[LUTE] Re:Re: New Boy wants lute
> > Is a 6 course easier to play than 7-8 course? Or not? > 13 course is the easiest. Never tried, but I am a little dubious about that statement! I think it is a matter of hand anatomy: small hands on a 13 course lute. PD > > > How much more difficult is it to play a lute versus a guitar? > I have no idea, never played the latter. > RT > > > == > http://polyhymnion.org > > Feci quod potui. Faciant meliora potentes. > > > > > ___ > $0 Web Hosting with up to 200MB web space, 1000 MB Transfer > 10 Personalized POP and Web E-mail Accounts, and much more. > Signup at www.doteasy.com > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
[LUTE] Re: Technique and Tendonitis
> jim abraham wrote: > > > I'm wondering if thumb under > > would be less stressful. > > I can't think of a reason why it would be, but the only way you'll ever > know is to try it for a while. I doubt that the problem is your thumb under or over technique. More likely it is the actual movement (and probably the tension you use). Try this to test the strain and the pain. Put the finger tips of your left hand on the spots where the tendons of your right fingers enter that tunnel (the base of the back of your right hand). Play "air lute" with different angles of the fingers and hand. Change the hand angles, and the tension on the right fingers. Find out where it hurts and where is is most comfortable. Best, Jon To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: New Boy wants lute
Hello New boy, RT has given you the answers, but as usual they are rather cryptic. Having played guitar for over 55 years now, and the lute for about a year and a half, I may be able to help on your questions. Firstly unless you are you are incredibly talented you aren't a guitar player yet (in 9 months). The guitar, unlike the lute family, is a standardized instrument. But guitar music is far from standardized. Modern guitar, as used in Rock and much of folk and jazz, is a chorded instrument. One can strum the full six strings (although my play over the years has been the "finger pickin' " folk accompanyment. But there is also the older and more traditional Spanish and Classical. (Lute list, please forgive me for the simplification). You don't say how you are using your guitar. I have to assume that you are using it for modern styles of chording rather than the more careful playing of the individual strings as in the Classical guitar. The lute is more difficult than a "strummed guitar", but not more difficult than a well played one. I'll go to your specific questions (which RT has properly answered). > Questions: > > Why are frets made with 'gut' on a lute? Does this mean they wear out, if so > how do you fix them yourself or do you need to be a professional? I assume that you are referring to the contrast between the fixed metal frets of the guitar and the tied frets of the lute, whether they are gut or nylon. The lute is a traditional instrument dating back to before the days of a fixed "equal temperament" and so the ability to slightly move the tied frets allows one to use a different tempering of the scale so as to better match the sound of historic times. If your musicology is not sufficient to understand this please ask me directly. BTW, metal frets (aside from being fixed) do ruin the sound. > > Do you use gut string with lutes? Will nylon ruin the sound? You can use gut, nylon or Nylgut. The sound and the feel is a bit different between them, but none will "ruin" the sound except for the particular ear that prefers gut. > > How bad are the old-style tuners? I heard they go out of tune a lot. Is this > true, if so does it ruin the whole thing? Old style? Like on a violin? As RT says a well shaped peg is quite satisfactory (and aesthetically pleasing). > > If you get anything other than a 6 course lute, will it ruin your guitar > playing? Or not? I still want to play guitar There is no relationship between the 6 courses of a lute and those of a guitar. One doesn't strum full chords on a lute, although there is chording. (And for the Spanish and Classical guitarists on the list I'm referring to the "common" guitar of today, not your machine). Other than the skills with the fingers the practice and technique is quite different. I am trying to break folk guitar habits in learning the lute. > > Is a 6 course easier to play than 7-8 course? Or not? RT said it, a 13 course is easier - but as is typical of him (with all due respect RT) he left it cryptic. The lute is a 6 course instrument in a sense. The courses below that are tuned a tone or a half tone off the string above them and are normally played open. If I want to play a piece written for 10 course lute on my 7 course I have to down tune the 7th course and recast the tab to finger the notes in between on that 7th course. So, in a sense, the more strings below the 6th course the easier to play pieces that use the lower harmonies. > > How much more difficult is it to play a lute versus a guitar? They are the same, as are all instruments. It depends on what you want to play. The early lute was a melody instrument played with a pick (sorry purists, a quill plectrum - and you might not call that a "lute"). But as music developed the play of the lute changed and became polyphonic. A chorded guitar is more difficult than a "single string" lute, but a lute played as in the late medieval and from then one is harder than a "strummed guitar". I play penny whistle, it is an easy instrument to play slowly in ballad form, but an extremely difficult one to play as a virtuoso. A beginner can make credible music on a guitar, or on a lute, but the music written for lute is a bit more demanding of accuracy than the guitar when it is used for accompanyment. Best, Jon (PS, comment solicited from the list - I just pontificated without half the knowledge of any of you). To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: Technique and Tendonitis
jim abraham wrote: > I'm wondering if thumb under > would be less stressful. I can't think of a reason why it would be, but the only way you'll ever know is to try it for a while. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Technique and Tendonitis
Hi All, Owing to poor computer keyboard technique, I've developed slight tendonitis in my right hand. I've rectified the problems with the computer technique, am getting occ. therapy, etc, and I'm confident the symptoms will diminish in time. The condition appears to be somewhat aggravated by my lute playing, however. I'm working with my teacher on eliminating tension, etc. But I'm also wondering if changing my technique might help. I'm currently playing thumb out (albeit with a straight wrist), and I'm wondering if thumb under would be less stressful. Jim -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: New Boy wants lute
> Questions: > > Why are frets made with 'gut' on a lute? Gut frets male strings last A LOT longer. > Does this mean they wear out, if so > how do you fix them yourself or do you need to be a professional? They do wear out, but ANYONE could tie a new fret in seconds. > Do you use gut string with lutes? Will nylon ruin the sound? No. Nylon (and carbon) is a lot cheaper than gut, and most people use it. Some prefer gut sound, some prefer nylon. > How bad are the old-style tuners? I heard they go out of tune a lot. Is > this > true, if so does it ruin the whole thing? Well made friction pegs are not prone to going out of tune escessively. Violinists and cellists (and pianists for that matter) use them, exclusively. > If you get anything other than a 6 course lute, will it ruin your guitar > playing? Or not? I still want to play guitar It is hard to imagine trading a Maserati for a Fiat.. > Is a 6 course easier to play than 7-8 course? Or not? 13 course is the easiest. > How much more difficult is it to play a lute versus a guitar? I have no idea, never played the latter. RT == http://polyhymnion.org Feci quod potui. Faciant meliora potentes. ___ $0 Web Hosting with up to 200MB web space, 1000 MB Transfer 10 Personalized POP and Web E-mail Accounts, and much more. Signup at www.doteasy.com To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] New Boy wants lute
Howdy I am a guitar player (played everyday for about 9 months). Now I'm ready to try a lute. Questions: Why are frets made with 'gut' on a lute? Does this mean they wear out, if so how do you fix them yourself or do you need to be a professional? Do you use gut string with lutes? Will nylon ruin the sound? How bad are the old-style tuners? I heard they go out of tune a lot. Is this true, if so does it ruin the whole thing? If you get anything other than a 6 course lute, will it ruin your guitar playing? Or not? I still want to play guitar Is a 6 course easier to play than 7-8 course? Or not? How much more difficult is it to play a lute versus a guitar? _ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] lute wanted for a play...
Hi People - I just got a call from a woman who is looking to rent a lute for a play that is being performed at Villanova University in Phillidelphia, PA ( USA .) She would like to get it right now and use it till mid December, and she stresses that the lute will be well taken care of. The play is "INCORRUPTIBLE: by Michael Hollinger. The person to contact is Toni Lyn Longo, 610 519-4452. Maybe someone has a student lute that would fit the bill. Wayne To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: frustrated with tuning, strings, lutes, the world etc...
Vance Wood wrote: > So the question is: Why do some paintings depict this method of > playing? Is it perhaps possible that we place too much credence on the > accuracy of paintings in determining some of the finer points about > the Lute > and the way it was played? It's not just paintings. I believe there are surviving instruments with wear marks at or behind the bridge. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[LUTE] Re: How deaf people learn to talk.
Being somewhat new to the lutenet, I did not know what OT meant. Thank you. - Original Message - From: "Herbert Ward" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 1:57 PM Subject: [LUTE] Re: How deaf people learn to talk. > On Fri, 30 Sep 2005, Roman Turovsky wrote: >> ... LUTENISTICALLY IRRELEVANT. >> If Herb were less rude he'd prefix his subject >> with "OT", for "offtopic"... > > I thought I'd made a reasonable connection to the world > of lute playing. > > Despite being sincerely appreciative of replies, I still think > it an interesting and poorly resolved question. > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
