hat is Tablature?
Tablature is a system of musical notation designed mainly for plucked and keyboard instruments (although we can also find examples of tablatures for instruments such as viola da gamba or recorder).30 Tablature, unlike other musical notation, indicates the position of fingers on the instrument rather than actual musical pitch. Focusing mainly on plucked instruments, I will briefly introduce five systems of tablature:
- Italian tablature: a numerical system of tablature (open string is represented by O, first fret represented by 1, etc), the six lines represent the six courses of the instrument, where the first line corresponds to the lowest course. Rhythmic indications can be found above the lines. In most cases, the rhythmic indication is not repeated with every beat, but lasts until the next note length changes. This system will be used as the main system throughout this thesis, as it is the most common system within the majority of vihuela repertoire.
- Tablature system used mostly by Luis de Milán: the same numeric system of notation as Italian tablature, sometimes called Sapnish tablature: six lines are representing six courses of the plucked instrument; however the courses are arranged in reverse order to Italian tablature (ie. the first line indicates the first string of the instrument). This system is mainly associated with the Spanish vihuela player Luis de Milán. In the case of tablatures within Milán's El Maestro the rhythm is also indicated above the tablature. Unlike the above example of Italian tablature, we can observe that Milán repeats the rhythmic markings with each following note.
- Neapolitan tablature: the most similar system to the Spanish tablature, except the different indication for the open string. In Neapolitan tablature, the open string is indicated by the number 1, first fret is represented with number 2, etc., This tablature is believed to be one of the oldest systems.31
- German tablature: Unlike all previous aforementioned systems, the German tablature does not use six lines for the orientation on the courses, but every single position on the lute has its own symbol, as we can see in the diagram below by Sebastian Virdung. If more than one symbol appears underneath, the following group of notes are played together. This system was considered standard especially in German-speaking countries during the 16th century.32
- French tablature: the system of the lines is similar to Spanish tablature (the first line indicates the first string of the lute), only the fingering position is marked by letters starting with letter A for the open string, letter B indicates first fret, etc.
Intabulation is a process of transcribing music from original notation to the tablature system. Intabulations have become an important source in performance practice, as Elam Rotem mentioned in one episode of the series Early Music Sources, dedicated especially to intabulation. Elements such as the use of musica ficta, diminutions, and cadences do not normally appear in original notation, but were used during actual performance.33
Description of lines of Italian tablature according Luis de Narváez included in Los seys libros del Delphín de música de cifra para tañer vihuela
