After reading Gould and other very detailed documents on the subject I have now absorbed (and accepted!) the fact that there is no one, single, universal agreed way to write classical guitar harmonics.
For this example:
I believe the diamond E means a natural harmonic played either on 5th string (VII or XIX fret) or on 6th string (V fret). For guitar players, is this 100% clear without need for any kind of specification?
Both the chord (GBE) in the first bar and the F (sharp because of key signature) are given by Dorico as bright red. A kind soul on FBās group Music Engraving Tips told me to move these up one octave, which solved Doricoās red notes but made the composer kind of furious, prompting me to revert the notation back to his manuscript (we know the drillā¦). Still, he didnāt want to add any fret or string recommendation, mentioning that:
a guitarist that doesnāt know how to play this should go back to practice.
Same question for guitar players: is the manuscript 100% clear and impossible to interpret wrongly? If so, why did Dorico show red noteheads?
The G in the first chord and the F-sharp later arenāt available as natural harmonics AFAIK at the written octave.
Any clarification, hopefully kind and courteous, would be most appreciated.
Thank you for your time!
Have a lovely day!
The fingering in the second passage implies string designation. From the ā1ā on the F# harmonic (not to mention the ties), it seems clear he means touch harmonics ā 1st finger, 2nd fret, 1st string and the right hand touches above 14th fret to create the sound.
A bit harsh, but he does have a point. As unorthodox as it is to have harmonics notated an octave lower, any guitarist worth their salt should be able to understand both passages as the composer wants them written.
Iām not a guitar player, but as a cellist, I know my harmonics. A diamond notehead indicates where (on which node) to touch a certain string. If thereās any ambiguity as to which string (you may get a different sound), you should indicate it.
Maybe the conventions are different on a guitar, or maybe there are conflicting traditions, like on harp.
What note is played in the first example? If the diamond indicates where to touch a string, which string is it, and what sound is expected?
Actually, I suspect that this notation is different, and that it always indicates an octave harmonic (12th fret), on the string indicated by the diamond. Itās the best explanation for the GBE chord in the second example, which probably is meant to sound at the octave.
But I seriously donāt understand the F(sharp I presume). Which fret on which string, and what note should we hear? I doubt youād hear anything at all with the 2nd fret on the E. Itās apparently on the first string, but how? You canāt just play any random note as a harmonic, this will just damp the string. Or is the string detuned to F[#]?
So Iām curious. @derAbgang , can you give us more insight?
Cellist here as well, hence the confusion.
Gould documents this extensively (pp 384-88) and it seems there are several conflicting traditions, one of which notates things as we string players do.
From what I understood, for the F-sharp (yes, the piece is in E minor), pressing the 2nd fret, then touching the 14th fret (one octave above) with the RH and, with another finger of the RH, pluck, would give the above octave.
According to Dorico, the picture is wrong notation, but which one is the correct one?
I would always add fingerings, frets and strings, especially with the absurd abundance of fingerings around (basically the piece has fingerings on each note apart from the harmonics, because the player āmustā know! )
I called them ātouchā harmonics but the official term is artificial harmonics and they are created like I described above:
Finger the F# with the left hand (1st string, 2nd fret) then, with the right hand index finger, touch (like a natural harmonic) the same string, at the 14th fret and use your the angular (or thumb) to pluck the string.
One can also use the touch-technique to create natural harmonics (open string) but the harmonics are created solely by the right handāhandy when the left hand is otherwise preoccupied.
Guitarist here. The problem is that there is a long history of notating harmonics for the guitar in different ways. Some at pitch, others at the place on the fingerboard where the harmonic is created, and so on - itās a mine field! I would suggest that you notate them at the proper pitch (keeping in mind the guitar sounds an octave lower than notated). More and more the guitar is an ensemble instrument, and often it is not only guitarists who are looking at the scores; accuracy matters.
The statement that any guitarist who has studied enough should understand what is asked is true, to a point. In the examples you post, these are very idiomatic gestures, and a guitarist who has played a lot of rep will recognized them immediately. But what happens when the musical language leaves the safe confines of the traditional? In a non/pan/a-tonal piece, the context is lost, and it is really important to know what, exactly, the composer wants. Do we then have two approaches - one for traditional rep, and one for less traditional? I think not.
One other problem I see with the image in your first post: the two āEāsā should/could be played as you indicated; however, the left hand fingering suggests the E harmonic at the 12th fret on the 6th string, which would be an octave lower.
Michele, please understand this is not an attack on you! You are trying to do what is correct in terms of notation, but your client wonāt agree. In the end, the composer owns the confusionā¦
Thank you so much, and your tone never let me think there could be any kind of attack. Believe me, this composer was so impolite that we had to part ways after this first piece, as he was attacking everything I was doing or proposing in the harshest way Iāve witnessed in 14 years as professional engraver.
Many of us here have learned to swallow a less-than-pleasant customer if they pay. When he started to make problems on that side as well, pointing that this was an āeasy jobā for me, well it was too much.
My only hope is that his next āvictimā will smell the trap sooner than I did.
)