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a) Quotes from method booksI’ve marked key points, but note these recurring points while reading the quotes:

- The recurring emphasis on changing the right hand’s position in order to achieve varieties of tone and dynamics.

- The correlation between tone and dynamics.

- Many authors compare the guitar to other instruments.

- The guitar was often said to be charming, delicate, and sweet

“But I speak, in this place, only of the manner of producing the tone … I wished to take advantage of that difference offered by the string on touching it in different places, and I established the common place of the hand at one-tenth of the whole length of the string from the bridge. At that point, its resistance being nearly as powerful as the impulse given to it by my finger, without a great effort, I obtained a clear and lengthened tone without its being violent. When I desire to have a more mellow and sustained sound, I touch the string at one-eighth part of its length from the bridge … to make the sound result from a kind of friction, and not from a pull. If, on the contrary, I desire a louder sound, I touch it nearer the bridge than usual, and, in this case, I must exert a little more force in touching it.”

--- Fernando Sor

Day 1: Tone - General Principles

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“The right hand exerts no other way of playing with expression, than first to pluck the string with clearness, creating a soft and agreeable sound, imitating as much as possible that of the best Harpsichord, and then to characterize with soul and energy all the ideas and sentiments which must be expressed by means of well-graduated Pianos and Fortes, which ought to be noticed in sound, and which produce such a great effect.”

--- Francesco Molino

“This charming and graceful instrument is capable of much execution, intense pathos and a variety of effects peculiarly its own, and is also admirably adapted as an accompaniment to the voice. An eminent composer in eulogysing the merits of the Guitar, says with much truth “that although it has not the power of some large instruments, it has a revenge in its delicate sweetness and sympathetic tones.”

--- Sidney Pratten

“As the charm of the Guitar consists in bringing out a round full tone, and varying the quality according to the style of music, or phrasing, either with energy or brilliancy, or pathos and expression, (not merely making sounds which only touch the ear, but producing such tones that shall touch the feelings) ...

To strike the strings of the guitar in a matter-of-fact way is anything but pleasing, and indeed has given many a dislike to the instrument; but to admirers of guitar even a few notes or chords well produced, or played, have an indescribable charm.

The secret of good guitar playing is to prevent jarring and twanging.

Jarring is avoided by placing the fingers of the left hand near the frets and pressing them tightly.

Twanging is caused by striking the string too violently and in the wrong direction, and also by the fingers or back of the nails coming into contact with the strings whilst in vibration. It is also necessary that the nails should not be too long as only the fleshy part of the finger should strike the string.”

--- Sydney Pratten

“Being very expressive, the guitar has a charm of its own which, in my opinion, makes it a first-rate instrument. Each string has different characteristics according to its particular thickness. By varying the touch, it is possible to obtain strong or weak, brief or long, soft or violent sounds.”

--- Dionisio Aguado

“The right hand does not have a fixed position, because of the extent that you want to sweeten the sounds to imitate the harp and to do so you have to bring it closer to the soundhole. When you want to play loud you have to bring the hand closer to the bridge.”

--- Ferdinando Carulli

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b) Plucking Regions

Guitarists of the 21st century tend to think of there being three main plucking regions; ponticello, normal and tasto. When playing 19th century music, 21st century guitarists are often conservative with varying colours, perhaps due to a mistaken belief that that was how guitarists of the era played. However, a diagram found in Sidney Pratten’s Guitar School sheds new light on this idea.

She shows that there were in fact five distinct plucking regions for the hand! The diagram is on page 4.

“To produce a mellow and sustained sound, the strings should be touched in the middle between the bridge and sound hole, and for a firm loud tone, touch stronger near the bridge, and for piano, touch lightly nearest the sound hole.”

--- Mrs. Joseph Kirkman

“It (the guitar) does not possess the capacity of sustaining notes like the Violin, nor can it, in point of power and fullness, compete with the Harp; but it combines qualities of both which, together with its extreme delicacy of tone, makes it a highly efficient instrument in the hands of a skillful performer.”

--- Otto Feder

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Pratten also describes the effect of each Example -

Pratten also shows how the Examples can be applied to a passage of music. She chose to use Sor’s Minuet no. 05 from Op.11, measures 35-40.

Within these six measures, Pratten indicates changing hand position five times. The implications of this are enormous, as it suggests that 19th century guitarists were changing colours with great contrasts and frequency.

A demonstration of this example can be found in your Day 1 link.

Your task is to apply these five Examples to the music you’re working on right away! You don’t need to be a musical expert, you can just experiment. It’s better to change colors frequently than to think you are not enough of an expert to change colors at all.

We will work together at applying these colors to the pieces you’re working on. But before we do that, I’d like you to experiment first.

Please send me:- A score marked up with tone (use Examples) and dynamic indications- A recording/video of you applying the information to a piece