The strummed-style on the five-course guitar takes on new life when the standard chord shapes from the cifra and alfabeto systems serve as more than just fixed positions played in series. The first steps in the learning process must consist in achieving reasonable fluency with at least a handful of chords; one must establish some cornerstones. Following the initial groundwork, much practical musicality is unlocked by realizing that compact melodic motifs, and even more extensive scalar passages, lie comfortably within reach. The present brief study offers six contemporary examples.
The object examined is one particular style: a technique in which all five courses are strummed while the fretting hand alters standard postures (examples 5 and 6 contain slight exceptions). Crucially, this technique does not receive explicit treatment in the didactic texts. One could say it is more accurately defined as a fruit of curiousity or induction, or a product of oral transmission.
One hint toward expansion upon the basic rasgueado harmonies appears in Amat’s Guitarra Española (1596). Chapter 4 closes with three brief pieces of advice, the second of which invites the addition of pitches to the three notes of a Major or Minor triad shape (p. 14). Sanz (1674) makes a related allusion in his discussion of falsas (dissonances), stating they may be strummed (fol. 10v). In terms of prevailing attitude, Early Modern guitar treatise writers Amat, Brizeño, Doizi de Velasco, and Sanz all suggest that the information they present be treated inquisitively and developed further.
The most pressing matter is to observe how certain of today’s notable five-course guitarists employ a flexible approach to the foundational chord shapes. In the following two examples, notice that the open prima (first string) lends a motive to tonics D Major (second fret to open, first example) and D Minor (first fret to open, second example). In the interest of clarity and concision, chords will be called by the letter names of the Major/Minor Tonal system. Any resulting dominant seventh chords will not be treated as separate harmonies, but rather as alterations to the Major or Minor triad.
Example 1.- Link Anibal Soriano, «Villanos»
Example 2.- Link Daniel and Pablo Zapico, «Jácaras»
In example 3, D Minor gains some additional texture by way of oscillation not only between the first-fret and open prima, but also between the second-fret and open third course. On the penultimate note of the typical La-So-Fa-Mi descending bass line, the prima again sounds open, resulting in an alteration to the G Minor triad. The same harmony occurs in example 2.
Example 3.- Link Cristian Gutiérrez, «Jácaras» (note: the passage in question begins at 00:01:57).
Example 4 shows how repeated motivic alterations to open-position harmonies might support the rhythmic discourse of a strummed-style piece. The following table shows the successive harmonies of example 4, and which alterations are made throughout the same.
| Chord | Alteration |
| A Minor | Open second course, open fourth course. |
| G Major | First-fret prima, open prima, first-fret second course. |
| C Major | First-fret prima, third-fret second course, third-fret fourth course. |
| D Minor | Open prima. |
| E Major | Second-fret third course, open fifth course. |
Example 4.- Link Xavier Díaz Latorre, «Tarantella» (note: the first thirty seconds of the recording suffice to study the alterations.)
In example 5, one notes the effect of a melody, set mostly on the prima, built homorhythmically into a strummed-style passage. In addition to the G Major shape being altered by way of the open prima, it is subsequently treated with a suspension from the third fret to the second fret on the fifth course. Toward the end of the second repeated phrase of the strummed-style opening section, G Major acts as a dominant seventh chord, the prima being sounded at the first fret (it is probable in this case that only the three or four highest-sounding courses are strummed).
Example 5.- Link Francisco Valdivia, «Passacaglia alla Spagnola»
Whereas example 5 shows a melody aligned homorhythmically with open chords, example 6—the furiously strummed closing flourish of a “Canarios” by Sanz—borrows melodic material, found on higher frets, from the plucked-style composition (Sanz, 1674, fol. 23r, mm. 36–47). The applications of motivic and/or melodic strumming are not limited to the open position.
Example 6.- Link José Luis Pastor Pío, «Canarios» (note, the passage in question begins at 00:22:06, and ends at 00:23:24).
Some brief explanation on these video recordings offers a glimpse at some of the many opportunities for discovery and innovation. As six contemporary Early Modern guitar specialists have demonstrated in action, strummed-style guitar holds potential far beyond looping three or four static harmonies. Historical performance practices of the strummed style remain difficult to pin down with absolute precision. While research continues, the inquisitive and adventurous performer plays an important role in keeping the discussion lively.
Lars Rosager, MA
September 15, 2023