guitar--- campanelas

Trad Strings
1

I’ve been away from the forum for quite a while . . . my old interest in the guitar surfaced again.

I was playing a classical peice possibly by Tarragra called “Variations on la Falla” that used a technique called campanelas . . . alternating fretted and open stings to achieve some sustain such as you might get on a piano.

I’ve been playing with some Celtic tunes . . . especiall some O’Carolan played this way. I try to use keys that allow most of the fretted notes to be on 5th and 7th or 10th and 12 frets . . . there is a bit of a tendancy for some harmonics here. I say the effect is like a harp. My wife says not. Maybe more like a music box? I don’t know, but I like the sound.

Does anyone know of any guitarist who uses a techinque like this? Has anyone else ever tried it?

2

Does this have something to do with flamenco Guitar? I have seen and listed to Flamenco guitar at Youtube. Very exciting. I have been in touch with the flamenco world, though I do not play myself:
http://www.flamenco-world.com
Maybe you too can find something useful in here?

3

AND yess: Take a look at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+play+flamenco+guitar&search_type=&aq=1&oq=How+to+play+flam

4

Well, the peice (Variations on la Falla) is classical . . . related to Flamenco, but strictly speaking, is not Flamenco . . . but I’m not a purist anyway. I like Spanish sounds on the guitar, and I also like Celtic music. The campanelas seemed like a good idea for O’Carolan. If you play in D or G, you have several notes on the scale that ore open strings, and if you fret the “in between” notes on the string LOWER than the open strings, you allow last note played to sustain while the next is playing . . . and again, at 5 and 7 or 10 and 12, you get some harmonics that add to the effect. Anyone else tried it?

I’ve tabbed a few of these out with Fanale softeware, and I’d post some of it here if I knew how. Its all public domain stuff anyway.

5

Cloyd, I think what you’re describing is commonly called the harp effect and is often used by Celtic fingerstyle guitarists. DADGAD is popular for fingerstyle playing in part because the G and A strings next to each other allow for ringing notes.

6

Thanks for the input. I really didn’t think I was the first to discover this and apply it to Celtic music. It is fun to work with. Do you know of any particular artist who uses it . . . maybe to listen to and hear how someone else is working with it?

In this short thread, I wonder how many different ways I have spelled “campanelas”?

7

Not my area of expertise, but Celtic fingerstylists like El McMeen would be one idea. There’s a forum where you might find more: http://www.celticguitartalk.com/phpBB/index.php?sid=13194d992d49a792cd63a867024a0897
And there are some Celtic fingerstyle arrangements here: http://www.celticguitarmusic.com/

8

In classical guitar this technique is referred to as harmonics. I suppose it can be used in solo flamenco guitar but it wouldn’t work accompanying dancers or singers because it is not a loud technique. The neat thing is to stop the string and pluck it both with the right hand. This way you can play the harmonic of almost all of the notes on the guitar. There are several famous compositions using almost all harmonics. One is “Testamiento de Amelia” by Miguel Llobet. I imagine that harmonics are used by steel string players also, again, only for solo playing. Harmonics would be completely drowned out in a session.
Mike