Re: Bowing Stick - practice session clip shared OT

[andy butler <akbutler@tiscali.co.uk>]

Mark Showalter wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I think you're grasping at something here but 
>it's lost in the way you are trying to communicate it.

There's been tradition going for 500 years or so of 
stringed instruments being used to play music with two
of more melodic lines. 

My original point was merely to remind of this.

Per points out that with two hands it's possible to
play 2 independent music statements.

So I'm saying that it's possible to accomplish that
same split in terms of the music , but without having 
to assign different parts of the body to different tasks.


> In the Bourree there is still a melody in the upper voice with a bass 
>line
> to accompany it. 

To me the bassline sounds like a melody.
Maybe that's because I play that piece myself.


Isn't a bass-line a musical statement?




I'm sure you're capable of finding your own example of
a guitarist playing 2 melodies.


>Perception doesn't really have anything to do with it. 

If you listened to just the bass line in the Bouree you'd
hear it as a melody. (and it even has some nice twiddles in it).

That would be perceptual shift.

Try it, it's fun.

>If you are intending to get across two melodies,
> a Fugue or Invention would be a much better choice 
>since the listener can discern two melodies ( in the case of a fugue, 
>subjects ) at once. 

Actually a within a fugue there is likely to be four simultaneous parts,
...but the terms 'subject' (and 'countersubject') don't refer to that. 
In a fugue a 'subject' is a theme which may appear in a number
of the parts. 

You're right though, the two part invention might be a clearer example.



>Still not sure what the overall point is though.

Per's was that the Stick naturally helps the player
to play 2 independent lines, and that this was for him
a big advantage of moving from guitar to stick.
I was commenting that the guitar has historically been a
multi-part instrument, designed to play arrangements 
of music that would equally suit an ensemble.



I hope I've explained,  ...what point are you trying to make?

andy