Dear Emilio > 1. If one is already familiar with renaissance lute tuning, is it > correspondingly easier to learn continuo on the archlute? The tuning of the two instruments is the same, safe for the extra basses on an archlute, so if you can play continuo on the one, you can on the other.
> 2. Are the chord shapes required for continuo on archlute similar to those > one would encounter in playing solo renaissance lute? The chord shapes required for continuo are the ones you can play. If you have played a lot of renaissance music, your continuo playing will include many of the chord shapes encountered in that music. If you really study continuo you will discover many more useful chord shapes and find the ones that work best for you. > 3. In smaller ensembles, would there be significant tonal differences > between playing continuo on a smaller theorbo and playing on an extended > archlute? The double strings on an average archlute versus the single strings on an average theorbo will make a big difference in sound. The re-eantrant tuning of a theorbo versus the high two top courses on an archlute will make another great difference: bright, treble orientated archlute versus full, bass orientated theorbo. I do think each instrument has its own ideal continuo repertoire, though you can play most of it on either. So thinking about what will be the repertoire you'll be playing most is a good idea (early Italian music like Monteverdi works best on theorbo, later music like Bach or Handel on archlute, French baroque a theorbo again, etc. See Nigel North's and Mason's books for a good overview). > 4. If anyone on the list plays continuo on a liuto attiorbato, would you > advise as to the advantages and disadvantages (e.g. is there sufficient > volume). Depending on the type of bass strings, the volume will not be different, it's more a matter of tone colour. Extended basses of pure gut can not be imitated by anything shorter. But having said all of this, you can 'make' your own continuo lute by stringing it at will: a theorbo body with archlute tuning, an archlute with the first course an octave down, a double strung theorbo (apparantly very authentic though hardly encounterd today), a theorbo in g with two, one or even no strings an octave down, a single strung archlute, etc. Perhaps you'll not be able to play some of the solo repertoire on an instrument like that, but it might make the perfect continuo lute for you. David - playing continuo on anything from theorbo in a, archlute in g' to renaissance lutes in any size and tuning and various guitars ***************************************** David van Ooijen Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Http://home.planet.nl/~d.v.ooijen/ ***************************************** To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
