Dear Caroline, It would appear that your F string is a wound string. Wound strings tend to get stuck at the nut. You can avoid this by rubbing a pencil on the nut and on the string, where they come into contact with each other. The graphite of the pencil lead acts as a lubricant.
To find the right place on the string, tune the string roughly up to pitch, mark the top of the string immediately over the nut with your pencil. Unwind the string enough for the pencil to get all around it, and plaster it with graphite at the place marked. Then when you tighten it back up, it slips easily over the nut. Martin Shepherd's advice is quite important, i.e. always tune strings from below the note upwards, rather than from above the note downwards (in pitch). You may need to keep turning the string down to be able to do this. If you are not sure whether a note is in tune or not, or you know it is not in tune but can't tell whether it is flat or sharp, again, do what Martin suggests. After you've turned the string down, you'll hear the note recognisably flat, and then you'll hear it grow into tune as you turn the peg. I have less enthusiasm for Howard Posner's suggestion of playing without any clothes on. The lute has a tendency to stick to one's skin, which can't do the varnish much good. Besides, if you are used to practising that way, what happens when you come to perform? To add to what Howard says about turning the pegs, I would suggest thinking of the peg more as a screw than a nail. In other words, push the peg inwards as you turn it, as if screwing it in, rather than tune the string up to pitch, and then push the peg straight into the peghole like a nail hammered into a piece of wood. Pushing the peg in without turning it, may distort the pitch of the note slightly, and may even damage the peghole. Best wishes, Stewart McCoy. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Caroline Chamberlain" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, November 29, 2004 12:11 AM Subject: Broken string > Dear Lute Listers > > I obtained my first lute a couple of weeks ago and have just broken a > string. There has been a lot of technical stuff about strings on the > discussion list in recent times, but to be honest, such technicalities are > beyond me. I should like some practical advice, please, because I don't > understand why I broke the string. I was trying to tune it to F, and had > got to E, so it was well below what I was aiming for. I should have thought > that there was no reason for the break. I had successfully tuned the lute a > couple of times in the previous week, so I know it's possible! > > As a classical guitarist, I do find the tuning pegs awkward. Indeed, I am > finding the whole lute awkward at present, but I've no doubt that > eventually I might get the hang of it and actually be able to play something! > > In the meantime, any practical hints on tuning - without too much science - > would be most appreciated. > > Thanks, > > Regards > > Caroline To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
