Croton. A Method for the Baroque lute based on historial sources

Contenido Croton: A Method for the Baroque lute

I. TOOLS OF RHETORICAL EXPRESSION

1.0 Rhetoric as the guiding principle of musical performance
1.1 The improvisatory tradition
1.2 The power of consonance and dissonance: intervals, harmony
1.3 Eloquence and grammar: phrasing, articulation, punctuation, emphasis
1.4 Rhythmic inequality and tempo modification
1.5 Whispering and shouting: dynamics, timbre
1.6 Expression through movement: meter, tempo, dance
1.7 Florid ornamentation and passagework
1.8 Grace notes in 17th and 18th century music

II. INTRODUCTION TO ANATOMY & BIOMECHANICS

2.0 General considerations
2.1 Bones and joints
2.2 Muscles

III. PREPARING TO PLAY

3.0 General considerations
3.1 Mental imagery and processing: balancing the conscious
with the automatic
3.2 Motor performance and learning
3.3 Mental training 107
3.4 Repetition and ‘muscle memory’
3.5 Tactus & Time
3.6 Breathing
3.7 Body awareness and warm-ups

IV. LEARNING THE BAROQUE LUTE - Stage 1

4.0 General considerations
4.1 Tuning, stringing, and fretting the lute
4.2 Tablature
4.3 The changing right-hand position
4.4 Observing the right hand
4.5 Supporting the lute
4.6 Thumb use and playing bass lines
4.7 Use of the right-hand fingers
4.8 Arpeggios on open strings
4.9 Use of the left hand
4.10 Putting the hands together: arpeggios, bass exercises and pieces
4.11 Melodic playing: right hand only
4.12 Melodic playing: putting the hands together
4.13 Slurring
4.14 Grace notes on the baroque lute
4.15 One-voice melodies
4.16 Two-voice exercises: right hand only
4.17 Two-voice pieces
4.18 Multi-voice pieces and exercises (articulation, advanced arpeggiation)
4.19 Shifting
4.20 Additional slur exercises
4.21 Scale-type exercises
4.22 Practice routine (the art of practicing)
4.23 Additional pieces and exercises, Doubles


V. LEARNING THE BAROQUE LUTE - Stage 2

5.0 General considerations
5.1 Body movement while playing
5.2 Intermediate pieces and exercises (parallel motion, campanella, flourishes)
5.3 Bar chords
5.4 Separations, ‘raking’ and ‘brushing’
5.5 Historical fingering in the 17th century, and additional intermediate pieces
5.6 An exploration of the unmeasured French Prelude

PART VI. LEARNING THE BAROQUE LUTE - Stage 3

6.0 General considerations
6.1 Advanced pieces

PART VII. AN INTRODUCTION TO BASSO CONTINUO ON THE BAROQUE LUTE

7.0 General considerations
7.1 Guidelines for accompanying in good style
7.2 The baroque lute in basso continuo
7.3 Guidelines for voice-leading
7.4 Guidelines for realizing figures
7.5 ‘Rule of the octave’, cadences and suspensions in selected keys
7.6 Sample realizations

This book is an intensive tutor for the baroque lute, intended for those with previous experience on a lute-family instrument or the classical guitar. The emphasis is on the learning process rather than developing a large repertoire. There are a substantial number of pieces available in print edition as well as on the internet, and at each step along the way the learner is encouraged to supplement the material in this tutor with additional pieces if needed.