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The
philosophy behind the fretless guitar (by E. Powell)
The
philosophy behind the fretless guitar is very simple. It is an attempt
to go back in time to when music was played "in tune". It may
seem a strange purpose; to play an instrument which is so difficult to
play in tune, with the idea of being able to actually play more in tune.
The reason why the fretless guitar is ideally suited to playing in tune,
and the fretted guitar is not, is that although it may seem very easy
to play the fretted guitar in tune, this is actually an illusion. It is
virtually impossible to play the fretted guitar in tune. It may very difficult
to play the fretless guitar perfectly in tune, but it is possible, whereas
with a fretted guitar it is not.
It took me a very long time to realize that it is not possible to tune
a fretted guitar perfectly. Honestly, for years I thought my ears were
defective, although the truth is the opposite - I was able to pickup on
the fretted guitars tuning limitations before I could intellectually understand
the underlying reasons for that.
What I mean by going "back in time" to when music was played
"in tune" means going back to a time before the invention of
the equal tempered tuning system. The piano is the perfect example of
an instrument designed to be tuned in equal temperament - thus the piano
also is an "out of tune" instrument.
So the key point here is really a question of tuning systems; equal tempered
vs. natural tuning. The equal tempered tuning system was invented as a
way to play music which uses "harmony" on just one instrument
(guitar or piano for example). So you may be asking; what is "equal
temperament"? and, what is "harmony"?
Harmony is when music uses chords and is able to modulate into different
keys. Music which uses the "pre-harmony" or "natural",
or "untempered" tuning systems, like the Indian musical system,
is and can only be played in one key. This is the major drawback - that
is assuming that you are addicted to hearing chordal movement in music.
Indian music has no chordal movement and therefore is grounded in one
key permanently - therefore all of the intervals can be placed exactly
where the ear wants to hear them without the risk that if you modulate
into another key, a particular note placing might not then sound good
in the new key.
It seems really incredible but God didn't intend for semitones to be exactly
the same distance apart. If you look closely at a fretted guitar you will
notice that the frets are exactly the same distance apart---or getting
closer together at exactly the same rate. If you look very closely at
a properly tuned sitar (on a sitar you must also tune your frets! They
are movable!), you will notice that, aside from some spots where frets
are "missing", the remaining are not exactly equal distance
apart - or getting closer together at exactly the same rate. This basically
proves, by ear, that semitones are not supposed to be an equal distance
apart.
It is also possible to prove this mathematically. Take a perfect 5th...
A to E for example. E is vibrating 1.5 times faster than A. This means
that if you tune an E from an A so your ear feels it is perfect... the
result will be that the E is vibrating exactly 1.5 times faster than the
A. So, if A is 440, then the E will be exactly 660. So try this as an
experiment with a calculator. Go around the cycle of 5th (A, E, B, F#,
C#.... etc) starting at A and eventually finishing at A. With each 5th
multiply by 1.5. You would guess that by the time you would finally get
all the way around the full cycle, back again to A, you would have for
that final A a number which would be perfectly divisible by 440, right?
Meaning that you would have an A which would be some octaves higher than
the A that you started with....? Try it and you will see clearly that
you will NOT end up with a number for A which will be divisible by 440...
you'll get something quite close, but not the perfect thing!! That little
exercise should lay all your doubts to rest - the fretted guitar is an
"out of tune" instrument!
All this means that once you remove the frets you are no longer restricted
by them. You can play perfectly by ear and place your fingers slightly
lower or higher than where the fret would have been, thereby playing with
much much more potential tuning accuracy.
How did the tempered tuning system develop? It developed very gradually
over hundreds of years. It did not just suddenly appear. European music
began as music in only one key (and therefore in the perfect/natural tuning).
But then some very clever composers began to experiment with music using
just two keys. They discovered that if you just change the tuning very
very slightly of only a few notes, so slightly that it wouldn't be really
noticeable, then a new catchy gimmick of music with MODULATION was born...
thus our addiction began. This new music was obviously so successful and
seductive, and since those new composers realized that they had managed
to get away with manipulating the natural tuning system, they went further,
and further, and further until they had managed to simple create a tuning
system in which all the semitones are the same distance apart, thereby
making to possible to play equally in tune (or equally out of tune) in
any key you desire.
Of course this new music was mostly written to be played by groups of
fretless instruments (violins etc), and it was left to the individual musicians
to adjust the note, so as to "re-tune" them and adjust them
to be back in tune. So groups of violins can play this new music in tune...
but a piano or fretted guitar can not.
As a side note it is very interesting to note that about the same time
when new modern composers where manipulating with natural tuning systems,
scientists were discovering new clever ways of manipulating nature, natural
elements, molecules, atoms etc... with the results we have today... genetically
modified foods, super medicines (which only control disease symptoms and
not the real causes), and atom bombs etc etc etc. We must ask, was it
really a good idea to start tampering with nature?? Was it really a good
idea to start tampering with natural tuning systems.
I think that most guitarists who change from being fretted player to unfretted
players probably don't consciously realize it, but are hungering to make
a statement about not only music, but about the dangerous and arrogant
direction our species is taking in our determination to "play God".
I think that we all feel that it is time to return to something more "simple",
"more real", "more pure", and "more beautiful".
Listening to and playing music in the natural tuning system definitely
has a relaxing and healing effect on us. There was an experiment done
on plants in which plants were place near speakers in 3 separate rooms
with 3 different kinds of music. The first were given loud Rock music,
the second were given Western classical, and the third were gived Indian
classical (this is NOT a plug for Indian music... it is only to say that
Indian music is one system, among many that still uses the natural tuning
system). So what happened... the plants which were given Rock music all
died, the plants given Western classical stayed the same, and the plants
given Indian classical music literally wrapped themselves around the speakers!
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