Too late! Capirola's 2ยข has been accumulating
with compound interest for about 500 years....
"just read Capirola! 'Alla volte el si puo
accomodarsi su la corde contrabassa su ogni
tasto' (Sometimes one can use it to play the contrabass string on any
fret). Silvestro Ganassi also writes of this practise."
From dt's earlier post...
Dear All:
I'm sorry, but I must say I'm completely
unconvinced by the iconography "showing" the use
of the thumb to stop the fifth or sixth course.
If anyone were to look at a photo of me playing
cittern or five-course plectrum lute, they would
see much the same thing. If one is playing
single-line with a plectrum on an instrument
with a narrow neck, that is the most comfortable
position for me, and I suspect many others. And
much of the iconography appears to be from an
early date.
Much more convincing are examples of tablature,
such as the Francesco item that Arthur brought
up, that would be very difficult or impossible
using standard fingering but feasible using the
thumb on the sixth course.
Just my two cents....
Cheers,
Jim
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