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CROSS STRING
ORNAMENTATION
© 1999 Stanley Yates

What Are They?

A Modern Technique?
Practicing Them

What Are They?

For those of you who may not know what these things are, a
cross-string ornament is simply a trill (or other ornament) that
is plucked between two strings, instead of being played with
the more traditional method of slurring on a single string with
the left hand. The resulting sound is brilliant, articulate, and
incisive, in contrast to the smooth legato effect of slurred
ornaments. Here are three basic types I've used in my Mel
Bay arrangements [figure 1]:

Although there are many possibilities for the right-hand

fingering of these figures, these are the fingerings I use
myself (more on this later).

A Modern Technique? [Top]

Although it is only relatively recently that modern guitarists
have embraced the technique, cross-string ornamentation
itself is not a recent phenomenon. Though earlier plucked
instrumentalists usually employed slurred ornaments (as
shown by the left-hand finger dispositions indicated in
tablatures, fingerings in notated scores and descriptions in
historical treatise and method books), it turns out that a
number of early "pluckers" did in fact use the cross-string
technique as well.

The Spanish guitarist Santiago de Murcia wrote the following

ornament in his tablature collection of music for the
five-course guitar, the Resumen (1714):

[Murcia probably used octave stringing on the lower course (hence

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the different sized noteheads in the transcription). The passage

appears in mm. 11-12 of the Allemande on pages 263-4 of Murcia's
collection.]

The Scottish guitarist Robert Bremmer, in his Instructions for

playing the wire-string "guittar" (1758), described the Shake
as follows:

"performed by the Thumb and Fore-finger of the

Right-Hand, sounding that [trilled] note alternately with
the open String above."

[Thanks to my good friend Rob MacKillop for pointing out this

example to me. For more, see his edition, Scottish Traditional Music
for Guitar in DADGAD and Open G Tunings (The Hardie Press, 1999.
US distribution by Mel Bay Publications). Or visit his website at
http://www.sol.co.uk/r/rennimackillop]

Here's an interesting annotation that appears in the first

edition of the Grand Sonata op. 7 of the well-known early
nineteenth-century Viennese guitarist Simon Molitor:

"It would be desirable to abandon entirely the method

of trilling on one string employed up to now, and
instead of that to take up trilling on two strings, as on
the harp. In this way the trill can not only be sustained
for a long time, but also can be produced more clearly
and powerfully."

Molitor provides the following possibilities for right hand

fingering:

Here's a passage from the Grande Sonate, op. 83 (c. 1814) of

the Italian/Parisian guitarist Ferdinando Carulli (similar
passages occur in the music of Mauro Giuliani):

So, those who complain that the cross-string method of

ornamentation isn't authentic might want to think about that
one again!

To be fair however, the modern usage does differ from that of

the earlier players, the principal application today being one of
short, quick trills and mordents, in contrast to long, drawn-out
figures.

Who reintroduced the technique in recent times? Alexander

Lagoya did make a claim with his performance of the Bach
Fugue, bwv 1000. But who knows?

Practicing Them [Top]

If you've been to one of my concerts or seen my Mel Bay
editions you'll probably have noticed my fondness for

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cross-string ornamentation. "How do you play those

ornaments?" is a question I hear often. Well, to make up for
the times I've been unable to give a detailed answer, I'll give
some ideas here about how to perform and practice them.

Although many other right-hand fingerings are possible,

including "raking" or "dragging" a finger across two strings at a
time and various combinations that include the thumb, for the
following reasons I prefer the fingerings given below: 1) they
are relatively easy to play with precise rhythm and articulation;
2) once understood they are very quick (see below); and 3)
the thumb is left completely free to play bass notes and inner
voices underneath the ornament.

You may already be thinking that my suggested fingerings for

the trill and grace-note appear impossible at fast tempos.
Well, there's a trick to it. The combination a-m is not played
as two strokes, but as one compound stroke: am. The two
fingers pluck together, as a single unit, but are allowed to
arpeggiate or "roll" across the two strings (from the higher
string to the lower).

Here's an effective way to practice this. Begin each stroke

with am resting (prepared) on strings 1 and 2 and play as
shown below (arpeggiate from the higher string to the lower
and be sure to alternate block chords with arpeggiated ones).
Following each gesture, both fingers should be in toward the
palm of the hand. [figure 2]:

Vary the degree of arpeggiation until you are able to

reproduce the sixteenth-note groupings shown above.

Next, practice with the a finger prepared on the first string

while the m finger is prepared close to, but not actually
touching, the second string; the relative positioning of each
finger, relative to the strings, can help the timing of the
ornament. Above all, make sure the two fingers pluck as a
single "arpeggiated" unit.

Now add the i finger to produce the grace-note figure shown

earlier. Prepare the i and a fingers on their strings together.
Again, after each gesture the fingers should be in toward the
palm of hand. [figure 3]:

The goal is for the i-am grouping to feel like a single, rapid
gesture. When this feels comfortable you can abandon
preparing fingers on the string. If you find this difficult,
alternate between prepared and non-prepared versions of the
gesture.

The fingering for the trill is produced by adding the m finger to

the beginning of the grace-note figure just practiced. Prepare
a on the string as i plays [figure 4]:

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Again, the goal is for the m-i-am grouping to feel like a single
rapid gesture.

Finally, to finish the trill, damp the dissonant sound of the

higher note by placing the a finger back on its string [figure
4b]:

Again, when this becomes comfortable practice without

preparing the fingers on the strings. Remember that the
positioning of the a and m fingers (relative to their strings) can
have a marked effect on the timing of the gesture.

The thumb can now be added to the above exercises, playing

with the first of each group of notes, for example [figure 5]:

The thumb can also be used to play an inner voice at the end
of an ornament [figure 6]:

Although there are additional aspects and more extended

techniques of cross-string ornamentation (longer ornaments,
combinations with slurs, trilling with full-voiced chords, etc.),
the techniques given here should nevertheless be sufficient to
deal with the majority of situations in which a cross-string
ornament might be used.

To finish, here are a few passages taken from my Mel Bay

editions that you can use to practice your cross-string
ornaments.

J. S. Bach, Sarabande, Cello Suite 3.

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J. S. Bach, Courante, Cello Suite 1.

Isaac Albéniz, Tango, op. 164, no. 2.

Isaac Albéniz, Preludio (Asturias-leyenda), op. 232, no. 1.

Once the trill is gone...

From the Stanley Yates Series:

J. S. Bach, Six Unaccompanied Cello Suites Arranged for

Guitar MB96743
Isaac Albeniz, 26 Pieces Arranged for Guitar MB 97344

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