A question about reading a score

relic245

Something I'm not getting about this piece below. 

Bar 3 (ignoring the pick up bar) 

The G to D shows as a slur which I always thought meant a hammer on or pull off, yet it clearly shows which right hand fingers to be using to pluck the string. 

How does that work? Playing it as a pull off is too much of a stretch for me so I've got to pluck each note but just wondering if it's some kind of typo or poor editing or if I've misunderstood. 

Whistler

Legato (Italian: 'joined'). An instruction indicating that a sequence of notes should be played smoothly, or joined up, as opposed to disconnected.

If you wanted to sing, for example, the word being, the be- would have an accent and the -ing would smoothly follow. Think of the slurs imply the same style in your playing, so that they feel like a word or phrase that belong as one.

On guitar you could choose to hammer on, pull off, or perhaps slide or, as I think you are wanting to do, play follwing notes softer than the first notes in order to achieve a legato feel. So, you were 99% of the way there with your thinking. Well done!

Edited to add: given the fingering indicated on the chart I read that as plucking the follwing notes, not hammer on, pull off or slide. Pluck softer.

viz

A slur mark dictates that you don’t pluck again and can mean hammer-on, pull-off or slide. In this example you’re expected to slide down the neck as you execute the pull-off.

Oh. Like Whistler said. 

TheMadMick

Both these answers are correct. It's a smooth transition but how you achieve that is up to you. 

Litterick

relic245 said:

The G to D shows as a slur which I always thought meant a hammer on or pull off, yet it clearly shows which right hand fingers to be using to pluck the string. 

Yes: the legato here is not a hammer-on, pull-off or slide, but a smooth transition from G to D, plucked notes played with the ring and middle fingers respectively.* After playing the G, you lift your ring finger; at the same time, touch the D with your middle finger, then play the note. 

Here is a guide to playing legato on classical guitar.

*The initials represent the Spanish words for the fingers:

• P = pulgar (thumb)

• I = indice (index finger)

• M = medio (middle finger)

• A = anular (ring finger)

TheBigDipper

TheMadMick said:

Both these answers are correct. It's a smooth transition but how you achieve that is up to you. 

^^^^ This. The finger and positioning advice are there just to suggest the best way of doing it - in the eye of the person writing the score . And sometimes the use of higher frets is deliberate for tonal reasons, not playing ease. Middle C on the 10th fret D string has a very different sound to  middle C 1st fret B string. 

Litterick

TheBigDipper said:

TheMadMick said:

Both these answers are correct. It's a smooth transition but how you achieve that is up to you. 

^^^^ This. The finger and positioning advice are there just to suggest the best way of doing it - in the eye of the person writing the score . And sometimes the use of higher frets is deliberate for tonal reasons, not playing ease. Middle C on the 10th fret D string has a very different sound to  middle C 1st fret B string. 

This is a piece of Baroque music composed for the harpsichord by Jean-Philippe Rameau in 1724. The transcription for the classical guitar, made in our times, is designed to be as close to the original as possible. Hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides would be anachronistic. Besides, the distance from G and D on a single string is too far for an effective pull-off. This piece is meant to be played across the fretboard.

DrCornelius

Litterick said:

TheBigDipper said:

TheMadMick said:

Both these answers are correct. It's a smooth transition but how you achieve that is up to you. 

^^^^ This. The finger and positioning advice are there just to suggest the best way of doing it - in the eye of the person writing the score . And sometimes the use of higher frets is deliberate for tonal reasons, not playing ease. Middle C on the 10th fret D string has a very different sound to  middle C 1st fret B string. 

This is a piece of Baroque music composed for the harpsichord by Jean-Philippe Rameau in 1724. The transcription for the classical guitar, made in our times, is designed to be as close to the original as possible. Hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides would be anachronistic. Besides, the distance from G and D on a single string is too far for an effective pull-off. This piece is meant to be played across the fretboard.

If they are going to be a slipknot tribute band they need to make more of an effort 

TheBigDipper

Litterick said:

TheBigDipper said:

TheMadMick said:

Both these answers are correct. It's a smooth transition but how you achieve that is up to you. 

^^^^ This. The finger and positioning advice are there just to suggest the best way of doing it - in the eye of the person writing the score . And sometimes the use of higher frets is deliberate for tonal reasons, not playing ease. Middle C on the 10th fret D string has a very different sound to  middle C 1st fret B string. 

This is a piece of Baroque music composed for the harpsichord by Jean-Philippe Rameau in 1724. The transcription for the classical guitar, made in our times, is designed to be as close to the original as possible. Hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides would be anachronistic. Besides, the distance from G and D on a single string is too far for an effective pull-off. This piece is meant to be played across the fretboard.

<snip YT link>

Good background knowledge about the piece. Personally, I was commenting about guitar scores in general, not specifically this one. I would play bar 4 in the score as you described. I'd follow the rh finger choice and play the G and D with the indicated fingers, then two pull-offs, as the score doesn't indicate any rh finger to use for the second notes on each pair, thus inferring they are

I haven't watched the vid. From the still, I'm guessing the woman on the right is playing the top part and does just that.

Historical footnote. I don't use the phrases "hammer on" and "pull off". I was taught to call them "hammers" and "snaps". But it was 1969... 

ElevensLouder

Don't over think it. If it sounds good, then it's good.