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Thread: No. 21 by Philip DeWalt in latest CMSA Mandolin Journal

  1. #1

    Default No. 21 by Philip DeWalt in latest CMSA Mandolin Journal

    Maybe I missed it, but I don't see any composer notes for this piece in the Journal.
    I am flummoxed on how to play this. Take for example the initial 2 E's, one as 8th note and the other as dotted half. Normally I'd interpret this to play the same note on 2 different strings and let the longer one ring..... but even on mandolin, it's impossible to play an E on G and D strings at the same time.

    Then take measure 33.... why do the eighth notes have stems in both directions, and why is there a half note attached to the last eight note?

    dazed and confused (but not in Austin)
    mlewis

  2. #2
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    Default Re: No. 21 by Philip DeWalt in latest CMSA Mandolin Journal

    "I am flummoxed on how to play this."

    This is one of Phil's 25 studies for solo mandolin. They are all excellent.

    In this particular study, there are no double-stops, chords, etc. so the music is all a single line, but the compositional intent is multiple voices, and the notation is a way to guide the player in how long to let particular notes sound to suggest the voices -- which is not always literally possible but gives the intent. So, for example, I would fret the E in the very first beat on the D string with my first (lh) finger and hold it down for the entire measure -- even though, as part of the single line, it is an eighth note. And similarly throughout the piece in choosing left hand fingerings. It is not meant to be a difficult piece (I sight read it this morning).

    Re: the upper-stemmed E in m. 33, it is possible that is a misprint, although I read it on the fly as simply playing an open E with an upstroke and letting it ring for two beats. On most instruments (like the one I used this morning) the E would die out at more or less the correct time.

    Lastly, you did not ask about the notation for the G on beat #2 of m. 36, which I interpreted as an harmonic (12th fret).

    If you have further questions, the composer's email is at the bottom (page 26 of the Journal).
    Robert A. Margo

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