PHOTO : NICOL SPINOLA PHOTOGRAPHY
GUITAR
Peter Serravalle is one of Vancouver ’ s busiest guitarists . As a live and in-studio session player , Peter is a regular guitar chair for many musical theatre productions throughout Vancouver , as well as a regular guitarist with John William Dexter ’ s “ Bailamos !,” the Vancouver
Men ’ s Chorus , Musical Occasions , and various cover / event bands .
By Peter Serravalle
Tales from the Pit
As a guitarist , playing in a large ensemble can simultaneously be one of the most rewarding and intimidating experiences . Unlike most instrumentalists , guitarists do not have a regular orchestral position . Playing in a pit can be one of the closest opportunities in terms of a consistent position in a large ensemble – and not to mention employment ! With reading skills , consistency , versatility , and a good set of ears , one may enjoy regular performance opportunities in this scene . Here are a few points that have helped me enormously in my adventures in the pit .
In a large ensemble situation , especially with full horns , strings , woodwinds , and the piano , there can be a lot of harmonic “ meat ” present in the mix . Big , clunky six-string voicings ( unless otherwise notated or featured ) tend to muddy up and get lost in the mix . This is a perfect situation to illustrate the less is more concept .
Simple triads and intervals can be more than sufficient . Executing this effectively really has to do with two things : a solid knowledge of triads and your ears . I find triads go a long way in these situations . Knowing your inversions ( closed and open ) as well as voicings for sus4 and sus2 triads are super helpful and are becoming more popular in a lot of guitar parts , especially in newer musicals . A professional working guitarist should have a solid grasp of closed and open triads of all chord types , on each string set , in all 12 keys .
Ex . 1 illustrates closed triads using an F major triad , running through each inversion respectively . Of course , some of these are more practical than others , but it doesn ’ t hurt to have a solid awareness of where these lie all over the fingerboard . You just never know !
Ex . 2 illustrates open voiced triads and their respective inversions . These sound gorgeous on the guitar and are definitely worth investigating . Then , we come to the concept of subtracting notes from these triads to create two-note intervals ( thirds , fourths , fifths , etc .), which are also worth knowing .
Ex . 3 offers some options when it comes to dealing with suspended chords . Bars 9-10 offer solutions for sus4 chords and bars 11-12 offer solutions for sus2 chords .
The ability to use these effectively boils down to a couple of things : experience and , my next topic , your ears . While your eyes are following the music , your ears need to be working as well . Being able to hear , in particular , which note of the chord you ’ re playing in the top voice is especially important . I do remember one instance when I was just a lad , the conductor shouted , “ Can you voice that chord differently ? It ’ s clashing with the strings .” Being able to aurally identify which note of the chord is on top and then make decisions based on that is a valuable skill worth cultivating . Of course , this takes time , experience , trial , and error . Along with playing these triads , sing each note of the chord , or play just a few notes and sing the missing one . This is something I spent a lot of time doing during my college days .
Being a good pit musician is more than just being able to read music . It may seem that all these musicians are doing is playing what ’ s written . They ’ re not . They ’ re also making the score sound stylistically accurate and feel good . They bring all their musical experiences with them , and are able to draw from them at a moment ’ s notice . Until next time !
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