Chitarra

As Printed on a Score

Labels the guitar staff in Italian scores (Chitarra; plural Chitarre), a single treble-clef staff written an octave above sounding pitch — modern editions often show this with a small 8 under the clef. Fingerings, string numbers in circles and barré indications may be printed over the notes.

Also spelled: Guitar, Guitare

How Composers Use It

The guitar sounds an octave lower than written, from the E2 of its lowest string upward, and it is quiet: in an orchestra it needs a very thin texture or amplification. Standard tuning (E A D G B E) makes the open-string keys — E, A, D, G — resonant and easy, and voicings must fit six strings and one hand. Mahler (Seventh Symphony) and Schoenberg (Serenade, Op. 24) used it with the mandolin for an intimate, serenade-like plucked colour.

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