Tabelatures -- Do you take liberties?

[Chris Despopoulos]

Hi All... Just wondering about how literally you take tabelatures. For example, in a Sanz fuge, there's a call for b-string, 10th fret to b-string, open. But the higher note is the leading voice, and wants to ring over the lower b. It's possible to arrange fingerings that lead into that high a on the e-string, but Sanz didn't see fit to score it that way. What would you do? Would you try a different fingering? Or would you take the tabs literally?

[Chris Despopoulos]

Actually, in this case the fingering that gives you the ringing A is more difficult than what is scored. I take your point about the value of a stopped note, but I really do think in this case the note wants to ring, and players do their best to make it seem as though it does. For example, in a chapel the echos could easily give you that effect. Gosh darn it, I just sold my chapel the other day and I'm fresh out of luck.

In the attached image I indicate the two measures in question, and point with an arrow to the two notes I'm worried about. Then I show the alternate fingering below. In the first measure, use your little finger for the b-string 9, the b-string 7, and in the next measure use the little finger for the e-string 5. I find I can play it, and it gives me a sustained A at the start of the second measure.

------------------|------3---------------
----------------6-|--------0-2----------
-----------9------|------------------
-X-----X-9---7----|---0----------------
---7-8------------|-5--------4-0-2-4-

Let me be clear about one thing. I would *never* presume to write this music differently or otherwise "improve" it in that way. But as a performer I often like to choose my own fingerings. What I wonder is two-fold. First, do contemporary performers take liberties with a tabalature when they perform? Second, did contemporaries of Sanz take liberties when they performed?

And that leads to a third question... How do you find appropriate boundaries and guidelines? I have to admit that I'm new to the baroque guitar, and I'm really trying to figure this all out.

[Valéry Sauvage]

If you respect the voices, you can of course change fingerings. We don't have same hands and abilities. If music is respected... fingerings are not absolute laws. My opinion.
Val

[Frei]

I find that Baroque music is pretty scientific in placement of notes and counterpoint, I fell like a dunce playing it sometimes (for lack of baroque style composing knowledge) But Bach was famous for improve, and it was quite fashionable from what I understaand, to improv music in the Baroque era.

But I would think it would take a great deal of talent and or knowlege to figure it out, but thats on a much grander scale than a note or 2.