Dear bill To put it in a nutshell, in Spain, during most of the 16th century five- and six-course instruments were called "vihuelas"; four-course instruments were called "guitars". During the late 1570s and early 1580s a "new" instrument was developed: the five-course instrument we call "baroque guitar", which was called "guitarra espa�ola". I should stress that five-course instruments were in use before the 1580s, and that the novelty of the instrument is expressed in several sources of the time, which claim that Vicente Espinel was responsible of adding the fifth course to the four-course guitar.
Roman's proletarian distinction, tempting as it may seem from a social point of view, is incorrect. We have evidence that the vihuela was used throughout the whole social range. The commonplace about the "aristocratic vihuela and the popular guitar" is simply mistaken. --- bill kilpatrick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> escribi�: > from what i've understood so far, the only > difference > between a vihuela and a guitar is the tuning - > variations in shape, sound hole configuration and > number of courses being shared by both. > > - if the strings aren't there, how can you judge > which > is which? grooves in the nut perhaps? ... size of > bridge holes? both could be difficult to define in > an > antique instrument. > > roman's "proletarian" distinction might be apt - a > well made, carefully preserved "guitar" might be > considered a "vihuela" simply because the people who > owned it had secure enough living conditions to keep > it one piece. > > the "prole" distinction might also be applied to > size. > dimutive instruments were made for travel. with > its > "trade" associations and short life expectency under > rough and tumble conditions it might have been > considered of no consequence and in low prestige. > > - at what point does a 4c. renaissance guitar become > a > lowly uke? > > - conversely, if it were to increase in size and > rise > up the social ladder, at what point would a lowly > charango regain its aristocratic, vihuela > association? > > > strummed in the bossomy embrace of a dutchess would > certainly get a rise out of me. > > curiouser and curiouser - bill > > > > > > ___________________________________________________________ALL-NEW > Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! > http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Informaci�n de Estados Unidos y Am�rica Latina, en Yahoo! Noticias. Vis�tanos en http://noticias.espanol.yahoo.com To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
