The starting point for lute continuo learning, part 1 (Arto Wikla 1.11.1994) ===================================================== 1. Learn to read bass staff fluently and to play it musically. Play whatsoever bass lines you happen to meet. (Already this ability makes you a useful partner for a melody instrument player and especially for a consort! Already at this stage the doors are opened for you!) 2. Study the basics of harmony: you should know the 'piles of thirds' on a bass note without thinking; you should know, what a 'suspension' is; you should know, what an 'inversion' of a chord is, ... (Don't worry, at least in the beginnig you need not know all the fine points for writing 4-part harmony on a given bass. That is only a way used in music schools to prepare students for part writing etc. In real continuo with lute you will change the number of voices, sometimes you will play 'prohibited' progressions, .. Also they did that!) 3. Learn to play chords I-IV-V-I in a few keys - let's say in C, c, d, F, g, G and B flat (let the others wait for a while) - and try to find as many different ways as you can. You'll soon find out, which ways please your ear. You'll find things you alrerady know from the solo pieces you have played. And how nice is it to find out that there are names for things your ear already knows! (For ex. in C-major C-F-G-C; in g-minor: g-c-D-g, etc.) 4. Learn to make 4-3 -suspensions in your I-IV-V-I -progressions in all the keys above. (In a moment you'll hear more about numbers) For ex. in C-major: ______a_____c_____a___a_____a________ ______c_____d_____a___a_____c________ ______d_____d_____d___c_____d________ ____________a________________________ ______a_____________________a________ __________________a___a______________ Find out different ways, and let your ear choose! This is quite a job, but not boring at all, if you like your lute! The starting point for lute continuo learning, part 2 (Arto Wikla 2.11.1994) ===================================================== 5. An interval from a note to another can be expressed as an integer number; for example the distance from c to the a above it is called a sixth, 6. The numbers are counted while stepping on the notes that belong to the scale used (learn to know the key signatures!): c d e f g a 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. So you can see, how a is the 6th from c. And similarly f is the 4th from c, etc. 6. Numbers below or above a bass note signify intervals that are to be played above the bass note. The basic case, a 'default value', 5 is 3, which means that a 3rd and 5th are played with the bass. This produces a normal 3-chord on the bass note as the 'root'. The quality of the chord depends on what note of the scale the root is. For example, if the scale is major, there is a major chord, when the root is on 1st, 4rd and 5th note; it is minor, when on 2nd, 3rd and 6th; and a diminished chord, when the root is on 7th note. Don't worry, it is not necessary remember these, you'll have these chords anyhow, when you play 3rd and 5th with the bass! 5 NORMALLY 3 is not written, only exeptions to it! You can take the intervals also from the next octave, and then for ex. the 5th may be lower to the 3rd that is taken from the next octave! But the bass must be the lowest, always! It happens quite often that when the bass is on 3rd note of the 6 scale, the chord is 3, even without written numbers. See below, point 9, about these numbers. (I even use to write a 5 under the third note of a major scale, if I REALLY MEAN to play fifth in this special context!) 7. Also sharp (#) and flat (b) are 'numbers'. When they are alone, they are shorthand expressions for making the 3rd of the chord deviate from the note given by the key. So a # says: make a 3-chord, but change the third from minor to major. If written exactly it means: 5 # 3 , so for ex., if it is written under note c, when the key is c-minor, you have to play e (#3) instead of the e flat (3), and of course the default 5th, g. 8. Numbers 4-3, and sometimes 4-#3 (or also 4-#), signify that you must first play 4th on the bass, and then let it move to the 3rd. And play the 'default' 5th with both cases. This is called the 'suspension' of the third, a very important element in music from, let's say 1300-1880, and still heavily used in 'non-serious' music! An example: Let the key be c-minor (what is the key marking?), and the row of bass notes with numbers (remember: 'no numbers' -> 5 3 ): c f g c 4 - #3 # You may play: ______a_____b_____a_________a________ ______b_____d_____a_________c________ ______d_____d_____d___c_____d________ ____________a________________________ ______a_____________________a________ __________________a__________________ The starting point for lute continuo learning, part 3 (Arto Wikla 3.11.1994) ===================================================== 9. Number 6 below or above a bass note indicates that the default 5 is REPLACED by 6th note from the bass note. Also the 3rd is played. 6 So 6 is a shorthand of 3. For example, if you have a bass e with number 6, you have to play g (3) and c (6) above the bass. What you get is actually a C-major chord with its third as the bass note! (Quite often these numbers are considered as names for all kinds of so called inversions of chords; every note of a chord may be the lowest, and you will get very different effects using the same notes. The order, where the 'name note' of the chord is lowest is called root position. For a continuo player, seeing the numbers as indicators of intervals needed over the bass note, is more convenient and also corresponds how numbers were seen, when they were introduced in musical notation. Normally in music schools they teach 'structural thinking', where numbers are seen as chord position indicators. This more useful for analysing harmonies than for producing them.) 10. A couple of examples: Key F-major: f e f Key: g-minor: g f sharp g 6 6 _______________c__a___c________________________a______c______a________ _______________d______d______|_________________a______a______a________ _______________d__d___d______|_________________b______a______b________ _______________a______a______|_________________c______b______c________ __________________e__________|________________________________________ _____________________________|________________________________________ What are the names of the chords? Play this progression in all the keys you know! (So, in all the keys, play the first note of the key, then the note just below it (a half step), and finally the first note again.) Find out 'zillions' of ways of doing this in all the keys. Remember, you love your instrument, so this is not work, but fun! 11. Play the following, and write the bass and the NUMBERS on music paper: _______a____a____a____a____c____a_________a___________________ _______c____a____c_________d____a_________c___________________ _______d_________d____d____d____d____c____d___________________ ___________________________a____c_____________________________ _______a_________a____e___________________a___________________ ____________e________________________a________________________ 12. Play similar progressions in all the keys in many different ways. You can improvise or write these on tabulature paper. You are also allowed to improvise better melodies than mine above! :-) For example: ____________a____a____f____c__ _a_________a__________________ _______c_d_______c_________d____a_________c__________________ _______d_________d____d____d____d_c_a c___d__________________ ___________________________a____c_________c__________________ _______a_________a____e___________________a__________________ ____________e________________________________________________ The starting point for lute continuo learning, part 4 (Arto Wikla 4.11.1994) ===================================================== 13. Numbers 6-5 and 5-6 indicate 6th going to 5th and 5th to 6th. Examples: Key C-major: d-minor: c b c g c d g d c sharp d a d 6-5 5-6 6-5 4-# # _a___a_____________________________________c_a_______________________ _c____ d__c___a___c____|____a____a_c__d____c________d____c_____a_____ _d________d___c___d____|____a____b____a_____________a____f_e___a_____ ______________c___c____|____a____c_____________________________b_____ _a________a_______a____|____c_________c____b________c__________c_____ _____e_________________|_________________________________c___________ 14. Numbers 7-6 and 6-7 indicate movement between 7th and 6th. And as in other cases, also # and b may be used. Example: g-minor: g a g g c d g 7-#6 7-6 4-# # ____a____a______a_________________________ ____a_______e___a____a____b_____a_____a___ ____b____d______b____b____b_a___a_____c___ ____c____e______c____c__________c_b___c___ __________________________a_____c_________ __________________________________________ 15. Similarly other numbers and combinations are possible. When numbers are on top of each other, the notes are played with the bass; when numbers follow each other, they indicate a melodic movement. Some examples of typical combinations: 6 6 7 4 4 4, 5, 3, 2, and 4-#3, 6-5, 5-6, 7-6, and also combinations like #3-4-#3 are possible. 6-5 Progression 4---3 is so typical that an example is necessary: Key: G-major g c d d g 6--5 4------3 _____a____a_________a_(a)______a____ _____a____c____e_______ __e___a____ _____c____d____a____c__a__(a)__c____ _____c______________________________ __________a____c____c_(c)_(c)_______ _______________________________a____ The letters in parantheses are optional. Let them sound, anyhow, if you do not repeat them. 6 (The 4 chord on d above is actually nowadays called an inversion of G-major chord (Check why!). In earlier times it was considered more as a melodic movement, not a 'real' chord.) The starting point for lute continuo learning, part 5 (Arto Wikla 5.11.1994) ===================================================== 16. All the notes of chords need not be played with all the bass notes. Often playing all of them is not only unecessary, but even should be avoided. The more notes you play with the bass, the more emphasis that bass gets. And if every bass is important, no bass is important! The artistic estimation and understanding must govern the choice. There is one very clear case: In 4-3 (4-#3) movement the emphasis is on 4, and relaxation is on 3. So for example: Key: C-major: the common c g c 4-3 'all the notes' 'good' 'bad' ____a___a___a___a_______a___a_______________a_______a____a_______ ____c___a___a___c___|___c___a_______c___|___c_______a____c_______ ____d___d___c___d___|___d___d___c___d___|___d___d___c____d_______ ____c___c___c___c___|_______c_______c___|___________c____________ ____a___c___c___a___|___a___c_______a___|___a_______c____a_______ ________a___a_______|_______a___________|_______a___a____________ And more generally: when a dissonance goes to a consonance, the dissonance is important, and the cosonance is relaxed. 17. In quick passages - even if there were lots of numbers - only the bass line, or bass with 3th or 6th can be enough. (Some realizations of continuo line, especially for for guitar, are quite horrible: you can see how the transcriber has tried to prove that guitar can play all the same notes that a keyboard player plays. And the poor player is so involved that s/he has no time to listen to, and to react to the main thing: the voice to be accompanied!) For example, in C-major: slow version: fast version: c d e f g c c d e f g c 6 6 6-5 4-3 6 6 6-5 4-3 ___a__________________________________a_________a_________a_______a____ ___c____d____c___a_____a_____c___|____c___________________a_______c____ ___d____c____d_____d___d_c___d___|________________________d_c_____d____ _________________a_____c_____c___|__________________a_____c____________ ___a____c____e_______________a___|____a____c____e_________________a____ _________________________________|_____________________________________ 18. Let us analyze one real example of an accompaniment by Dowland: the beginning of 'Sorrow stay' from 2nd book. In a way Dowland still was writing intabulations of lower voices in renaissance style, but early baroque is very near. It is very good idea to analyze existing 'continuo realizations': you can learn lots of technique and style! __a____c_________a_______________________a______________a____ __a____a______a_____|_____f__e__c__e_____a__b_____e__|__a____ __b____a__d___b_____|_________________f__c__d__d_____|__b____ __c____b______c_____|_____e____________________e_____|__c____ ____________________|__c_____________________________|_______ ____________________|________________________________|_______ g minor the bass: g f sharp g d d b c a g numbers: 6-5 9-8 4 - #3 # 6 7-#6 The 9th is kind of 2nd. Can you see where it comes from, if you play the passage carefully? Can you see, where from the 7th comes? See the way 4-#3 is decorated! The starting point for lute continuo learning, part 6 (Arto Wikla 6.11.1994) ===================================================== 19. At the end of the 'starting point' let us have a look to different possibilities of realizing one beautiful bass line. One reason for leaving the starting point now is that for selection of what to play, we should know what we accompany: one singer (what text?), an ensamble of singers, a choir, solo instrument (loud or soft?), an ensamble of instruments, an orchestra, .... Is the music from Venice 1600, London 1650, Paris 1690, Hamburg 1700, .... But, anyhow, our ending example will be in g-minor, and let's start with a very 'normal' realization: g a b flat c d g #6 6 6-5 8-----7 # 4-#3 _____a____________a_____c_a___a_________a________ _____a____e_______a_____b_____a___e_____a________ _____b____d___________________a_____d___c________ _________________________________________________ ________________________a_____c__________________ _____a____c_______d_____________________a________ If the bass is very fast, you may play: or in 3rds: or in 6ths: __a___________a_____a____________________________a_____a__c__a_____a__ __a___________a__e__a___|________a__b__a_______|_a__e________a__e__a__| __b___________a_____c___|__b__d________a____c__|_b___________a_____c__| ________________________|______________c_b__c__|______________________| ___________a__c_________|___________a__c_______|__________a__c________| __a__c__d___________a___|__a__c__d__________a__|_a__c__d___________a__| So, not always 'all the numbers' are needed. Especially, if in this example, the melody is singing/playing in thirds of the bass, you should choose sixths, and vice versa. If the piece is slow, and you need lots of emphasis to this place, perhaps because of the words, you may play: ___a_______a___c__a___a________a____ ___a___e___a___b______a__e_____a____ And of course you may ___b___d___b___d__b___a____d___c____ 'roll' on every chord ___c___e_______________________c____ a while, if necessary. ___c___________a______c________c____ ___a___c___d___________________a____ Sometimes it is nice to play 'separee', separate the notes: 'country syle': 'style brisee': ____a___________a_____a________a________d____c_____a____c_a___a____a__ ____a_____e_____a_____b_____e__a__|____a____e_____a___b________e___a__ ____b_____d_________________a__c__|___b____d____________________d__c__ __________________________________|______________c____________________ ___________________a_____c________|__________________a______c_________ __a____c_____d_________________a__|__a____c_____d__________________a__ And finally, if the melody is resting, you have a place for your solo: or: or, or, ... __a_d_c_a___a_c_d_c_a_d_c_a___a_____a__a___a_c_d_c_c_a_a______a______ __a_______e_______a___b___a_e_a__|__a____e_____b_______a_e____a______ __b_______d_______________a___c__|__b__d_______________a___d__d_c____ _________________________________|___________________________________ ______________________a___c______|_____________a_______c_____________ __a_______c_______d___________a__|__a__c___d__________________a______ (The end of 'The starting point for lute continuo learning'. Continue continuo yourself, only the sky is the limit!)