Medieval rockout
October 16, 2005 6:54 AM Subscribe
I'm looking for information about medieval guitar music, specifically useful scales/chord progressions, techniques, and (especially) tabs.
My goal is to become familiar enough with the sound/style/cadence of the genre that I'll be able to freestyle it. I'm just not having any luck finding this kind of stuff right now. No recording involved, this is just for practice.
My goal is to become familiar enough with the sound/style/cadence of the genre that I'll be able to freestyle it. I'm just not having any luck finding this kind of stuff right now. No recording involved, this is just for practice.
Here is a source page for different styles of Medieval music from the University of Northern Florida.
There is very little recorded medieval music. It is characterized as modal, not tonal. You can find this modes in any good music history encyclopedia, like the Larousse History of Medieval Music. But keep in mind, we don't really know what music was like outside of the church.
The lute is much more associated with the renaissance, than the medieval period, but there were stringed instruments. There are many good books about early renaissance music which give examples of tablature, an early method of writing music through finger positions, not notes. One that comes to mind is Frederick Noad's Renaissance guitar.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 8:46 AM on October 16, 2005
There is very little recorded medieval music. It is characterized as modal, not tonal. You can find this modes in any good music history encyclopedia, like the Larousse History of Medieval Music. But keep in mind, we don't really know what music was like outside of the church.
The lute is much more associated with the renaissance, than the medieval period, but there were stringed instruments. There are many good books about early renaissance music which give examples of tablature, an early method of writing music through finger positions, not notes. One that comes to mind is Frederick Noad's Renaissance guitar.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 8:46 AM on October 16, 2005
Here are a few more really good references I found.
FAQ of Medieval Music
Here is a good history of stringed instruments
Here is an early music web portal that should answer many of your other questions
Here is how early music was written
Good luck. Medieval music is fascinating.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 9:07 AM on October 16, 2005
FAQ of Medieval Music
Here is a good history of stringed instruments
Here is an early music web portal that should answer many of your other questions
Here is how early music was written
Good luck. Medieval music is fascinating.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 9:07 AM on October 16, 2005
Early harp music often sounds great on the guitar.
And MelBay has lots of interesting early-music stuff for guitar and other instruments.
posted by dpcoffin at 10:54 AM on October 16, 2005
And MelBay has lots of interesting early-music stuff for guitar and other instruments.
posted by dpcoffin at 10:54 AM on October 16, 2005
You're aware that the guitar as-we-know-it is an invention of the late Renaissance? During the Medieval period the most prominent stringed instrument would have been the lute. This isn't to say you can't find arrangements that approximate, but keep in mind it's an adaptation from one instrument to another.
There's a terrific version of The Play of Daniel that I have on vinyl using percussion and strings in authentic ways. I can best compare it to Thomas Newman's American Beauty score although it's by no means spare.
posted by dhartung at 1:29 PM on October 16, 2005
There's a terrific version of The Play of Daniel that I have on vinyl using percussion and strings in authentic ways. I can best compare it to Thomas Newman's American Beauty score although it's by no means spare.
posted by dhartung at 1:29 PM on October 16, 2005
Well, although there were certainly stringed instruments around in the Medieval period, none of them were really what we would know today as a guitar. They were fretted and played in a different manner. In the 1500's we finally see the outlines of the modern guitar, which was (at first) about the size of a lute. So most "early music" for guitar is going to be Renaissance music at the earliest, rather than "medieval" music. It wasn't until the 18th century that the guitar as you know it came into being.
A Brief History of the Guitar
Wikipedia Article
Dover Books has a great book called Lute Songs of John Dowland, which gives the voice line, original lute line, and a rewritting of the original lute line for moder guitar.
The Early Music FAQ might be helpful to you. You could also try The Early Music Network.
This guy seems to do a lot with transcriptions of early music to guitar, and will send you (hard copy) sheet music on request. Or you could do a find on this page for books on the topic, including:
Bellizzi, Jamey (1994): Music of the Royal Courts of Europe for Acoustic Guitar. Mel Bay, Pacific, MO. 107 pages. ISBN 0-7866-0084-5
Morris, Harold (1970). Early Music for the Guitar: Original Pieces from Medieval and Renaissance Sources. G. Schirmer, New York.
Noad, Frederick, The Renaissance Guitar. 1974 edition: Amsco Publications, New York. 119 pages. ISBN 0825699509. 2001 edition: ISBN 0825699509.
Hope that helps. If you're interested in the field of Medieval and Renaissance music on the whole, googling up the term "early music' will bring up a wealth of resources for you.
posted by anastasiav at 2:12 PM on October 16, 2005
A Brief History of the Guitar
Wikipedia Article
Dover Books has a great book called Lute Songs of John Dowland, which gives the voice line, original lute line, and a rewritting of the original lute line for moder guitar.
The Early Music FAQ might be helpful to you. You could also try The Early Music Network.
This guy seems to do a lot with transcriptions of early music to guitar, and will send you (hard copy) sheet music on request. Or you could do a find on this page for books on the topic, including:
Bellizzi, Jamey (1994): Music of the Royal Courts of Europe for Acoustic Guitar. Mel Bay, Pacific, MO. 107 pages. ISBN 0-7866-0084-5
Morris, Harold (1970). Early Music for the Guitar: Original Pieces from Medieval and Renaissance Sources. G. Schirmer, New York.
Noad, Frederick, The Renaissance Guitar. 1974 edition: Amsco Publications, New York. 119 pages. ISBN 0825699509. 2001 edition: ISBN 0825699509.
Hope that helps. If you're interested in the field of Medieval and Renaissance music on the whole, googling up the term "early music' will bring up a wealth of resources for you.
posted by anastasiav at 2:12 PM on October 16, 2005
Be sure to listen to quite a lot of recordings of the same song. The problem with troubador/midieval guitar and voice songs is that so little was actually written down.
Example: A Chantar M'er by the Comtessa de Dia. I have a better copy of the original score but it looks quite a lot like that modern interpretation. I've heard at least three recordings of it. The version here has an extremely different guitar part than the version here. Both of those are extremely free and unmetered, but there's a more rhythmic version with a much more prominent guitar part here, but the singer on that one unfortunately is... Well, let's just say that kind of voice must be an acquired taste. The version here takes it in a 6/8 meter but has no guitar...
There's another version of the song which I find quite sexy here, complete with some rocking hand drums, but I can't seem to find it, which is a shame, as it was my favorite of all the recordings by far. This recording has an almost identical rhythmic interpretation, a nice slow duple, but no guitar part. Still, I recommend you listen to that one. It's fairly hot.
Um, yes, I might have written a few papers on troubador music. My local music library is kind of in ruin (I'm at Loyola College of Music in New Orleans) but if you email me (stefanieh at gmail) I'd be delighted to pass along some book titles that were really helpful where I was working on essays and trying to figure out how to read the damn scores. I focused on early midieval guitar and voice music from northern spain and southern France, and that's usually the kind that gets the "troubador" label. If you're looking for the English later midieval guitar stuff, often called lute song, I can help you there too. In fact, if you don't know what you're looking for or are looking at it all, I would probably love to get all geeky about any aspect of it. Once our database is back up and running, I'll be able to pull the names of the recordings I flagged and the books that were good.
Best of luck, it's great music. Sorry if that was too much hardcore music geek for you.
posted by honeydew at 1:56 AM on October 17, 2005
Example: A Chantar M'er by the Comtessa de Dia. I have a better copy of the original score but it looks quite a lot like that modern interpretation. I've heard at least three recordings of it. The version here has an extremely different guitar part than the version here. Both of those are extremely free and unmetered, but there's a more rhythmic version with a much more prominent guitar part here, but the singer on that one unfortunately is... Well, let's just say that kind of voice must be an acquired taste. The version here takes it in a 6/8 meter but has no guitar...
There's another version of the song which I find quite sexy here, complete with some rocking hand drums, but I can't seem to find it, which is a shame, as it was my favorite of all the recordings by far. This recording has an almost identical rhythmic interpretation, a nice slow duple, but no guitar part. Still, I recommend you listen to that one. It's fairly hot.
Um, yes, I might have written a few papers on troubador music. My local music library is kind of in ruin (I'm at Loyola College of Music in New Orleans) but if you email me (stefanieh at gmail) I'd be delighted to pass along some book titles that were really helpful where I was working on essays and trying to figure out how to read the damn scores. I focused on early midieval guitar and voice music from northern spain and southern France, and that's usually the kind that gets the "troubador" label. If you're looking for the English later midieval guitar stuff, often called lute song, I can help you there too. In fact, if you don't know what you're looking for or are looking at it all, I would probably love to get all geeky about any aspect of it. Once our database is back up and running, I'll be able to pull the names of the recordings I flagged and the books that were good.
Best of luck, it's great music. Sorry if that was too much hardcore music geek for you.
posted by honeydew at 1:56 AM on October 17, 2005
Response by poster: Thanks all. I'm aware that the guitar is a fairly recent instrument but transpositions I've heard sound incredibly badass.
posted by baphomet at 6:44 AM on October 19, 2005
posted by baphomet at 6:44 AM on October 19, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Goofyy at 8:26 AM on October 16, 2005