On Mar 18, 2006, at 3:17 PM, Christopher Witmer wrote: > My first question: > Assuming one will eventually be playing variety of lutes, is there any > consensus on a best type of instrument with which to begin?
This question comes up periodically here and you may get a bunch of follow up questions asking what repertoire she is particularly interested in and recommendations for 6, 7 & 8 course lutes for a beginner Ren music lute. There seems to be a large number of people who get 8 course instruments in order to cover a large range of music. This is a reasonable choice. I would say a 7 course instrument is even more reasonable for two reasons: 1. HIP There isn't all that much tab specifically for 8 courses compared to that for 7 courses. 2. It is easier to deal with 7 courses than 8. The downside is you have to retune your 8th course between F and D. I had an 8 course instrument and the strings were two close together and I was having twanging problems so I had the bridge redrilled as a 7 course instrument. It is easier to play. There is very little 8 course music that can't be played on a 7 course. Dowland's King of Denmark's Galliard is about the only one that is problematical that springs to mind. On the other hand, it is convenient to have an F and a D (8 courses) and can eliminate having to fret a note to get F when you are in D tuning. So to sum up, a 7 course is easier for the RH for much music because you won't accidentally hit the 8th course and it has 7/8ths as many strings to deal with. An 8 course is easier for the LH for some music because you don't have to fret an F. (Sometimes you want to fret it so you can articulate it or control how long it rings) In my personal repertoire, I find a majority of the music I play is for 6 course, lute songs tend to use D for the 7th and solos tend to use F. I simply group the pieces that use a 7th in F together, and the ones for D together. I try to remember to retune one song before so that the tuning doesn't wander back. In other words in performance, I quickly retune, play a 6 course piece to give the strings time to settle and then adjust the tuning of the 7th again quickly. > My second question: > What on earth is this? > (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7398226111) It is a lute guitar (lutar) as stated: a lute shaped instrument built more like a guitar with 10 single strings. If you love lute music, you probably don't want it. Good luck. Keep us informed. cheers, To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
