May 10 2009
Rhythmic Factors
I’ve often thought about the difference between a decent amateur performance and a polished professional rendition of a piece of music. The elimination of buzzes, squeaks and clicks are obvious factors, but there is more to it than that..I think a lot of it has to do with cleanness of playing, like each note and overtone getting no more or less it’s intended duration, and rhythm.
Julian Bream Masterclass
I watched an old Julian Bream masterclass recently, where a player was interpreting Granada by Albeniz. This is a piece not too hard to play perhaps, but to get it precise is another matter. By that I mean it’s one thing to play the notes, but very easy to fall into the trap of indulging oneself in the music to the extent of dwelling on notes for effect, particularly if you have visited the city of Granada itself, and fell in love with it’s beauty.
Rubato Effects
The problem with pausing on certain notes is that it’s all too easy to lose the rhythmic pulse of the piece. In his class, Bream stressed to the student that the accompanying notes, the three quavers in thirds above the melody, must be exactly on the beat. And any “melodic bending” as Bream himself put it, or rubato effects, must fall within the same rhythmic framework, and not to take any longer overall than each bar indicates.
Watch a brief extract from the masterclass with Bream explaining;
http://guitar.markantony.net/video/Bream.flv
The lesson here being that rubato effects can still be incorporated into our playing, but not to the extent of destroying the rhythmic pulse of the music.
The bigger issue is what has to be metrical. In a lot of music, for instance, the beat vs. count in a given measure is different. So something in 3/8 might be felt with one beat/measure but three counts. The result is that only a the downbeat has to be metrical. Everything else in between is up for grabs.
The prelude to Bach’s third lute suite only has really the first two beats of each measure as metrical, everything else after that is open until the next downbeat. But even with rubato between beats there should also be a sense of proportion. That is, 16th notes are faster than 8ths, etc. Proportion is maintained by playing with rubato of the beat itself rather than the notes in between.
That’s what Bream is talking about: using the space between the beats. But you also notice that he’s playing around with the beat to phrase off complete ideas.
There’s room to play around in just about anything, the key is figuring out what works best.
Hi Mark,
I believe this topic is key to understanding the basis underlying “expressive music”, or as Antigoni Goni unequivocally states, “it’s all about the manipulation of time”.
I also like Christopher’s comment that there are actually two levels of rubato going on - one with the melody, the other with the beat.
Maintaining rhythmic pulse is something all the great guitarists do, to varying degrees. In many cases, the listener’s mind may even believe they are playing to some steady rhythm, but it’s really an aural illusion.
Regards,
Moo.
Thanks Christopher and Moo, for your comments. I like Antigoni Goni’s comment, I’d be interested in it’s source…
Mark, this is from her interview with Theresa Wassily Saba in the Feb. 2002 issue of “Classical Guitar”. It is one of three insightful interviews that can be found on http://www.antigonigoni.com
[Not that easy to find: Click 'Skip Intro' once you're in; click 6th square 'Career' on navigation bar, then click 'Interviews'. Goni's response is to the question re: who she first studied with before coming to London. Interesting that the "time" revelation came from her studies under Bream!]
I find all Goni’s comments so reassuring, and they really should be compulsory reading for people serious about classical guitar.
Regards,
Moo.