----- Original Message -----
From: "saw 192837" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2005 6:43 PM
Subject: [LUTE] Who wants to go Medieval?
> Have you ever played the mediaeval lute?
no, none are extant, but I have played reconstructions.
>
> Is it really plucked with a plectrum and not the fingers?
depends on what you call mediaeval. Sources up to the late 15th c.
usually confirm the use of a risha (feather-quill plectrum).
>
> Or do people use fingers as well?
Playing w/ fingers is mentioned by some early M.E. sources, probably
only for tuning though. It is generally believed that the adoption of
polyphonic music for solo-lute was the reason why the risha was dropped.
Once an instrument is adapted to the different sound, playing w/ quill
produce too harsh a sound.
>
> Are they all 5 courses (or supposed to be?)
The mediaeval lute used in Europe usually seems to have been a kind
of Oud kâmil, the classic 5-course oud used in the M.E. since the
mid-Abbasid period. 4-c. lutes were used in Fatimid Egypt and Sicily.
>
> What kind of repetoire exists?
alas, none. For the European variety, that is.
BTW, there is also a mediaeval lute list: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
best wishes,
danyel
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