Roman -- what I wanted to ask was did they compose with shapes on the fingerboard and translate that to tablature or was it composed like a species counterpoint. And did professionals play from tablature or from standard notation, aside from figured bass.
On 7/6/08, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > --- Michael Gillespie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Also, (just > > a thought) did the > > baroque masters compose in tablature? (that seems > > absurd). Are there any > > sources for learning notation on the lute. > > > > > I wouldn't compose in tab myself, but I don't see why > a baroque lutenist-composer wouldn't, at least for > solo works. Presumably, tab would have been a natural > language for them to think in since they would have > been dealing with it since their early days of > learning te instrument. > > That doesn't mean they didn't think in notes as > opposed to fingerboard shapes. Professional lutenists > all knew their continuo chops, which would have been > improvised from a bass line in notation. There is > also a significant body of later works for baroque > lute in chamber settings in which the other > instruments would have been written out in mensural > notation. Writing this should have been no big deal > for our lute guys. > > As for learning notation yourself - my best advice > would be to just do it. Pick up something in keyboard > notation and trash through it. Simple 4-voice > chorales are great for this. Play the parts > seperately, then the treble and bass clef "hands" > seperately and finally combine it all. (You could > also do bass and alto, tenor and soprano, tenor and > alto, bass and soprano, combinations of three voices, > etc.) This also gives anyone fantastic practice in > figured bass, even if you've been doing it for a > while. Although they may not be the most idiomatic > from a technical stand point for the lute, it'll be > like pumping iron for the finger coordination and > musical brain. > > > Chris > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Thanks, > > > > -Michael > > > > -- > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > > > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > > > > --
