Fig. 9 Cello Suite V ‘Prelude’ by J.S. Bach – showing original scordatura tuning.
In my improvisation practice, I utilise scordatura as a means of destabilising the familiar. When the strings of my instrument are given alternative tunings, my fingers can’t rely on well-trodden paths of muscle memory. Melodic phrases tangent. Chord structures and key signatures are abandoned for non-theoretical engagement with a new sonic terrain. Through this somatic re-mapping between two notes on the fingerboard, new neurology pathways emerge from finger to ear to nerves to the aural cortex. For the Assisted Solo recording I deliberately chose to work with scordatura to open this unfamiliar terrain of the fingerboard. The viola open strings were initially tuned Bb F C F C, and the bass in regular E A D G tuning. Over the course of the 2-day recording, both instruments were further detuned, either deliberately, or unintentionally. In working with scordatura, time and attention are required to develop new neurological pathways to find melodic flow, as with Bach’s Cello Suite V. However, in the context of working with contemporary dancers, melodic virtuosity is not at the core of my musical intent. Focusing on timbre and texture in my playing liberates the mover (and any 36