fond cadre principal.jpg

There are the 6 usual guitar strings, noted here by capital letters, then each string is doubled by a second, noted here in lower-case..

DFingering:string numbers.
	The two highest, B and high E are doubled by the same string. As they are tuned to deliver the same note they are easily confused!
	This is not the case with the 4 other strings since these lower ones are doubled by strings tuned a whole octave higher.

So we have 4 octave strings, indicated here by lower-case letters: octave g, octave d, octave a and octave e.
The highest note on the 12 string guitar is in fact octave g which is to be found near the middle of the strings.

These ‘extra’ strings embellish the sound, of course, but they can also play an individual role in composition, since they bring the total number of notes on the guitar to 10…which can be mixed and matched!
Let’s do a little sum: 4 strings more than the standard guitar, each string having a distinct note for each of 12 frets, that makes 48 supplementary notes…and a dizzying increase in the combinations available which lends a whole new dimension to the instrument.

Individual right-hand fingering permits, for each of the lower 4 doubled strings, three possibilities:
1. the thumb plucks only the octave string, from above
2. the index, major or annular plucks only the lower of the paired strings, from below. Of course the octave string is heard a little, either due to sympathetic vibration or at first, heavy-handedness. (With time the movements of the right hand become more precise…)
But from the start the predominance of one or other of the strings is noticeable.
3. With more marked playing, from above or below, one finger will pluck both strings simultaneously..

As for the left hand, the fingers always press down on the two paired strings at the same time.

This type of playing leads to new techniques for both right and left hands. A distinctive new approach, which does not replace but rather augments traditional 6 string guitar playing technique, evolves.

Here are some examples: when only the octave string is to be played, a string number followed by a “+” sign is written i.e. for octave G, 3+. Thanks are due to Roland Dyens for this idea.

Years of 12-string concert playing have led me to develop these techniques, the seeds of which can be traced back to Renaissance guitar playing and which have been worked on more recently by players such as Léo Kottke.
I have developed a 12-string guitar method based on this approach to playing which is quite accessible, as these examples show. Having begun to explore the possibilities of the instrument, I know there remains much to discover.

To make any comment, share your experience of this instrument, or why not, found an international association uniting “12-stringers”.