Calace "The Detached Stroke"

[tkdboyd]

I am working through Rafaele Calace Method for Mandolin, and am baffled by the "The Detached Stroke" is that just what is normal pick stroke/direction versus tremolo? First method book I have seen this discussed in those terms. Just want to make sure I am not missing something.

[CES]

I'm not classically trained, so forgive me if I'm incorrect, but I believe that a detached stoke is one that plucks one course of strings only without touching any other strings, as opposed to the rest stroke, where you let your pick come to rest on the string below (or above, too, I guess), the course of strings you're plucking. I've heard detached stroke referred to as "free stroke" as well. Hope that helps!

[Martin Jonas]

I am working through Rafaele Calace Method for Mandolin, and am baffled by the "The Detached Stroke" is that just what is normal pick stroke/direction versus tremolo? First method book I have seen this discussed in those terms. Just want to make sure I am not missing something.

As I recall, that's explained in more modern and more accessible language in August Watters' new book. He goes into some detail on the difference between rest strokes (prepared or not), free strokes, glide strokes in various variants as used in the Golden Era method books.

Martin

[tkdboyd]

As I recall, that's explained in more modern and more accessible language in August Watters' new book. He goes into some detail on the difference between rest strokes (prepared or not), free strokes, glide strokes in various variants as used in the Golden Era method books.

Martin

I have August Watters' book, I'll look that up.
Thank you.

[August Watters]

I got a note from the OP on this and looked at the source: Calace's Method, exercises 35-39, which are on page 11 of Mike Marshall and Catarina Lichtenberg's new English-language edition. I think the main point being that these notes are played with a single stroke instead of tremolo. So I would think of Calace's "detached stroke" not as a technique, but as a category that doesn't specify which RH technique is used.

Calace makes a point of showing that we might follow alternate picking or become reversed (upstroke on the downbeat), but in this example he does align pick direction so that we always change to a new course with a downstroke.

Interesting stuff -- I'll say more in an upcoming blog post.

[Martin Jonas]

I got a note from the OP on this and looked at the source: Calace's Method, exercises 35-39, which are on page 11 of Mike Marshall and Catarina Lichtenberg's new English-language edition. I think the main point being that these notes are played with a single stroke instead of tremolo. So I would think of Calace's "detached stroke" not as a technique, but as a category that doesn't specify which RH technique is used.

I see -- apologies for misunderstanding the OP. As I don't have that edition of the Calace method I thought it was referring to the discussion on free strokes, rest strokes and prepared rest strokes on page 24 of your book. However, from your description it sounds like Mike and Catarina in their translation simply used "detached stroke" as another way of saying "single stroke".

Martin