Exposition

Quarter tones: a technical approach for its practice on the violin (2024)

Isabel Guantes
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About this exposition

Since the second decade of the 20th century, violin literature has had numerous works that explore new tuning systems, and the appearance of quarter tones in the repertoire is particularly recurrent. However, there is a pedagogical deficiency in relation to the study of this type of tuning. The primary objective of this work is to provide a compilation of exercises, adapted examples and auditive tools based on the analysis of Eastern musical theories and classical methods to facilitate the understanding and learning of quarter tones, both auditively and technically. This work aims to help classical violinists in their initiation to the new music microtonal languages, for the parameters of tuning to be solved efficiently and methodically in those excerpts in which their use is required. The way to proceed with the research can be divided into two parts: the first one, which we could classify as "theoretical", includes a historical review of micro-intervallic tuning, from Ancient Greece to the present day, through several bibliographical sources, as well as an analysis of some of the most extended methods or commonly known/accepted of violin technique, and the approach to the musical theories of the Middle East with the help of Amer Shanati. The second part, which we could define as "practical", includes the design of the different exercises and auditive tools bringing in the mechanisms of the Arabic scales.
typeresearch exposition
keywordsViolin, Microtonal system, Technique, Methods, Tuning, Eastern music
date22/11/2023
published04/07/2024
last modified04/07/2024
statuslimited publication
copyrightIsabel Guantes Aller
licenseCC BY-NC-ND
languageBritish English
urlhttps://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/2398528/2613596
published inKC Research Portal
portal issue3. Internal publication


Copyrights

nametfm szy
copyrightKarol Szymanowski, Universal Edition
licensePublic domain
usagespicture
nametfm ysaye
copyrightEugène Ysaÿe, Garnier Frères Editeurs
licensePublic domain
usagespicture
nameFig. 3: Spectrum up to harmonic number 16 (Winckel, 1967:7)
copyrightFritz Winckel, Dover Publications
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nametfm notation
copyrightSibelius
licensePublic domain
usagespicture
nameTable 1: Equivalence between pitches and frequencies at quarter-tone distance from A3 to A6
copyrightIsabel Guantes Aller
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nameMaqam Rast
copyrightAmer Shanati
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nameMaqam Nahawand
copyrightAmer Shanati
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nameDolab Rast
copyrightAmer Shanati
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
namehába tfm
copyrightAlois Hába, Universal Edition
licensePublic domain
usagespicture
nameDolab Rast
copyrightDokan Bach
licensePublic domain
usagespicture
name“Anger from Neighbours”. Bar 50 (Wang, 2022)
copyrightYintao Wang
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nameMicrotonal Blues, Garth Knox (Score with annotations)
copyrightGarth Knox, Stretta Music
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nameMicrotonal Blues, Garth Knox (Score with annotations)
copyrightGarth Knox, Stretta Music
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture

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