Hi Neil,
Thumb in or out is a less important issue than is normally thought.
John Dowland is known to have changed from thumb in to thumb out
during the course of his career.
I personally play thumb in but one should see a player like Nigel
North who is the best proof of what can be done with thumb out!
Funny you should mention Jan Akkerman. I used to repair his Eastern-
German lutes which had a constant tendency to collaps under the
tension of their own strings. Thumb in is virtually impossible on
lutes of this kind. Which brings me to the following question, "What
kind of lute do you have?"
Thumb in requires a lightly-built lute with thin, low tension strings
and a bridge without a saddle.
Annyway a good teacher should be able to help you to develop a secure
technique either way.
Concerning the plectrum-lute, the renaissance-lute that was first one
to be played with the fingers. Medieval music should be played with a
plectrum. The plectrum technique seems to have died out sometime
during the third decade of the sixteenth century. Surely both
techniques coexisted for at least thirty to forty years.
Musicians like Martin Best and Crawford Young are accomplished
medieval-lute specialists. (I am not :-( )
Cheers,
Lex van Sante
Op 2 dec 2008, om 23:13 heeft Narada het volgende geschreven:
Greetings,
One or the collective wisdom.
Some months ago I remember reading a brief discussion on the forum
regarding the use of quill tips for `plectrums', which due to
certain
"age" problems has got me wondering.
Since I bought my lute some 3 years ago now I have constantly
struggled
with the thumb in technique, it feels very uncomfortable and awkward
even after many hours of practice. I was fortunate sometime ago to
meet Jan Akkerman when he played at the Picturedrome in Holmfirth,
and
we got into a discussion about right hand technique for the lute. I
mentioned that I struggled with the thumb in technique, he suggested
that I revert back to the claw technique.
However I am curious about the use of the quill both historically
and
in modern usage.
Would lutenists of the day have a preference as to which technique
they
would use? E.g. are there those who used the quill solely, and who
are
they, and what pieces, if any, were written exclusively to be played
using the quill, or would they have swapped between thumb in and
quill
depending on the piece.
Are there any examples in the modern recorded repertoire for this?
And
who are the performers - I have Paul O'Dettes complete works of
Dowland
and a substantial collection of Lindberg and Heringman plus many
more.
Finally, are there any specific techniques to be learned regarding
the
quill pick, say in how some chords or note runs are played.
Regards
Neil
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