michael clarke

music for prepared guitar

for guitar duo

Instrumentation
2 Guitars (both prepared)
Duration
ca. 2 minutes
Programme Note
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And what is the purpose of writing music? One is, of course, not dealing with
purposes but dealing with sounds. Or the answer must take the form of paradox: a
purposeful purposelessness or a purposeless play. This play, however, is an
affirmation of life - not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest
improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life were living,
which is so excellent once one gets ones mind and ones desires out of its way and
lets it act of its own accord.
- From the publication Silence by John Cage

music for prepared guitar is written for Radoslaw Lomejko and Katie Neville for the
Shortcut Concerts at NUIM, February 2015. It is essentially an exploration of the use of
form in music. Taking inspiration from Cage and his view of music as play, this piece is
shaped by six musical ideas lasting a duration of approximately twenty seconds each. The
ideas are linked together in the order in which they were written.
Performance Notes
Directions for preparing both guitars

both guitars have the same tuning

tuning from highest to lowest string; 1 G2 Quarter Sharp. 2 G2 Natural. 3 F2
Natural. 4 D2 Natural. 5 A1 Natural. 6 B0 Natural.
preparation of both guitars is the same
four pieces of blu tack are used on each guitar
each piece is stuck onto a string and shaped into a ball so that is surrounds the
string
the blu tack is placed directly over specific fret bars and should let the string
move freely (it should not stick to the fret)
location of blu tack for each string; string 3 over fifth fret bar. String 4 over
twelfth fret bar. String 5 over fifth fret bar. String 6 over twelfth fret bar.
strings 1 and 2 have no blu tack and can ring freely

The performance score is written as a transposing score. The note values represent where
the notes should be held / struck on a guitar with standard tuning.
There are rehearsal marks at the start of each musical unit. In performance they should
flow together seamlessly.
A Section

guitar 1 can arpeggiate the chord, play the notes individually or cycle between
the two. They are not bound to tempo or duration.

guitar 2 should vary the accents on each note during the second repeat
grouping

B Section

both guitars play in unison

the clef changes to three lines which give the following directions

top line = strike all six strings behind the nut

middle line = Tambora on any of the open strings

bottom line = slap the body of the guitar

C Section

free tempo. Both guitars strike opening note together but then follow each other
according to the score
D Section

return to solid tempo

E Section

free tempo

general rhythmic values are given for guitar one. These may be followed
loosely.

guitar 2 may improvise on or around the notated pitches up to the F section

F Section

guitar 1 and 2 follow each other as closely as possible per the directions in the
score

harmonics at the very end are played over the sound hole