6. SCORDATURA

Tablature is considered by some music teachers to be a less than legitimate form of notation. Certainly, if tablature becomes a crutch, replacing or stalling the student’s fluency in conventional notation, the understanding of music theory can be inhibited. Tablature is, however, the oldest form of notation for the guitar and related instruments, and one in which a huge amount of literature survives. Generally, when music for guitar, vihuela, or lute is known to us through tablature, it tends to retain that form. In other words, the student preparing a performance will work directly off tablature rather than make a transcription, and so the music tends to stay in tablature. Guitarists performing lute literature often retune the instrument (usually the G string is dropped to F#) so that the lute fingerings can be followed exactly. If an approximation of period pitch is desired, a capo is used, usually at the third fret. Some transcriptions of lute music for guitar require the retuning mentioned above, but being in conventional notation, can be confusing for the student to then read. Notes on the F# string are therefore transposed up a half-step, as in this etude. Venezuela is the home of an interesting living lute tradition. The building and playing of the laud and bandurria represent a survival from the colonial era (like the singing of Robin Hood ballads in Virginia). They give us additional insight into how the lute was used to accompany singing.