying f theLute han o theSpanish25


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Guitar,nd n softeninguchaninstrumentotonlydoesoneremovetsownnaturalndancienttyle,butalso heharmonyscompletelyutoff;thustissufficientoreach ersonovaryhishandndifferentays, ccord-ingto hisability, ndthussucceedn thematter f styleand n alltheobservationsf thetruemethod f playingheabove-mentionedpanishGuitar.)Foscarini, hosework IIprimoecido terzo ibro ella hitarrapagnola,published . 1629under hepennameCaliginoso,s the firstknownto containa mixtureof fret andalphabetablature,ays:

'DelleSonate,ettePizziccate,onneparlo idi he anto, avendoleostepidi erabbellimentoell'opera,heperaltrorispetto;oicheo benissimoesser idi roprieelLeuto,hedellaChitara....'(OftheSonate,alledizzicato,saynomorehanhat,having ut heminmore ortheembellishmentf thework hanor other easons;inceknowwell hat heyaremore uitedo theLutehan o theGuitar... )

Whetheror not Caliginosowasthe firstto reintroducerettablaturefor the guitar,after1629a numberof worksappearedn which itwas usedextensively, ometimes o the exclusionof alphabetabla-ture,butoften in conjunctionwith it.Punteado usiccannotbe notatedby theguitaralphabet.However,it is importanto remember hatthe converse s not true; hatnot allfret tablaturendicatespunteado erformance.For variousreasons,perhaps ecausehecomposerdid notwantto burdenheplayerwiththe task of learning he alphabet,or more obviously,because healphabetwas limited n its rangeof chords,manycomposers otatedchordsn frettablaturewhich mustbeplayedrasgueado.hesechordscan usuallybe identifiedby a direction trokeplacedbesidethem,eitheranupstroke-L or a downstrokeF-.JohnComeKiss Me

I I I A

cis--TIt1

-t ... JI'7__

c I t T

In the above examplethe directionstrokesmust be distinguished romthe alignment marks. The stroke besidethe first chord indicates adownbeat, the strokewithin the last chord of the first barsimply aids26


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the reading of that chord. Upbeats in this MS. are always indicatedby stems (or entire notes in the case of notes held for a minum)standingon the top line (bar2, beat 3). Stems hanging from the topline, or minums with their stem pointing down, denote downbeats.It will be noticed that the first chord of bar 2 and the last chord ofthe extract, when struck, will be heard not with three but with allfive coursessounding. The opening chord is somewhat unusual for itinvolves the hitting of only the three inner courses.The first course(e') is clearly foreign to the chord, and the fact that the sounding ofthe fourth chord is indicatedby the letter a leads one to assumethatthe fifth course is not struck.Great care would be needed in playingthis chord to avoid hitting the outer courses. This rasgueado layingof three inner coursesis also found in Corbetta's La GuitarreRoyalle(1671).Several sources give directions for the holding of the right handfor rasgueado.Millioni, in his Secondaimpressioneelquartoibrod'inta-volaturadi chitarraspagnola Rome, 1627), wrote:

. .. si potra ncominciare sonare e sonate . . sonando on la manodestra,per6con tre,6 quattrodita,tenendoledistintealquanto'unadall'altra,acci6rendinopiuidolcezza,occandoper6tutte le corde,e sonandotr~ a rosa,&il manico ....'(... onebegins o playthesonate .. playingwiththerighthand,withthreeor fourfingers,holdingthem as distinctlyaspossibleone fromtheother, husexpressing reaterweetness,ouchingallthestrings ndplayingbetween herose andthe neck .... )

The choice of fingers with which to strike varied. Several sourcesmention the use of the thumb, particularlyin the performanceofornaments, so it seems that the thumb and the first two or threefingers were used. In the performanceof ornaments a single fingerwas sometimesemployed.A significantdifferencebetween punteadoand rasgueadoechniquesarises in the performance of ornaments. The Italian battentebooksdescribetwo, the repicco nd the trillo,which were both performed bypatternsof various complexity of the right hand, whereas punteadomusic (and music combining punteadoand rasgueadoechniques)em-ployed ornamentssimilar to those of the lute, performed with theleft hand. The repiccos described n a number of seventeenth-centuryItaliansources;many of the descriptionsunfortunatelyareambiguous.One of the clearest s that given by Pico in his Nuova Sceltadi Sonate(1608):8

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'Per far un Repicco si danno quattrobotte, cioe doi in gird,e doi in sui; aprima in gui v~ data con il medio; la secondain gir con il pollice; la terzain suiva data con il pollice, la quarta n suicon l'indice, toccando per6 soloil Cantino, e un Repicco serveper due botte.'(To play a Repiccoone plays four strikes,that is two down and two up.The first down is playedwith the middle finger, the second down with thethumb, the third up is played with the thumb and the fourth up with theindex finger, playing however only the top string, and a Repicco asts fortwo beats.)The statement that a repiccolasts for two beats is misleading, for therepiccoactually lasts for a downbeat and an upbeat -T -L- or onebeat. Thus to perform a repiccoon the chord A one wouldplay: _____M = middle fingerP = thumb

I = index finger

Othersourceswhichdescriben similar erms heperformancef therepiccoare II primolibrod'intavolaturaAnon, Rome, 1618) and Veroe acil modo d'imparare. . . la Chitarra Spagnola (Millioni and Monte,Rome, 1637). Different methods of performance were also described,of which two found in Corbetta's La Guitarre Royalle (1671) areparticularly interesting. The following passage is found in Corbetta'spreface:

'Vedrailesempiodun repiccoposto in unaCiaccona,dove la nota piu longasignificail polzo, cominciandoprima i diti poi con il polzo facendolistessoall in si e osservache le quatronote legate significanodoversifarprimaconil secondodito e poi con il primo appresso,e cosi all in sh'sotto a un tempopiu presto,e poi seguitacon i diti et il polzo.'This passage is more easily understood with the aid of the tablature inquestion (f 72).

Li ?sea-

(This rhythmicpatternis repeatedon different chords three times.)Thus the translation can be taken as:28


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'You shallseetheexampleof a repiccon a Ciaccona,herethe notewiththe extended tem s playedwith the thumb.Havingbegunfirst with thefingers,hethumb henplays he sameand his srepeatedsupbeats.Noticethat he fourtiedbeats ndicatehatonemustplaythe firstwith thesecondfinger,and the next with thefirst,andso againasupstrokes,llat a fasterspeed,andthencontinuewiththefingersandthumb.'The transcriptionof this passagewould appearas:

Ililt I1 - LLtt

The connectionbetweenthis repiccond that describedby Pico isclear.Thechord s repeatedwithinthe beat,varying he fingerwithwhich it is struck,and the predominantatterns two downstrokesfollowedby two upstrokes.n anotherciaccona(f 75) Corbettan-cludes hefollowing passage:~ ~~p~S f f f S'which he discussesagain in the preface.

'nelaltra iacconadappressoedraiun altrorepicco.. la dove vedraiseibattutedi tempodi crome,ne faraiquattrodalla erza n git e portandoamanofarai altredue battutesu laltredue Cordeprimae seconda enzatoccaraltre,dopomutandol dito sultasto arai l medesimo llealtre eiemutando l dito alle altrequattrodappresso,atteraia primabatutaorte,e le altre re,pianocosi allaltre n mutar l ditofarai l Medesimo,inochecomincieseiprime,onde roverai nf. chevol dirfortenellaprimabattutadellequattro, cosi ti riusciral repiccopiubello.'(Inthe nextciacconaou will seeanotherrepicco. . whereyou see sixquaver trokesplay fourof them fromthe thirdcoursedownwards, ndmovingthe handplaythe next two strikeson the other two courses,hefirstandsecond,withouttouching he other(third, ourthandfifth)ones.Afterchanginghefingerson thefrets,playin the sameway for theothersix (quavers),ndchanginghefingersatthe nextfour,hit thefirstquaverloudly,andthe other hreesoftly.Do thesameon changinghefingersattheother(groups f four)until hefirstsixbeginagain.Whereyoufindanf thismeansplaythe firstof thefourbeatsloudly,and n thisway you willachieve beautifulrepicco.)

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Thus a transcriptionof this passagewould appear:

~ I~)~LLt t L 1 01tIt TU5q 3: f f

This is similar to Pico's ornament in that the courses which are to bestruck are varied as part of the ornamentation.A less complicated ornament was the trillo, which involved thesimple reiteration of a chord in alternate up-down motion. Fourstrikes of the chord formed one trillo and this lasted for one beat. Thetrillo could be played by alternating the thumb and the middle finger,or simply by using the index finger. Foscarini (II primo secodo e terzolibrodellachitarraspagnola)wrote:

'Benchevi sia diversitade Trilli, & Repicchiperli molti modi di muover lamano; Io dir6, che quandoil Sonatoresi sara essercitatonel portarben lamano, & havra buona pratticadel manico della Chitara,essendosiimpatro-nito di tutte le Lettere,sarabisogno di variarancora la mano, con qualchesortedi trillo, & repicco.E circa l modo del trillo e d'avvertire,che col ditopolice, & medio si fara una botta. Peressempio.A: --T- -- che faraingir police, & in si con l'istessopolice; & similmente col medio, e questomodo di percussione rina,si dimandatrillo.Di piei& 'avvertire,che anco il trillo si fi col dito indice partendolabotta in quattro parte, cioe, se farauna minima, in quattrocrome, la primain gir, la seconda n si, la terza n giu, la quarta n siu;ma tutto si dovra farecon velocita per corrisponderal tempo delle sonate.'(Although there are many trilliand repicchi s a result of the numerousways of moving the hand, I should say that when the playeris practised nthe correct carriageof the hand, and is well experiencedwith the finger-board of the guitar, having masteredall the letters,then it will be necessaryto vary the hand with a few sorts of trillo and repicco.And concerningthemethod of trilling is the advice that with the thumb and the middle fingerone makesa strike.Forexample:A -T I- which the thumbplayswitha downstroke and then an upstroke,and similarlywith the middle finger,and this method of percussion rills, if a trill is required.Furtherit is advised that a trillo is also played with the index finger,dividing the beat into four parts,that is, if the beat is a minum, into fourquavers,the first down, the second up, the third down and the fourth up,but all must be played at the speed correspondingto the tempo of thesonate.)

As the trillo varied the music rhythmically rather than melodically itcould be used with great freedom, even on every beat of the piece.30


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Millioni (Seconda mpressioneel quarto ibro)includes the followingTenordi Napoli conpih Trilli:t t t tttIt t ttt tt tt tt t Ittttt

The transcriptionbegins:

I L j LL j I I J 11

The trillowas only rarely ndicatedn thisfashion,n most cases heauthorsimplydiscusseshe performance f the two rasgueadorna-mentsandlets the playerdecidewhen to use them.Both the ornaments escribedrequire onsiderableffortandaccu-racy n theirexecution,andthere s no doubtthatanimpressivekillcouldbe displayed y players f theguitarperformingromalphabettablature.The simplestrummingwe are likely to imaginewhenexamininghe battenteooksmaybe farremoved romthe virtuosoright-handechnique f skilledperformers. spunteadolayinggainedin popularityn the secondhalfof the seventeenthcenturymentionof theseornamentsappearedessfrequently,Corbettawritinghisoutandexplaininghemin detailandothercomposers, .g.Gaspar anz,onmittingllmentionof them.Nevertheless,heyshouldbe notedbyany performerof seventeenth-centuryuitarmusicwishing to dojusticeto thisstillobscureield.9

NOTES1The Italian ermfor the sametechniques battente.JuanBermudo,Declaracitne nstrumitosusicales,555, . 28b.3The SpanishermpunteadoItalian izzicato) efers o the techniqueofpluckinghestrings.4 Sixteenth-centuryrinted ources fpunteadousic orthe four-and ive-courseguitarareasfollows:AlonsoMudarra,Tres ibros emusicancifras aravihuela,546.Melchiore e Barberiis,ntabolaturai lauto.. libro ecima,1549.Miguelde Fuenllana,Orphenicayra,I554.Five booksfor the four-courseguitarpublishedby Le Roy andBallard(1551-56).Fourbookspublished etweenI551and1553composedby SimonGorlierandGuillaumeMorlaye.SeeD. Heartz,ParisianMusicPublishingnderHenryII.A Proposof FourRecentlyDiscoveredGuitarBooks',MusicalQuarterly,ol. XLVI,OctoberI960,p. 448.P. Phalese ndJ. Bellere,SelectissimaElegantissimaque,ovanii,1570.

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1 The first edition is no longer extant, that consultedby the presentauthorbeing printed in Gerona by Joseph Bro. The date I586 given in a letter toAmat from Fray Leonardo de San Martin (printedin a 1639 edition of thetreatise)as the date of the first edition of the treatiseGuitarraEspanola... isapparentlya misprint.The same letter revealsthat in 1639 Amat was sixty-seven years old and it is unlikely that Amat wrote this work when fourteenyears of age. For a full discussion of the work and its numerouseditions, seeEmilio Pujol, 'Significaci6nde Joan Carlos Amat (1572-1642) en la historiade la guitarra.'AnuarioMusical,Vol. V, 1950, p. 125.6 Nuova Inventioned'Intavolatura, irenze, 16o6. SeeJ. Wolf, Handbuch erNotationskunde,ol. 2, Leipzig, 1919, pp. 171-2.

7 Intavolaturafacile, Milan, 1620.8 There is some doubt as to the date of Pico's work, printedin Naples byGiovan FrancescoPace, the copy in the BibliothequeNationalebeing slightlydamagedat the foot of the title page. Machabey ('Les Originesde la Chaconneet de la Passacaille',RevuedeMusicologie,Vol. 25, No. 77-8, 1946, p. I) con-sidersthe date to be 1628,from an examinationof the copy in Paris,and fromevidencepresentedby Sartori(DizionariodegliEditoriMusicali taliani,Florence,1958,p. I12) this authoris inclined to the earlier date.9I would like to thankJohn Roberts for many helpful discussionson thistopic.

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Rasgueado 1600 Guitar