Five Golden Rules For Playing Like a 19th Century GuitaristAs Observed In Method Books of the Era

By Daniel Nistico

Preface

Many guitarists might be wondering what the benefits of studying 19th century method books are. "Aren't there already plenty of method books for us that are more modern and up to date?" is a question that might arise in your mind. Yes, there are many fantastic modern method books out there, but none of them will truly take you into the mind of a 19th century guitarist.

Studying these methods can help to dramatically deepen your understanding of the music of Sor, Giuliani, Carulli, Carcassi, etc. and make playing their music fun!

I want to take away some of the pain and heartache of laboriously going through each method book one by one to find information - I personally love doing it myself ! Instead, I'll give you five different points that can help you play like a 19th century guitarist.

Table of Contents

1. Play Like an Orchestra --------------------------------------1

2. Know Thy Harmony ----------------------------------------3

3. Ornamentation is King---------------------------------------8

4. Articulation is Queen---------------------------------------12

5. Love Thy Arpeggios----------------------------------------14

Copyright 2017 Daniel Nistico. All Rights Reserved.

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1. Play Like an OrchestraGuitarists of the 19th century thought about guitar playing in an orchestral way. That is, they sought to imitate other instruments as vividly as possible.One of the biggest tools for achieving this was by varying the tone color.

Pratten goes into some great detail about this in her Guitar School.

- A diagram of the guitar's plucking region shows five distinct places to pluck.

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- A musical excerpt shows five changes of color within six measures!Modern guitarists are often afraid of changing colors so frequently

Using color in this way makes the music come to life, and can make a lot of the "dull" etudes and pieces a lot more fun and engaging to play - or at least it has for me!

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2. Know Thy HarmonyThe method books I've encountered are filled to the brim with exercises in harmony. These range from:

- Cadence patterns

- Harmonized scales, like the Rule of the Octave

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- Scales in 3rds, 6ths, 10th, and octaves

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- Exercises in modulation

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- Tables and charts of the guitar's fretboard

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You would think that I'd be describing a jazz guitar book, right? Well, I think in classical guitar pedagogy today, the value and emphasis on harmony has dropped significantly since the 19th century.

Guitarists of the 19th century were composers and improvisors, as well as performers. These many harmony exercises were probably used as tools for composing and improvising - so start getting creative!

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3. Ornamentation is KingThe number of exercises for ornamentation found in these books is just astounding. I will show you just a tip of the iceberg.Note the variety of execution displayed in many of these ornaments.

- The Trill (a.k.a. the shake)

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- The Turn

- The Slide

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- The Appoggiatura

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These ornaments were probably used in pieces a lot, even if they weren't indicated in the score.

Exercises for ornaments were often given in the form of pieces as well. Pratten provides a lovely Mazurka for practicing the slide (or glissé).

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4. Articulation is QueenAlthough many scores and editions of 19th century pieces don't indicate much articulation, that doesn't mean that they weren't using them when they played pieces. Why would they go to the trouble of writing exercises if they didn't actually use them?

As you probably already know, articulation comes in two basic forms -

Staccato: indicated as dots or sometimes dashesLegato: indicated by slur marks

19th century guitarists were using as much articulation as tastefully possible!

Pelzer not only gives examples in staccato only or legato only - they are mixed up in many different ways.

The degree of staccato and legato can also vary too - it's not always super short or super long -  there are many nuances in-between.

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5. Love Thy Arpeggios Arpeggios are found in great abundance in 19th century method books.What is the benefit of practicing them, besides just improving your right hand technique?

I think there are at least three valuable musical skills that you can develop.

1 - Arpeggio patterns were often applied to lengthy chord progressions - not just C and G

This is essentially what 19th century guitar music is - chord progressions with arpeggio patterns applied to them - so know thy harmony and love thy arpeggios!

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2 - Arpeggio patterns could indicate tempoI'm going to stray away from the showcased three method books for a moment, and give you an example from Ferdinando Carulli's Harmony Applied to the Guitar (1825). He gives us clues suggesting that certain arpeggio patterns could indicate a tempo

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3 - Arpeggios patterns were used like an ornament to add interest and variety to passages within a piece of musicSeveral 19th century guitar pieces were published in multiple versions. One example is Sor's popular Grand Solo, which was re-published by Aguado. He added many new ornaments and arpeggio patterns to the mix - his arrangement makes a great case study for seeing how ornaments, articulations, and arpeggios were added to pieces of music.

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Here are just some of Pratten's arpeggios. Observe how different they are to Giuliani's!

Conclusions:

- 19th century guitarists used all the tools at their disposal as often as possible to give maximum variety and interest to their music.

- Don't just follow what's on the score - experiment and add the resources found in method books of the era!

- Can you apply any or all of these points to 19th century pieces you're working on? I'd love to hear about it!

About the AuthorDaniel Nistico is quickly establishing himself as one of the leading guitarists of his generation. Daniel is a passionate performer, teacher, and pedagogue, and specializes in the performance practice of 18th and 19th century guitar music. His teaching and research aims to revitalize the concept of being a well-rounded musician, with emphasis on musical ideas that can lead to deeper interpretive understanding, and tools for composing and improvising.

“Daniel is one of the most gifted guitarists of his generation”--- Nicholas Goluses: Professor of Guitar, Eastman School of Music

Daniel constantly strives to promote guitar music that has not had the fortune of being widely performed, and his debut solo album Un Viaje Mistico... A Mystical Journey contains some hidden gems of the guitar's repertoire. Speaking on the inspiration for the album, Daniel says that “it is a testament to my experience learning under [teachers] Tonié Field and Dr. Donna Coleman at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.” 

“Daniel’s interpretation [of Sevilla] brings a quality that I’ve not heard in many recordings. It’s rather laid-back, unhurried, unfussy and the lines, voices and phrasing within the music are so very clear... I may even be so bold as to say this is currently my favourite recorded version of Sevilla.”--- Nicole Neal: Classical Guitar n Stuff CD Review

Daniel has performed around the world, both as a soloist, and with his wife and flute partner as Duo Vela. Daniel's goal through performance is to spread greater awareness of the scope and expressive power that the guitar and its repertoire is capable of.

"Nistico gave an outstanding performance of Nikita Koshkin’s Poe-indebted Usher Waltz ... a demonstration of technical virtuosity harnessed to a real interpretation."--- Clive O'Connel: The Age Reviewer