> Is the commentary about playing the fifth course with the thumb intended > to tell the player not to play above the fifth course with the thumb, or > does it mean not to play the fifth or sixth course with the index finger?
the passage reads as follows: Die oberen vier Chöre werden vom Mittelfinger geschlagen / alle anderen folgenden vom Daumen. Soll ein anderer als der von der Regel vorgeschriebene Finger benutzt werden / so steht unter dem Buchstaben ein besonderes Zeichen. Es bedeutet: | Dauemen . Zeigefinger .. Mittelfinger ... Ringfinger My loose translational attempt: The upper four courses are struck with the middle finger, the rest with the thumb. In case a finger other than prescribed by the rule is to be used, it will be signified by distinct signs beneath the letter, as there are: | thumb, . forefinger, .. middle finger, ... ring finger so, as an answer to your question, I'd reply that Giesbert explains a rule and its exceptions. which bear on playing as well as on reading tablature. In general, forefinger, middle and ring finger strike 1st to 4th courses, whereas the thumb strikes courses 5 to 11, or 13. If that is so, there will be no extra signs in tablature. But in other cases, i. e. whensoever the fore finger or the ring finger are used or when the thumb strikes courses 1 to 4 or when the middle finger strikes a course below the 4th, there will be extra signs to indicate which finger is to play what. I have already said that it appears to me Giesbert took his playing rule from contemporary guitar methods (i, m, a, play in strings 1 to 3, whereas the thumb strikes the wound bass strings). Mathias -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
