Dear Doc,
I am sorry not to have got straight back to you about this. I
mislaid my copy of _The Lute_ (1984, part 1), but it has turned up
just now under a pile of papers.
The C major tuning is given on p. 28 of Antonio Corona's article,
"The Viola da Mano and the Vihuela, Evidence and Suggestions about
their Construction", _The Lute_, vol. XXIV (1984, part 1), pp.3-32.
He writes:
Juan Bermudo, _Declaración de Instrumentos_ (Osuna, 1555), fol.
XCIII.
Vihuela: g c f a d' g"
Discante: c f b _flat_' d' g' c"
Assuming a tuning similar to that of the Vihuela
Guitarra: g c' e' a'
Guitarra: c e g c' e' g'
"This is a good tuning for a _guitarra grande_ strung with 6
courses, like a Vihuela, or for a _discante_." Fol. ciiiv
There were, however, some misprints in this article, which Antonio
corrected on p. 47 of _The Lute_ (1986, part 1). He corrected the
vihuela tuning to G c f a d' g', and the discante tuning to c
f _B flat_ d' g' c". He didn't change the tunings for the
Guitarra, so I assume they were OK.
Unfortunately I don't have a copy of Bermudo's book at home.
I have had a quick flick through Matteis' _False Consonances_, and
couldn't find any mention of an open C tuning there. I imagine you
must have been thinking of something else.
Best wishes,
Stewart McCoy.
----- Original Message -----
From: "doc rossi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Lute Net" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: "Stewart McCoy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 3:57 PM
Subject: Re: Vihuela/guitar
> Hi Everyone.
>
> Can we go back to this topic for a minute? I realized that I had a
> translation of Bermudo done by Dawn Astrid Espinosa (JLSA
XXVIII-XXIX,
> 1995-6), so I took at look and I couldn't find any reference to
the c e
> g c' e' g' tuning; there is a five-course guitar in a similar
tuning (G
> d g b d'), but I can't find anything else. If someone is familiar
with
> this translation, maybe you could tell me on which page I should
look?
>
> I also seem to remember a guitar book describing continuo playing
in an
> open C tuning. Is this Nicola Matteis (c.1680) or something like
that,
> or am I completely off base?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Doc Rossi
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