MATTEO CARCASSI OP. 60: THE GUITARIST'S ANVIL

 

Roger Allen Cope, Director

(cihrmedia@gmail.com)

Island Classical Guitar, Merritt Island, Florida USA

 

      Matteo Carcassi, Op. 60: The Guitarist's Anvil

INTRODUCTION

          The 25 Melodious and Progressive Etudes Opus 60 by the classical era Italian Matteo Carcassi (1792-1853) rank as one of the major cornerstones in the progression of studies for learning to play the classical guitar. After initial study consisting of exercises for both hands a student will begin to encounter a few of these pieces. Musically they are very well balanced and offer the student a true foundation in and awareness of the demands of polyphonic music. They also offer exposure to classical style, and by extension the whole large arc of shifting performance conventions spanning hundreds of years. I’ve often posited, “What’s the difference between the music of J. S. Bach and Led Zeppelin?” Answer: Style. They’re both using the same notes but they are composed in a style irrefutably anchored in their own time and influenced by their unique culture. Music style is a worthwhile and necessary arena of music study, but for the purpose of our current objectives I’d like to set that subject aside and simply focus on these pieces for the mechanical challenges they offer in development and refinement of playing technique alone.

 

          The most obvious and successful works for development of right hand technique are the 24 Preludes op. 114 of Ferdinando Carulli, The Studio per la Chitarra op. 1 of Mauro Giuliani (the famous 120 right hand exercises), and the comprehensive (exhaustive) 230 right hand formulas by Abel Carlevaro in Book No. 2 from his method, Serie Didactica Para Guitarra. When working these pieces we are not concerned with style as much as simply playing them for the challenges presented and as a means to repeat specific finger movement patterns and acquaint the hands with unfamiliar movements. Therein, we are making and increasing muscle tone and training the hands to “remember” certain movements. This is The Work.

 

          The student should keep in mind that these pieces were written for an entirely different instrument than we now play in the 21st century. The guitar of Carcassi’s time was much smaller and used gut strings, and thus produced a far more diminished voice than our modern instrument. So we should work with this material in ways that will improve our relationship with the instrument we play now, in the 21st Century. 

          But first, consider this: Guitar playing is an unnatural act. There are no born guitar players. It has been necessary for all of us to repeat hand movement(s) until our muscles and fingers adapted to the physical requirements of the guitar and its unique musical demands. The key is athletic process; it is necessary to move the hands and fingers in ways the body has no previous reference, to move in many new ways to meet the demands. Repetition is the mother of these necessary skills so it pays to have good templates for learning the variety of required movements, and to consistently repeat those movements in efficient and varied ways. There are certainly people born with enhanced musical abilities and an intuitive understanding of shaping a musical phrase. But, there are no born guitar players. It’s the physical demands that are so foreign.

 

          Therein, the pieces found in Carcassi’s op. 60, a volume of pieces adjunct to his Method Op. 59 (though published 15 years later), offer musical demands featuring the kind of dexterity required for not only classical era pieces but a large segment of the guitar repertoire. It’s all a reminder of movements necessary to meet demands of the music, after all, and there is really no reason to be distracted from the root task – building technique. The focus should be on development of our tools, the human body and appendages. Remember, a guitarist wrote all this music so he's not writing material that is impossible to play, right? He's working formulas the instrument can do very well. This is excellent material for developing solid skills.

 

          Often, students begin the study of these pieces with etude no. 1 or by landing on one of the interior pieces for the sake of melody or ease of learning. Instead, I propose prioritizing these pieces not by their published order or familiarity but instead by working pieces grouped in similar technical focus.

 

          Throughout the many 20th century reprints and critical editions of op. 60 the order of presentation has been unchanged since the first publication by Brandus in Paris, 1851. As evidenced by the many contemporary works on my book shelf there has been no effort to align or distinguish common didactic traits with a re-order into groups of technical purpose. With a little examination we can reorder or prioritize the pieces and thus center on intense specific development through targeted technical formulas. Again, we are commanding the fingers and hands to operate in specific ways, repeatedly. To guitar teachers, from academic institutions through the valued private studios world-wide, I would suggest an examination of these groups. I have used these pieces in my own reaching since 1974 (50 years at the time of writing) and this long tenure is one reason I have assigned and used them by specific group with much success.

         In the same way a blacksmith works with an anvil the student is using these pieces constantly to vary the techniques and tempo, to fine tune and hone their own skills. Some have gone weeks playing a completely different module each day. The anvil serves the blacksmith with a solid foundation upon which to repeatedly hammer-form heated metals into the desired objects and shapes or to set a form. By often returning to these familiar groups of pieces a similar objective is served.

 

          Finally, when you get your own copy of this paper you'll find included insightful comments and suggestions by fellow teachers, colleagues and editors that bring new options and clarity to the process. I have reprinted the most relevant comments in notes associated with each etude. As usual we do not adopt every idea we see, hear or read, but such comments do paint a larger picture worthy of consideration.

 

          Therein, certainly these pieces have survived and thrived because they are solid works that produce the desired foundation for students of the guitar. No greater justification need be considered.