Stewart and Antonio, This beginning lutenist agrees as to the regularity of beat, but this old musician might say that his newly learned practice of the lute pieces as entabulated includes a "freedom of expression". Many of the pieces I've been trying (some from my first book, Ronn McFarlane's Scots Lute, some from Damiano's "Method of the Renaissance Lute", and some from downloads kindly offered by members of this list) seem to militate for a change of pace between measures, although not within them. A pause before starting a new musical statement, or a quick entry to a new "pulse". I think we are saying the same thing, keep the sectional rythmic integrity, but understand the changes (and where they are musically) and play the piece. BTW, and old singer can tell you that speed of notes isn't the same as the pace of the song, dynamics make a difference and can give the impression of an increased tempo.
>My other thought concerns the mode. Why should the player need to >know the mode, if all the notes are there in front of him? Is it >because there is a mood associated with each mode? Knowing the mode >would then give the player information on the mood he should try to >create - happy, sad, introspective, aggressive, etc. Yes, the mode does matter - although I again excuse myself from lute knowledge. But I'll make a bit of a guess as to how it might matter on the lute. As we all know the Ionian is our do-re-mi. And that the Aeolian is it's relative minor key and has a mood. But the Dorian and Mixolydian are also commonly used, and share some of the mood of the Aeolian, but not quite all. Since the lute "chords" seem often to be open chords of two notes the sense of the chord might be lost (except in the hands of the magnificent musicians on this list). I'll give a modern, and somewhat banal, example. The old folk tune Scarborough Fair was Ionian, Simon and Garfunkel modified the melody (and dropped most of the verses, losing the meaning). Their melody works with Aeolian or Dorian mode, but it is in Dorian although most "folkies" play it Aeolian. There is a subtle difference in the feeling of the melody. If you have access to a guitar, piano, or harp try starting it in Am (relative minor of C) and then follow the Am progression (Em next). Then try it with the Am start and GM as the next chord, and just alternate Am and GM. Then you are Dorian, and the sense of the melody is different. So I guess I'm saying that given the less than full chording that is normal to lute tabulature there may be a matter of emphasis that might make you play the notes differently depending on the mode. Best, Jon To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
