----- Original Message ----- From: Stefan Ecke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: 24 October 2003 09:14 Subject: splitted courses
> Dear list members, > > I wonder where in lute literature one find splitted courses. > That is, the two strings of a course are stopped at different > frets to produce two different notes. I only know the examples > of the Capirola book. Has anybody of you ever used a > splitted course in continuo playing to obtain a chord that > was otherwise unplayable? > > Greetings, > Stefan > Dear Stefan, Bakfark did it too. (Greet, Mouton's case is different because he sometimes plays the upper and lower octaves of the basses separately, whereas Capirola, Fuenllana, etc. finger a stopped note and open string on the same course at the same time). I see no reason why you couldn't make use of this in continuo playing, though the fingering is a bit fiddly and it might not be worth the effort. After all, the great thing about continuo is that you get to choose your chord voicings! Close position 6/5s and so on are easier on the theorbo than the lute because of the reentrant tuning - having two pairs of strings a tone apart (1st and 3rd, 2nd and 5th) makes all kinds of things possible... Best wishes, Martin
