The Fundamentals of Lute Playing, Episode 44: Groppi

[@nealzshipe]

Thanks, Laudon. I did not know there was an actual term for these embellishments, cool! Great video!

[@laudonschuett3019]

@@nealzshipe thanks Neal! Hope you are doing great : )

[@callenclarke371]

I didn't know what these were called, but they are very apparent, from the first day you begin to familiarize yourself with lute playing. Your comments confirmed both my sensibilities and what I have heard from the pros. Cadences are a thing, not just in Western Music. They imply a slowing of tempo, as a way to emphasize either cessation or continuation. Thanks again for the great video!

[@laudonschuett3019]

Thank you! You will run into pieces with just tons of cadences and you will have to decide which ones to slow down and which to basically keep in tempo but there is a range that gives you a lot of freedom as a performer and I think it is really helpful to slow down at some of these really nasty "double speed" cadences....and I think it sounds better : )

[@miqbri]

I'm not sure I quite understand but maybe it's an advanced concept for me :) Why write something too fast to feasibly play in order to indicate to slow down, instead of actually writing it with longer notes? Or is it to indicate that those fast notes are still faster, but not THAT fast and overall it will stretch the time together with the following notes?

[@laudonschuett3019]

Yes, your last point is almost exactly it : ) The idea is to slow down the beat/the pulse, not just write longer notes. By writing notes that are "impossible" to play at tempo, it essentially forces the player to slow down, creating a rallentando. At the time, they weren't using words like "rallentando" or "crescendo" to indicate performance instructions and so this was a signal built into the music. Very rarely you will find some dynamic instructions. For example, in a Capirola piece (1517), he actually writes in "piano," but this is VERY rare. It just wasn't the way they were writing yet. Great question! : )

[@vanessagreen3986]

Oh I believe it is groppinineatotini though only the most sophisticated can pronounce it😂

[@vanessagreen3986]

I’m sorry

[@laudonschuett3019]

😂😂😂😂