adamsangster

I'll try and get something together this weekend :)

I could possibly I'd have to double check a few facts here and there, I take it you're after classical guitar?

Unfortunately one cannot simply make a chart of possible stops because there are just so many, and each performer will have very different capabilities. The best thing to do would be to study the Kruetzer Violin Studies, look at number 23 for octaves and 30 to 37 for all other double stops. Every stop here is in theory possible, what's more difficult is to know why it's possible to move from one to another (even as a Viola player I don't really know this) I have to try it! My best advice would be: If you write a double stop, figure out what position it should be in, what fingers should be used, for the following double stop don't use the fingers that are already being used. It's SO hard to fully understand and being a string player myself I don't think even I always know which ones work and which ones don't. Often it is a case of trial and error!

Hey all, I plan to start a few orchestration classes here, I think it's really important we understand how instruments work before we write for them as composers. It's not just about how instruments work though it's about how people work, after all we are writing for people and not machines. I'm going to start off with the Violin this week and move on to the Viola next week etc. I'll also set an exercise for each week to help you understand each instrument, this is not going to be about how to orchestrate your music, but how to understand the idioms of the instruments you write for. The Violin is in many ways like any other instrument in the string family, but its small size, physics and historical prominence make it arguably one of the most important sections in any orchestra. It's a small versatile instrument, the performer can easily get their fingers round the instrument without too much stress and the physics behind the instrument make it perfect to play a major part in the orchestra. The Basics: The Violin has four strings tuned in fifths, which are E, A, D, G as shown below. Each of these strings is tuned using tuning pegs, inserted into the scroll of the instrument. Often a performer will have fine tuners too, on the tail piece, see below. The pitch of each string is changed by the performer using a finger on their left hand to shorten the string, which changes the pitch. The sound is normally produced by using the bow (in the right hand), by dragging it along the string in use which resonates said string, therefore creating sound. Each hand works fairly independently so I will look at them first independently and then show how they can be used in conjunction with each other. First of all the left hand. The range of the violin is shown below. As already mentioned the left hand is used to control pitch and often rhythm. The fingers are numbered 1 (index), 2 (middle), 3 (ring) and 4 (pinky), with 0 being an open string (without fingers). Whilst the thumb sits underneath the neck to support the instrument. Every violinist is taught specific fingering patterns so for instance a G Major scale from the lowest string would be played G0, G1, G2, G3, D0, D1 D2 D3. Notice however that the fourth finger is not used, this is because the fourth finger makes the same pitch as the next open string (in this case a D). What's important to note here is that although the fourth finger on the G and open D make the same pitch, they do not sound the same. The open string will sound much more lively and prominent whilst the fourth finger will sound much duller, it is often useful to mark in a score which would be preferable in each case, however most string players figure this out for themselves. This is only true in first position though. To make things a little more complicated, but the instrument more versatile, the performer can move their hand up the finger board into a different position. (This chart isn't actually for the violin but it's the correct fingerings nonetheless, please ignore the fret thing, the violin DOES NOT have frets). For instance the fingering for a Bb Major scale starting on the G string could be G2, G3, D0, D1, D2, D3, A0, A1 in first position. Or G1, G2, G3, G4, D1, D2, D3, D4, in second position etc. This is very important to the composer again because it means that your piece could be played in lots of different ways. To specify you want a certain part played on a certain string you can put a roman numeral above the part where I is the E string, II is the A string, III is the D string and IV is the G string. A composer might do this when he/she is looking for a particular sound, a rich resonant melody would always sound better in a higher position, whilst something that needs to be dominant is generally better in a lower position, because the higher up the finger board you are, the richer is sounds but also the quieter. Harmonics: There are two types of harmonics available on string instruments, natural and artificial. Natural harmonics are available only on open strings and follow the harmonic series. As you see below: There are also artificial harmonics available: the standard is called a stopped fourth harmonic, this is explained below. Glissandi are very easy to achieve on string instruments by moving the finger up or down the fingerboard. Trills are also very easy to achieve and notated in the standard way. Another lesser known technique is left hand pizzicato, in fast pizzicato passage the left hand can pizz the string rather than the right hand: however this should be used with care and is an advanced technique. The right hand is the bowing hand, it holds the bow and uses it create sound by dragging it on the string. The bow can be moved in two directions, a down bow (from the heel, to the tip) or an up bow (from the tip to the heel). You can mark these in a score using the following but do not put them on every note, only use them when you have a very specific bowing in mind (for instance a group of down bows). A down bow on a crotchet E. An up bow on a crotchet E. The first and most important thing to note is slurs, you can play more than one note in a bow, but bear in mind a bow is only so long. By putting a slur above a group of notes you are telling a performer to play those notes in one bow. This is key to phrasing your violin music. When the bow is used on a down bow, there will be a natural decrescendo, when on an up bow there will be a natural crescendo. Use this to help phrase your music and exemplify dynamics. Other bowing techniques included sul ponticello (sul pont.) and sul tasto. The bow is placed between the bridge and tail piece normally this is the ordinaro position or ord. Sul pont. Is where the bow is placed as close to bridge as possible, and is indicated by marking sul pont. above the passage you require. Sul pont emphasises the higher harmonics, taking the bass from the tone, creating a very particular sound. Youtube it and you can hear it for yourself. To return to the ord. position simply mark 'ord.' where required in the score. Sul tasto is the opposite, you play over the fingerboard. This emphasises the lower harmonics, but also makes the sound much quieter. Again look this up on youtube. It is indicated by again putting sul tasto in the score. Tremolo is a technique where the performer moves the bow as fast as possible, and is shown in the scores by using dashes through the stem as shown below. Other techniques: Double, triple and quadruple stops are difficult to understand. The notes required must all be available in one position. For all stops the strings must be next to each other ie a double stop on the E and G string would be impossible because the middle two strings are above the outer two strings, due to a curved bridge. Use a fingering chart to figure out what is and isn't possible. Generally, thirds, sixths and seconds are all fairly easy, but do it not move between them too quickly. Pizzicato where the string is plucked rather than bowed is easy enough. Make sure there is time to swap from arco to pizz though. Bartok pizz is where the string is pulled so far that is hits the fingerboard upon it's return. Notate it as below. Both Bartok and normal pizzicato reduce the pitch content within a note and can be used as a percussive device. Col legno, is where the wood of the bow is used to create a percussive sound on the string, rather than the hair. It is marked my putting col legno at the start of the indicated passage and normale at the end. This is a very basic introduction to Violin and strings, as I get through the string family I will reinforce and introduce some more techniques. I hope that all makes sense! If anyone wishes to try these techniques out, do the following: Write a one minute piece for solo violin, which includes, 4 double stops. 2 bowing techniques. And 2 other techniques of your choice. The piece must also make musical sense and be in any style. Post the link in the comments at any time and I'll let you know how well you've done! Let me know if there's any questions! Adam.

I'm just writing the first lesson now! Exciting stuff :)

So I know I'm VERY new here, but I think the thoughts of someone who has literally just joined may be useful for you all. I think something really useful would be some key resources and indeed lessons to help understand instrumental idioms. I may be new to this site, but years of orchestration classes are what have made me into the composer I am today. Understanding real instruments, that are played by real people is essential to anyone who plans to write acoustic music. Just looking around it's obvious to me that there are people here with real talent, but that talent needs to be backed up with solid, academic grounding. I've seen pieces that are wonderful - in theory - if the flute could play forte in it's low register or if the violin could actually play a double stop on the D and E strings. So much of the talent here needs to be consolidated with good knowledge, a composer should know the principals of every instrument and having an easily accessible page teaching people about these instruments would be very useful. My next idea is a little out there, but as a composer a live performance of my music is the best thing I could ever hope for. I wonder how many of you are also talented instrumentalist who could actually go away and record some compositions or even perform them! I'm very lucky to study in a university that is dedicated to performing student compositions, because a real person playing your music is so useful. So for you competitions why not give a prize, choose the instrumentation based on the performers on the site and then the winner gets a recording of their piece. For instance I could easily record a string quartet piece... it makes it harder with larger ensemble works I know, but in many ways composing for a small group of instruments or solo instruments is actually more difficult, so it could be a real challenge for the competitions! Just a few thoughts from a newbie! Adam

No... I'm an atonal avant-garde composer. Some interesting points here, I think it's rare tonality or atonality defines an aesthetic on its own. The Second Viennese School is a good example of a group of composers who did use atonality but their aesthetic concerns were much deeper than that. It became about purity and unity and the twelve tone system allowed for mathematically pure ideas (the strive for non-tonal purity was mainly due to the general feeling in all art forms at the time that art had to change to try and forget the first and second world wars... this created the modernist aesthetic in many art forms, not just music). You also can in no way limit atonality to these three composers, in terms of the avant-garde how about Sciarrino, Berio, Ligeti, Xenakis, Stockhausen.. but to name a few. Many of these composers chose to use atonality not to explore harmony but other elements of music. Ligeti is the classic case, he makes huge pieces all about texture and they are fascinating, Clocks and Clouds is a prime example. Berio uses atonality to explore instrumental idioms and timbres in his Sequenza's... whilst for some contemporary composers atonal harmony will always be an interest, often the use of atonal harmony is to diminish the role of harmony in a piece, because our connection with tonal harmony is too strong (not naturally, in my opinion this is a strong connection due to a social normative forced upon us). They are useful terms for harmonic analysis, but that's it. Aesthetic's should not be defined purely by musical parameters, but social, philosophical, scientific and dare I say political ideologies, hence why many composers were friends with painters of the same style... Mozart was not a classical composer because he used sonata form, he was a classical composer because he believed in the classical aesthetic and applied that to music (the classical aesthetic being one based on symmetry and formalist ideas... which were derived primarily from ancient Greece). Sorry, rant over, I hope that makes sense. Adam