For the upright, almost vertical position check out the Pipa player's
technique. I have NEVER seen them held horizontally- and those are not
excessively large lutes. Having played the viola da gamba quite
seriously years ago, I can attest to the great ease of long stretches on
a vertically held instrument. It's not uncommon for a typical (usually
Renaissance) lute player to get a tenor size viol- only to discover that
it's uncomfortably small for the vertical position for long, serious
practice/playing.
Except for the larger/longer archlutes, holding comfort & security has
never been an issue for me (unlike Classical Guitar; scoliosis &
tendonitis- thanks a lot, Segovia!). A large suede guitar strap handles
my small arciliuto quite handily, and I now hold my guitars the way I
hold my lutes- on the right thigh, legs crossed either way, low seat, or
sometimes RIGHT foot on a low footstool or guitar case end, the cat, or
whatever may be underfoot in stomping distance.
One of my new students spent weeks finding no comfortable lute position-
until the day I had her try a simple lute song (she was a singer) -she
inhaled, straightened up somewhat on her chair- channeling her "singing
awareness position"- and the lute fell right into place on her lap,
comfortable and easy to hold & play. In that vein one might treat the
problem of holding lutes as an almost Yogic sort of challenge. Also
perhaps contact Jacob Herringman- he is a licensed Alexander Technique
practitioner as well as a hell of a fine lute player, but I don't know
if he has any experience with the larger instruments.
But suction cups on lutes? SUCTION CUPS???
Lord have mercy! ("Excuse me, Herr Kapsperger, is that a toilet plunger
in your hand or are you just glad to play continuo for me?")
Dan
On 10/3/2013 12:57 AM, Martyn Hodgson wrote:
Dear Bill,
Most early representations show theorboes being held quite high up
and resting on the right thigh rather than between the legs as a modern
'classical' guitarist. Further, many early extant instruments have
fixing points for a cord/strap/ribbon: a button (or similar) at the end
of the body and one on the back of the first pegbox roughly where the
pegs are. Incidentally I can't see evidence of a practice of sitting on
the strap end.
By resting the instrument on the right thigh (similar to a flamenco
player's posture rather than a modern 'classical' guitarist- ie
inbetween the legs) and using such a strap I find all one needs is
something like a rough thick chamois leather placed on the thigh to
avoid any possibility of the instrument's lower side sliding forward.
No doubt, as has been suggested before (Bob Spencer I think), the heavy
coats of earlier players served much the same purpose.
It is also helpful to hold a theorbo more upright than a lute so that
the centre of gravity is closer in - it also helps a bit in playing
large left hand stretches. I've seen quite a few newcomers to the
theorbo struggle mightily with trying to play a theorbo in an almost
horizontal position as they play the lute and who soon find it much
easier when it is held more upright.
regards,
Martyn
From: William Samson <willsam...@yahoo.co.uk>
To: Lute List <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>; Daniel Shoskes
<kidneykut...@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, 2 October 2013, 22:42
Subject: [LUTE] Re: Thigh support for theorbo
Interesting question. Do we know how it was done back in the day?
Bill
Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android
__________________________________________________________________
From: Daniel Shoskes <[1]kidneykut...@gmail.com>;
To: Lute List <[2]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>;
Subject: [LUTE] Thigh support for theorbo
Sent: Wed, Oct 2, 2013 9:35:50 PM
Dear Theorbistas: has anyone ever tried one of the classical guitar
rests/cushions/supports that many guitarists now use instead of a
footstool for their theorbo? Some have suction cups or clamps which I
wouldn't be thrilled to use on my instrument, but some, like the
Dynarette don't.
I'm still struggling to find an ergonomic position and the "sitting
on
the strap" options just don't fit my body.
Thanks
Danny
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