Notice the lack of ornamentation: the melody is relatively simple and unadorned. This follows the practice of the time, where ornamentations were implied rather than being written in. Notice also the repeat signs – it is unlikely that a simple, unadorned melody would have been played exactly as written once, let alone twice. Players might have worked out the ornamentation, or they might have improvised it – but since we know that Paganini became a great improviser, this short piece serves as a snapshot of his development.

Ornamentation, however, was not the only improvisational language of the day: in an upcoming blog post we’ll look at a theme-and-variations approach to improvisation and composition. Later on we’ll look at mandolin’s potential to join the baroque continuo – the improvised accompaniment of baroque music, performed by what today we might call a “rhythm section.” It’s not as far-fetched as it sounds: we do have evidence that early fretted instruments participated in the continuo, and read figured bass, the “chord symbols” of the day. Learning to improvise accompaniments in baroque style on mandolin, mandola and mandocello is only a matter of mastering that language.

So how about it, improvising mandolinists? Let's get down to it! As we dig deeper into our instrumental traditions and extend them into the future, we'll find plenty of room for creative improvisation within classical mandolin.

Perhaps the most interesting part about the notation is how seldom Calace indicates fingerings and position shifts - suggesting how much was implied by the composer, and understood by the player. This elegant language involves writing in a few fingerings (usually to indicate exceptions to the rule), and is still in widespread use today among mandolin composers.

Mandolin notation is built on a few underlying guidelines:

1) music is in first position unless otherwise indicated (or, as in this case, is otherwise clear);

2) first finger covers fret 1-2; second covers 3-4; third covers 5-6; fourth covers fret 7 (unless otherwise indicated);

3) notes available on open strings are normally played open, unless obvious or otherwise indicated. (Ascending scale runs are a common exception.)

The excerpt above implies several positions shifts and specific fingerings, but evidently Calace felt a need to specify fingerings only in measure 6, beat 3, where the chord (from bottom up) C#-G-A-E is to be played with fingers 4-3-0-0. The fourth finger on sixth fret is written in, perhaps because it contradicts guideline number 2 above.

Let’s add a few more indications to clarify some of the details that Calace’s audience evidently understood:

Surveying the contemporary music being written today for mandolin, fingerings and position shifts are often written sparsely - more like the first example than the second. The level of detail in the second example is  redundant, but good for teaching purposes.

In comparing the advantages and disadvantages of standard notation and tablature, what is sometimes overlooked is this elegant language of mandolin notation - a language which has all of the advantages of standard notation and yet makes clear where fingerings and position shifts occur.  It's a tradition that lives on, particularly in the classical mandolin world, and has much to offer all contemporary mandolinists.