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. 

 

THE CLASSICAL GUITAR EXPERIENCE

Roger Allen Cope,Director

Island Classical Guitar

 661-378-0791

Easily one of the most laborious tasks in guitar playing is the change of strings. Early on we try to do it ourselves, it requires 2.5 hours and we didn't get six fresh strings on because we cut one too short after a wrong turn. Later we simply accept the process as a necessary burden that comes with the territory. At some point after we've done it enough times we actually begin to learn a few tricks and short cuts. Eventually we learn to do the work at the end of a practice session; that ensures a fresh sound when we play next time. Fresh strings need time to run-in, so sitting for a while at full tension is a good thing.

Obviously the classical guitar has a few quirks that make string changes - shall we say, special. First, we don't have the balled ends like you see on steel string acoustic guitars - you know, where you pull the pin out of the bridge, run the balled end down the hole then jam the pin back in and pull the string taut. That only leaves fixing up at the tuning pegs on the head stock, and there's even enough time left over to make some of those doodley thing-a-ma-bobs with the surplus string length.

Here's the set-up for a classical guitar. Take a good look at this picture.

Here you see the basic tie method of securing the string at the bridge. There are two different perspectives to consider; the basses, and the trebles. First lets talk about the bass strings, the three on the left and easiest to secure.

If you follow the path of the string end you'll see it's basically an elementary overhand knot where the bridge end of the string was pulled through the tie block then directed back toward the neck. It went under the long portion of string then directed back toward the bridge now traveling under the loop that's created by the slack. Here there's just a little bit of the free string end to work with; at this point it travels under the loop with the end laying on the back side or aft side of the tie block. By back side I'm referring to the plane with the holes. As you draw the string taut the free end needs to be laying on that surface so tension, created by the string being tightened, will be uniformly distributed to hold the end secure. If you look at the photo long enough you'll see exactly how all this works. The best part is how the string locks down the free end; because the bass strings are finished with a winding, the channels of those windings act as a locking mechanism. Once tight it won't slip on the bridge - ever.

Now comes the hard part, the trebles. This is important.

The big issue here is the fact these nylon strings have a smooth surface, much the same as monofilament fishing line. When you try to make the same kind of knot as was done with the basses the treble string likely will not hold. In fact, the end will progressively creep along while you're tightening the string and when the pressure reaches a certain point it will slip free of that bond. It will make an ugly sound, and while zipping along its path to freedom it will cycle through the tie block hole with momentum sending the string end to contact the soundboard at high speed. This will leave an unrepairable divot in the top just aft of the bridge. In fact, take a look at every classical guitar from now on and look to see if there is a tiny punch imprint aligned with the string hole in the top. It's remarkable how often this happens, but it mostly happens to people who haven't done the job enough times to realize you need to put two turns into the knot.

Here: notice the knot; it's the same knot as on the base string only the free end of string has made two turns before being fixed to the aft plane of bridge. 

As you begin tightening the string you'll need to keep an eye on this area for a short time to ensure the free end is holding and not creeping toward disaster. Slow & steady is the plan here. In fact, you can see in this photo how the first string, far right, started to slip until it finally locked in place. The second string took less time, and the large diameter third string held right away.

AT THE HEADSTOCK

The rule up on the head stock is to simply pull the slack end of string through the hole and then begin turning the tuning key. As the free end of the string comes around completing one half revolution simply tuck that free end under the taut part of string rolling onto the barrel. It locks in place after just a few more turns and that part is done. Now you just tune the string up to pitch.

Of course you can always double up securing the free end of the string. It all depends on how secure you want to feel. But usually there isn't much danger of slippage at this end. 

STRING ELASTICIY AND TUNING

All guitar strings have a certain amount of built-in elasticity. You put the new string on, tune it to the correct pitch and five minutes later it's out of tune. The string is designed to sound a certain pitch when at a certain length, but fresh strings need to stretch a little bit before they settle down and stay at one pitch.

The best thing you can do too speed up the process of running in your strings is the following: when the new strings are on and the job is finished it wouldn't hurt to play a little bit. Granted, you'll be chasing the tunning but this actually helps the string seat in it's new world.

Then, right before you put the guitar away, in the case or on the wall, put a one-half turn into each peg thus raising the pitch of each string a little above its specified pitch. This will help burn off some of that inherent elasticity. If you do that at the end of playing the process speeds up and in two or three days the string will have used up all that slack and they're ready to go when you open the case. The more times you do that the sooner the string settle down.

Also, use good tuners: These are Rodgers tuning machines.

Granted, they're pretty special and pricey to boot, but there are many designs to appeal to nearly all tastes.

While design and visual appeal are certainly characteristics to keep in mind, the priority needs to be on the ratio of turn-to-string movement. When you turn the key more than normal to get the pitch to move that should tell you right away you stand a better chance of getting the string exactly in tune with a high degree of precision. Practice with guitars at a friends house or local music store. How far does the pitch move with a 1/4 turn of the key? The key should turn quietly and smooth, and move the string pitch very gradually. Of course all that precision will cost you. I've known some sets of tuning machines to cost as much as guitars I played early in my career.

At ICGS we devote time in every session to some aspect of tuning and usually spend one entire meeting working on the string change process. It's a good skill to know well, and the more you do it the better you become. Consider: when playing a lot I changed trebles every 15 to 21 days, and basses every ten days. I watched one concert guitarist changed his basses at intermission! 

Practice helps. Repetition is the mother of all skill.