Very, very interesting. Could you please find the reference to this article in Early Music?
Thank you, Luca Stewart McCoy on 02/05/2006 18.43 wrote: > Dear Craig and Katherine, > > An alternative to using a strap, which was used in the 17th Century, > is to tie a gut string between two pegs on the body of the > instrument. One peg is where you'd expect to see a peg, i.e. in the > middle of the end clasp; the other peg is fixed through the middle > rib just before the body joins the neck. The string is tied so that > it lies flush with the middle rib, and you hook it over a button on > your coat to stabilise the lute. It is thought that Mouton may be > holding his lute this way in that famous picture of him. If you > think the artist hasn't quite got it right, and the lute looks as if > it is suspended in front of the player as if by magic, it is > possible that it is being held in this way. There is an article by > Robert Spencer in _Early Music_, with a picture of the back of a > lute, showing the gut string tied between two pegs. I could look up > the reference if you want. > > If you play the lute standing up, and without a strap or a piece of > string between two pegs, you have to use your left hand to support > the instrument. This can be satisfactory for short periods, but can > cause irritation to the part of the hand holding the neck, > unaccustomed to the friction involved. Barré chords are problematic, > so you may have to tinker with the music a bit, e.g. change > > |\ | > |\ | > |\ | > _______________a_____ > _____f__e____|_a__||_ > ___________d_|_c__||_ > _____e_______|_c__||_ > __c__________|_c__||_ > _____________|_a__||_ > > to > > |\ | > |\ | > |\ | > _____a_________a_____ > _____a__e____|_a__||_ > _____a_____d_|_c__||_ > _____________|____||_ > __c__________|____||_ > _____________|_a__||_ > > Best wishes, > > Stewart McCoy. > > To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
