Triple Fret syncs breaths and heartbeats in performance
Jenny De Vera has her eyes closed, brows furrowed, with an air that says “don’t mess with me even if I look cute.” Opposite her, Marga Abejo’s cheekbones are highlighted by the lights in 19 East, her strong regal oriental eyes matching De Vera’s in intensity. Between them, Iqui Vinculado is bespectacled and looks calm with a slight smile, not unlike that nerdy-pretty cultured class crush that you feel may be too smart for you.
Dressed casually in jeans, they seem to be fine variations of the girl next door.
Then their fingers start flying. Effortlessly.
Stunning technique
Close your eyes and assuming you can get past the prettiness and nimble fingered fretwork times three, you will hear a seamless interlocking of a total of 18 strings in unison, in harmony, or in counterpoint that seem to be coming from one guitar (and sometimes all three do play on one guitar).
There is both delicacy and conviction in every note, the interplay a musical trinitarian oneness.
All three equally possess stunning technique, undoubtedly due to long hours of practice and discipline… and somehow they find the time to put on some make-up
Music nerds represent
Triple Fret was started by De Vera and Abejo in 2011. They met in the UP Guitar Orchestra of which the former was president for 7 years.
Vinculado was president of the UST Guitar Department and knew De Vera from guitar festivals and struck up a friendship.
After graduating from the UST Conservatory of Music (and subbing for another guitarist), she was asked by De Vera to join the group. As a fan, she says she was shocked but Abejo offers a more pointed reason, “Iqui was the best female player in UST. So we actually just took her against her will, haha.”
Two of them were in punk bands
Iqui, the youngest in her family, got into music because of her siblings, “Gaya-gaya and sunud-sunod lang sa kapatid hehe. I got into playing the guitar at 11 because of my older sister… as a hobby after school and right after homework, just reading chords from ‘song hits’ magazines, the radio, searching the internet for tabs.” Right before the college entrance tests, she got into classical guitar at 16.
Marga learned to play in high school, influenced by local bands and music, and taught by a classmate. She enrolled in classical guitar in UP and was familiar with the music. “I grew up with classical guitar playing in the car, “she recalls “I took up piano when I was 3 and also got into ballet. So classical music was all around and I liked it.”
Jenny, whose parents play guitar, was lead guitarist at 11 years old with her punk band in Davao. “We had regular gigs and sometimes heard our band on local radio,” she recounts. “Curfew was strictly imposed back then; they had to hide me from the police when it’s super late.” She shifted to classical guitar at 14, possibly influenced by a ballet background.
Down to the pace of each member’s heartbeat
Per week, they rehearse five times for four to five hours and have lessons.
”It is really important for us to maintain our tuning and feeling for each other’s playing… every person has her own voice, breathing pattern, and interpretation. We have to know each other down to the pace of their heartbeat and breath.” says Abejo.
The performances are proof of their efforts: for example, their interpretation of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a stunning display of chops and coordination as the three reinterpret the piano, vocal, and guitar parts equally amongst themselves. The effect is almost harp-like.
Learning from Nirvana
“We also like playing traditional Filipino music… In this day and age, it’s easy to forget our traditional songs so we’re trying to keep that spirit alive,” says Abejo. Triple Fret has released an independently produced album “Gitara Filipina.”
They didn’t start off doing complex stuff, of course. Iqui points to Prettier Than Pink’s “Cool Ka Lang” as the first song she ever learned (“hehe, dali lang e”) while Jenny says hers was the bass riff of Nirvana’s “Come as You Are.”
The challenging areas of their repertoire include Bach pieces (“because it’s Bach” says De Vera), Paulo Bellinati’s “Baiao de Gude” and Albeniz’s “Cordoba,” some of which played during their memorable European tour this year.
For updates on Triple Fret, visit their website, follow them on Instagram @triplefretguitar and Twitter, and like their Facebook page.
