CARCASSI OP. 60 STUDY NOTES, GROUP I Etude No. 1 in C major

 

CARCASSI OP. 60: THE GUITARIST’S ANVIL

©Roger Allen Cope

STUDY NOTES - GROUP 1

Passage work, scales and horizontal prominence

Etude No. 1 in C major

 

This etude is mostly about scalar movement along the fingerboard except for one eight measure arpeggio segment toward the end. It quickly outlines the single octave C major scale using the tonic chord pitches of C, E and G, as a starting point. In m.4 the accidental F# signals a transition to the Dominant where the same formula follows on the G major chord tones of G, B and D. This single-voice single note activity will continued exploring various tonalities, splitting into individual bass and treble call/response, and then at m.21 adding longer value bass notes changing to chordal arpeggios in m.29. At this point LH bars appear for the first time continuing through m.36. In m.37 begins a brief coda returning to the first major scale formula until ending in mm.42/43 with three block four voice chords.

The clear objective throughout is single note playing – passage work – requiring alternation of RH fingers with special attention paid to consistent timbre throughout. Generally use i and m to play the upper linear lines and sound the base notes and extended bass passages with p. This is especially important where the bass figure extends apart from the upper voice; e.g. mm.10-13, mm.15-17, m.18 and m.20. Use p to play the first note of a measure when the note is a stem-down bass.

             In the early Brandus and Schott editions, and later the Rowies edition, the composer specifies staccato. This indication is widely interpreted to mean playing detache’ or in a more detached manner rather than simply playing very short duration notes. However, the modern definition of staccato is also one technique to use here, and so too legato. There is plenty of space between the upper and lower voices for a variety of playing techniques. Certainly playing the prepared’ RH stroke is another middle-ground technique to practice here.

            At m.29 begin using RH finger placement (RHFP) or p, i, m and a on beats one and three of each measure until m.37 where all fingers remain on the string until time to play. This conditions the RH for the ascending four-note arpeggio of each new chord while ensuring there are no lingering chord tones ringing into the next chord change.

            The change at m.31 to m.32 presents the first major difficulty and requires some examination and practice to make smooth. In many editions the first finger holding the F# in m.31 must move across the fingerboard to G on ➊ and then on beat 3 of m.32 move back across the neck to play the bass G on ➍. One solution: at m.32 fix the G ➍ with 2, the C on ➌ with 3, sound the open E ➊ and then sound the last note G on ➋ using 4 – and then set a bar for the next chord.

            In addition to consistently sounding every note with equal balance of timbre and volume, practice the prepared stroke, also staccato and legato, along with a very quiet pp and clear, well balanced sound, and then crescendo to FF to acquire control all of these techniques.

OTHER VOICES

Rey de la Torre, “Apoyando on the scales produces a fuller tone; this is a good color contrast to the arpeggios, whose free strokes are naturally lighter.”

Erwin Schwarz-Reiflingen, “Take care to observe the notation of the basses, strictly

respecting their duration and accordingly damping the strings to stop them ringing on past their notated value.”

Vahdah Olcott-Bickford, “ . . . should be played slowly at first until every note is of equal intensity and smoothness, after which it should be played allegro.”

David Tanenbaum, “ . . . excellent practice for free stroke scales.

Aaron Shearer, “ . . . suggest this etude be practiced with the more-difficult m-a alternation as an alternative to i-m. This approach would strengthen your m-a alternation playing, which is often neglected, while promoting fluency in the right hand.”

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END OF NOTES

 

 

 

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