The Fundamentals of Lute Playing, Episode 4 (Basic Tuning)
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- Опубликовано: 26 авг 2024
- An episode covering the basics of tuning of the lute.
A special thank you to my Patreon supporters:
Vanessa Green
D. Martin
Chris Hatchell
Jack Haefner
Miqbri
Some helpful links:
1) For a more advanced discussion of tuning on the lute:
• LTT S1: E13 - Lute Tun... (part1)
• LTT S1: E14 - Lute Tun... (part 2)
2) The Lute Society of America's Beginner's Guide with some helpful stringing and tuning tips: storage.google...
3) A video on changing frets provided by the LSA: • Fret Tying with Travis...
4) My book for intermediate and advanced players, published by Mel Bay:
www.melbay.com...
A link to my Patreon: / fundamentalsofluteplaying
My lute you helped me decide on will be here this friday from Ireland. Thank you for your advice. i went with the 8c in rosewood.
This is so important to understand - as a beginner.
Thank you!
One of the biggest issues with renaissance lute is that there is no "standard" tuning not to mention intonation, octave or unison tuning or even the amount of strings from 6-8 courses varies which makes the repertoire a living nightmare to to play as it is not always clear what configuration the lute is supposed to be in. Tho it has gotten better with modern material by sticking to the same tuning in A=440hz and the same string config making a modern standard lute in a way.
One thing that made my life faaaaar more easier was swapping to mechanical tuning pegs it saves a ton of time, keeps in tune far better and lessens the frustration in maintaining and tuning friction pegs and looks identical to the original ones. The old adage the the lutenist spends half his life tuning and the other paying for his strings comes to mind.
An instrument built for "Historical" pitch like A=415 etc is nice and all but as a beginner it's just adds unneeded complexity and can pose an issue if playing with other instruments and gods forbid you try to tune after a piano or something with a low pitch as in best case scenario you bust a string at worst you crack the soundboard and rip the bridge clean off ruining an expensive lute.
I certainly don’t want to gatekeep the lute and I think we all make some amount of modern adjustments. For example, I use synthetic gut strings instead of real gut. This is primarily due to cost, and I need strings that are a bit more stable. I will say that many lute players and even beginners enjoy exploring the historical aspects of the instrument. For example, I actually really enjoy friction pegs. I like to be able to quickly adjust the tuning and by pulling the peg out and pushing it back in, it gives me a lot of flexibility. I was a classical guitarist for 12 years before playing lute so I can compare pretty well to using tuning machines. I think some of the fussy elements of early music can be a lot of fun as well. Using mean tone, or other tuning systems, exploring different stringings, and playing at different pitch levels can be a lot of fun. I certainly think that there’s room for both a modern approach to the lute and a historical approach to the lute. It’s definitely an evolving field :-)
An episode covering the basics of tuning of the lute. Some helpful links:
1) For a more advanced discussion of tuning on the lute:
ruclips.net/video/bPS_1LrxOOo/видео.htmlsi=wki_VOLuCHdOqaY5 (part1)
ruclips.net/video/1cgrowPnNRk/видео.htmlsi=0woev5IeKXepbaII (part 2)
2) The Lute Society of America's Beginner's Guide with some helpful stringing and tuning tips: storage.googleapis.com/lsa-files/wp-content/uploads/for-public/Beginners-Guide-Final.pdf
3) A video on changing frets provided by the LSA: ruclips.net/video/6T5MgtQSofI/видео.html
4) My book for intermediate and advanced players, published by Mel Bay:
www.melbay.com/Products/30967/the-art-of-lute-playing.aspx