Klarinet Archive - Posting 000317.txt from 2002/10

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Help?
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2002 08:39:43 -0400

Bill Wright wrote,
>Does anyone know enough about classical guitar
>notation to help me understand this:
>
>When many consecutive measures are filled with
>1/32-notes, and these notes are beamed in groups of
>four, what do the lower-case letters "a", "m", and "i"
>mean when printed above the beams for successive
>1/32-notes?

If you're transcribing a guitar piece for clarinet, just ignore those
markings. They're fingerings for the right hand, the hand that plucks or
strums the strings.

p = thumb
i = index finger
m = middle finger
a = ring finger

The pinkie finger doesn't have a notation because it can't reach the strings
conveniently and almost nobody uses it. (Jimi Hendrix used it, but he was
from Mars.) Numbers are fingerings for the left hand on the fret board:

1 = index
2 = middle finger
3 = ring finger
4 = pinkie finger

The thumb has no left hand notation because it's the clamp, around the back
of the guitar's neck.

Lelia

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