Fredrik Rasten

Delve I - II
For 12-string guitar
and optional additional instruments(2022)

Delve I - II are two related pieces for guitarist playing 12-string guitar, where the guitarist follows a score specifying exact just intonatin
tuning and retuning to different pitch relations, and which strings to play at any given time. The ways in which the strings are plucked, both
timbraly and rhythmically is quite free, although suggestions or certain criteria will follow. These mentioned criteria are the same as for myearlier piece Svevning. Both pieces explore chords and modulations in harmonic space through retuning plucked guitar strings. However,where Svevning is four six-string guitar and the occasional voice of the performer, Delve is without vocals, but invites the possibility of added
instruments, blending into the notes already played by the guitar. A pitch set encompassing all pitches encountered in the piece, as well as asuggestive tuning for keyboard instrument are included.
Both Delve and Svevning belong to a family of additional pieces yet to be composed, springing out of my praxis as a guitarist working with justintonation / harmonic space.
Fredrik Rasten, 13.2.2022

Notation, signs and symbols:
The piece is notated in quite normal tablature form “showing” the guitar from above with an imagined headstock on the left side of thetablature, and consequently, showing strings going from top to bottom, high to low, 1st through 12th.
At the start of each page’s tablature the tuning of each string with cent deviations is specified.
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The square brackets show which strings are played at any given time:-

A diagonal line and ‘number : number’ shows melodic ratios involved in a retuning of a specified string (the string closest to this info),
and the direction, as well as the order of the numbers shows whether the retuning goes upwards or downwards in pitch-Note names and accidentals in the Helmholtz-Ellis pitch notation system and cent deviations from 12-tet are

shown in connection to every retuning signifying the “goal” note. Note names for each string is also shown in thestart of each page. Other numbers written adjacent to strings show the harmonic relations (although this is notconsistently written in the whole piece, only for a while to show some of the key harmonic relations in the piece, andhow they develop)

-An “ice cream cone” means that one should gradually involve the rest of the strings from where the “cone” starts and down to where itpeaks - from there on reverse back to the string set initially played. When a number is shown in brackets close to a nte name, this meansthat this note is played by plucking the specified strings stopped at the fret specified by the number.

Roman numbers in parentheses means that these strings can be played with natural harmonics. (II) means second, or octave harmonic.

Waves, as shown above, means that there is an open part where the music can unfold freely with different combinations of open
strings, strings played with harmonics etc. the ellipses relating to each other on a vertical plane are suggestions for combinations ofstrings, but do not need to be followed. The wavy part lasts (for a free amount of time) until a new specified progressing element isintroduced, for instance a retuning.

This “staircase” means that one singular string at a time is introduced from this point on (one new string per new striking of a chord),following the vertical and horizontal logic of the “stairs”.