Biblioteca de la Guitarra y Cuerda Pulsada

In our time, it is taken for granted that guitarist Robert de Visée exclusively made use of the so-called ‘French’ tuning, which only has a low octave string (a bourdon) on the fourth course, while both strings on the fifth course are tuned in the high octave: a-a/d’-d/g-g/b-b/e’. In this article we will look into the textual and circumstantial evidence on which this idea is based. A key source is the introduction to Visée’s first guitar book (1682), in which the composer remarks: ‘I beg those who have a good knowledge of composition, and are not familiar with the guitar, not to be scandalized if they find that I sometimes break the rules. It is the instrument that asks for it, and it is necessary to satisfy the ear preferably to...