> And if I might add further to the Collective Confusion we have the
> words of Ernst Gottlieb Baron:
>
> "As to the question of where to strike the strings of the lute so
> that the tone will be powerful enough, it will serve to know that
> this must be in the center of the space between the rose and the
> bridge, for there the contact will have the greatest effect.
This seems to be pretty common in historical instructions. Here are
a few that have been posted here over the years:
Burwell Lute Tutor says "For the right hand it must be placed
betweene the Rose and the Bridge but nearest to the bridge your hand
must lye uppon the belly of the Lute with the little finger onely
which must be as it were glued unto it ..."
Piccinini says the basic position is halfway between the rose and the
bridge ("Rende il liuto, e cosi ancor il Chitarrone miglior in mezo
fra la Rosa, e lo scanello; e pero in quel luoco i deue tenere la
mano destra"
And from Dowland (or Besard?) in Variety of Lute Lessons:
For the vse of the right hand. First, let your little finger on
the belly of the Lvte, not towards the Rose,but a little lower, stretch
out your Thombe with all the force you can, especially if thy Thombe be
short,so that the other fingers may be carryed in a manner of a fist,
and
let the Thombe be held higher then them, this in the beginning will be
hard. Yet they which haue a short Thombe may imitate those which
strike the
strings with the Thombe vnder the other fingers,which though it be
nothing
so elegant, yet to them it will be more easie.
Offhand, the only historical source I can think of who talks about
playing at the bridge is Mace. Any others?
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