Hi Tom: I am not trying to convince you either way but there are some distinct = advantages to Lute Tablature. First of all there is absolutely no = question as to where a particular note is to be played. In staff = notation, because of the re-occurring octaves, there are occasional = question as to where a note is played. If you rely on staff notation = you are in essence trusting in second hand information and the musical = knowledge of someone else, maybe accepting their mistakes in transposing = or their editorial changes as what was intended by the composer as I = pointed out previously with the Earl of Essex Galliard.
If you look at the entire issue objectively you will find that all music = notation is a form of tablature in one way or another. You have a = series of lines, dots, and flags that represent tones and time, on the = musical scale in staff notation. It is just that Lute Tab is more akin = to the Lute and not easily read by players of other unrelated = instruments. The real problem is that many, when they first get into = tablature, feel like they are cheating and not really playing music. = Some look upon tablature systems as devices for the ignorant and = uneducated musicians who are unable or too lazy to learn staff notation = or read regular music as we understand it today. Vance Wood. ----- Original Message -----=20 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, August 07, 2004 8:13 AM Subject: Re: Imitations Hi Vance, Thanks for your remarks, but I remain unconvinced. Don't misunderstand = me, I'm enjoying myself with the (no longer that new) notation. It's = just that it does seem unnecessarily cumbersome. You say you start = getting into the piece the third or fourth time through, which is also = the case with me. It's just that staff notation enables one to see = straight away what's going on (even if there is the odd exception) and = in essence I still don't see the essential difference between guitar and = lute, i.e. why it's fine to use staff notation for the guitar, but not = for the lute when both work in much the same way.=20 I suppose it's just an academic question, and I wouldn't dream of = question what someone else has called the 'collected wisdom' of the lute = list. But it does seem a point worth discussing, and so far I've not = read anything that convinces me of the innate superiority of tablature. = But that's how it goes, I'm not complaining, just asking. Cheers, and = thanks once again Tom --
