by way of a commission, a mandolin player from the
u.s. has asked me to design an f mandolin crossed
with a martin d-something steel guitar tattoo for him.
bluegrass, i'd wager. i hope his mother - or someone
- talks him out of it but i could do vihuelas, lutes
.. how about a nice theorbo
Are there any 17th-century documents or other evidence on tunings used for
fretted continuo instruments when playing with a keyboard instrument?
And what is the current practice when playing with a meantone keyboard?
Thanks,
Dennis
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And what is the current practice when playing with a meantone keyboard?
Mean-tone, in all its different shades, is no problem (with or without a
tastini or two), but unequal temperaments like Werckmeister (Jägermeister)
can be a bit of a head ache. If it is really critical (recording or very
Fantasia ten from book 4, plus the usual scores:
http://www.musicintime.co.uk/Fuenllana.htm
Played on a low vihuela in E, with the sixth course down a tone.
And for those of you who have an interest in Scottish music:
http://www.scotskist.com - a new website. Not much on it at the moment.
Click
Interesting, David, but why bother? There are many depictions of lutes
playing alongside citterns and keyboards, - there is no way to get them all
to agree. The impression is that performers seemed not to mind, and carried
on regardless. Doubtless there were some who objected, but they seem to
When I was at Oakland University, 1970something one of the requirements was
ensamble playing. The director, Lsyle Nordstrom, organized consort groups
large and small. I don't remember having any serious issues with tuning.
We all tuned to the same A440 and away we went. I never noticed anything
