Dear Howard, Thank you for your clarification. Please see my additions below.
Best regards, Marion -----Original Message----- From: Howard Posner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Mar 25, 2005 10:42 AM To: Tim Beasley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Lute net <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> Subject: Re: Questions from a newbie Tim Beasley wrote: > A second question deals with the difference between Renaissance/Baroque > lutes. Apparently the most common varieties of the two differ by a single > string (7 versus 8 strings). I have to assume that there's more of a > difference between the two, however, than that one string. Is it fairly > standard to play Baroque music on a Renaissance lute, or is the sound > difference really significant? What may not be obvious to a newbie from Thomas' response is that if you're reading from tablature (and you will be, since you're tired of transcriptions) you can't play music written for baroque d-minor tuning on a lute in renaissance tuning. You'd have to restring the instrument, and then deal with the problem of what to do about the extra bass courses that an eight-course renaissance lute doesn't have. So playing French and German music from mid-1600's and later on a renaissance lute is impractical. ++Rather than retrofit an exisiting instrument, it is better to get a different instrument that was designed and bulit with the correct strings. Many people who play lute music have a variety of instruments. For example, you could have one renaissance lute (between 6 and 10 courses) an archlute or therobo (14 courses) and a baroque lute (Dm tuning) with 11 to 14 courses, usually 13. As for playing baroque music on a renaissance lute, it can be done but requires a different version to be developed. You cannot read anything directly from tab unless the tuning of your instrument matches that intended for the tab. There are extended-neck instruments that can be strung either as archlutes (in renaissance tuning with added bass strings) or as d-minor instruments. If you're an amateur without virtuoso chops and don't have your heart set on playing Weiss, I recommend a renaissance lute of no more than eight courses. ++You could start out this way, but sooner or later you will get addicted to Weiss. You can get a better idea of what we're talking about by going to a lutemaker's sight and looking at pictures. Try David van Edwards' site, which has lots of pictures that seem to load quickly and easily: http://www.vanedwards.co.uk/index.htm#lute If you don't get two copies of this message, you're not subscribed to the list. Howard Posner To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
