Thank you for all your tips. Robin is one of my favourites, I managed to find it in John Downlands collected works. I have many facsimiles but not the Ballett Lutebook. I used to play lute duets with my late partner and is only now that I am able to go back to the lute again because of this loss. Meanwhile I have been singing in choirs and playing my guitar. I have just tuned up the two tenor lute and soprano lutes and fixed a fret and hope to be playing them soon.
This is absolutely beautiful. I'm so fascinated by all of your videos sir. I actually am a guitar player, Ive been saving up and am hoping to buy a lute soon!
Thanks Wes. If you're thinking of buying a lute, I would strongly advise you to hire one first (rather than buy a "cheap" lute). Both the English lute society www.lutesociety.org and the American lute society www.lutesocietyofamerica.org have instruments for hire. A hire lute will give you a much better idea of what the lute is like and hiring is so cheap that you can afford to have a few lessons as well, to get you started. Once you're hooked (and you will be) you can think about buying a good lute. Good luck!
To be a lutenist has always been my own dream ( hidden in the...drawer...) Now with your channel I have the hope to be motivated to study the renaissance lute ( I have to quit the guitar ? ) Thank you for sharing your mastery ! Greetings from Rome
It depends what you want to achieve with the lute, but it might not be necessary to give up the guitar. There are lots of people out there who do both. If you want to study the lute, the most important thing is to get a good lute and get some lessons from someone who really knows what they're talking about. Feel free to ask questions, and good luck!
Thanks, Robin, I'm glad you liked it. The sound of the lute has always been one of my top priorities as a maker and a player, and there are several factors involved. Most of the strings I used here are gut, except for the KF basses. I tend to use 1/6 comma meantone rather than equal temperament. And of course I would be very happy to make you a lute!
yes me too i am always trying to get the perfect sound but i cant seem to get the sound i am looking for..thankyou i would love to try one of your lutes but you dont live in uk now?thankyou for the information i should try gut strings
@@luteshop Thank you for the tip on the strings, Martin. Do you find the use of gut strings appropriate for beginners or do they create other sorts of problems?
@@erwo_fella I don't see why beginners shouldn't use gut strings, since developing a good feel for the sound and possibilities of the lute is obviously something one wants to develop early on. A new gut string settles very quickly, and stays in tune better than you might think. The main difficulty seems to be that some people have chemicals in their sweat which degrade strings very rapidly, other lucky ones (like me) can keep their strings a long time.
Sensitive playing Martin. What is the 7th course tuning in your renaissance lute? Why kind of string are both on 7th c? Sorry for many questions & Thanks
On 7c lutes I nearly always tune the 7th to D (a fourth below the 6th) and finger the low F if necessary. On this lute the top string was .45 nylon, the rest all gut except the low bass octaves which are KF strings from Savarez. I much prefer a gut top string if I can get a good enough one - the sound and feel are both better than anything else.
@@luteshop THANKS FOR YOUR WISE AND QUICK RESPONSE! I think this is good tuning combination and with less tension for soundboard. Gut is better by far in lights building instruments.
Lute tablature tells you where to put your fingers - the six lines represent the top six courses (pairs of strings), the letters a, b, c etc tell you which fret (a=open string, b=1st fret, c=2nd fret, etc). and the rhythm signs over the top are just like normal rhythm signs, except that conventionally a stem with two tails is a quarter note (old music uses longer note values than modern music). It's a very practical system for representing complex music on one staff, and it's so easy to learn you could probably do it in an afternoon.
Thank you for all your tips. Robin is one of my favourites, I managed to find it in John Downlands collected works. I have many facsimiles but not the Ballett Lutebook. I used to play lute duets with my late partner and is only now that I am able to go back to the lute again because of this loss. Meanwhile I have been singing in choirs and playing my guitar. I have just tuned up the two tenor lute and soprano lutes and fixed a fret and hope to be playing them soon.
This version of Robin comes from the Folger lute book - you can get the facsimile from the Lute Society: www.lutesociety.org/pages/catalogue#head2
Thank you so much
You seem to have very relaxed, light touch that produces beautiful sound. I hope to be able to develop it one day as well.
that is exquisite
I love tunes which make medieval dancing drift across the stage of my mind. . .
This is absolutely beautiful. I'm so fascinated by all of your videos sir. I actually am a guitar player, Ive been saving up and am hoping to buy a lute soon!
Thanks Wes. If you're thinking of buying a lute, I would strongly advise you to hire one first (rather than buy a "cheap" lute). Both the English lute society www.lutesociety.org and the American lute society www.lutesocietyofamerica.org have instruments for hire. A hire lute will give you a much better idea of what the lute is like and hiring is so cheap that you can afford to have a few lessons as well, to get you started. Once you're hooked (and you will be) you can think about buying a good lute. Good luck!
Beautiful! Adore this piece!
I love this piece. Lovely playing
To be a lutenist has always been my own dream ( hidden in the...drawer...) Now with your channel I have the hope to be motivated to study the renaissance lute ( I have to quit the guitar ? ) Thank you for sharing your mastery ! Greetings from Rome
It depends what you want to achieve with the lute, but it might not be necessary to give up the guitar. There are lots of people out there who do both. If you want to study the lute, the most important thing is to get a good lute and get some lessons from someone who really knows what they're talking about. Feel free to ask questions, and good luck!
Dear Master Sheperd , I have got a german lute might be I could send you images to assess if it is good enough to start ?
Just send some photos to martin@luteshop.co.uk and I can see what you've got.
That is so good Martin - thank you for sharing it.
Nice work Martin. Great sound.
Wonderful
Super!
Beautifully played how do you get such a nice tone?which technique?..i would love to buy one of your lutes
Thanks, Robin, I'm glad you liked it. The sound of the lute has always been one of my top priorities as a maker and a player, and there are several factors involved. Most of the strings I used here are gut, except for the KF basses. I tend to use 1/6 comma meantone rather than equal temperament. And of course I would be very happy to make you a lute!
yes me too i am always trying to get the perfect sound but i cant seem to get the sound i am looking for..thankyou i would love to try one of your lutes but you dont live in uk now?thankyou for the information i should try gut strings
@@luteshop Thank you for the tip on the strings, Martin. Do you find the use of gut strings appropriate for beginners or do they create other sorts of problems?
@@erwo_fella I don't see why beginners shouldn't use gut strings, since developing a good feel for the sound and possibilities of the lute is obviously something one wants to develop early on. A new gut string settles very quickly, and stays in tune better than you might think. The main difficulty seems to be that some people have chemicals in their sweat which degrade strings very rapidly, other lucky ones (like me) can keep their strings a long time.
Martin Shepherd thank you. That will be my resolution for the Autumn.
Sensitive playing Martin. What is the 7th course tuning in your renaissance lute? Why kind of string are both on 7th c? Sorry for many questions & Thanks
On 7c lutes I nearly always tune the 7th to D (a fourth below the 6th) and finger the low F if necessary. On this lute the top string was .45 nylon, the rest all gut except the low bass octaves which are KF strings from Savarez. I much prefer a gut top string if I can get a good enough one - the sound and feel are both better than anything else.
@@luteshop THANKS FOR YOUR WISE AND QUICK RESPONSE! I think this is good tuning combination and with less tension for soundboard. Gut is better by far in lights building instruments.
By Jove how do you play those bizarre tablatures???
Lute tablature tells you where to put your fingers - the six lines represent the top six courses (pairs of strings), the letters a, b, c etc tell you which fret (a=open string, b=1st fret, c=2nd fret, etc). and the rhythm signs over the top are just like normal rhythm signs, except that conventionally a stem with two tails is a quarter note (old music uses longer note values than modern music). It's a very practical system for representing complex music on one staff, and it's so easy to learn you could probably do it in an afternoon.
Hello Mr. Sheperd is it possible that you share the score? I would love to play it!
You can find a facsimile of the Folger lute book on the Lute Society website at www.lutesociety.org/pages/catalogue
@@luteshop Thank you very much!
that's the Folger MS, right?