These are all excellent points, but I think I have to come down in favor of an 8 course for a beginner. I think that playability between 7 and 8 courses are simply not an issue until you get very advanced in your playing. As previously mentioned, it also allows you to play a lot of the 10 course repertoire. With an 8 course, you can play almost everything in Lundgren's Lute Calendar, which is a great collection of progressive pieces for a beginner.
I think the flexibility is also important because as we get more exposed to the lute, we start to play and hear music we didn't consider before. I started out wanting to play Dowland and Milano and not much else. Next came Vallet, and I needed a 10 course. Now my solo practice is almost exclusively 13 course Baroque! I think an 8 course gives you the flexibility to move in a direction later on - 6 courses if you like it earlier and 10+ if you like it later. Which leads I think to the last important point. Student 8 courses are the most common instruments available. I think they would be the easiest to find AND the easiest to re-sell if it becomes time to move on. DS On Apr 28, 2007, at 8:41 AM, Anthony Hind wrote: > Hello Josh and Matthias > I tend to agree with Matthias. Although, the 6 course is a beautiful > instrument and the 8 to 10 course would allow you to play the later > music as well as "the notes" of the earlier music, the 7 course is a > good compromise. Unless you have already decided on exactly the > repertoire that you are going to play in the future; and so long as > you have decided to keep to the Renaissance repertoire (a variable 10 > course/11 course might be a potential choice if you hesitate between > late renaissance and early Baroque lute music; but that does not seem > to be your case). > > Le 27 avr. 07 à 23:36, Mathias Rösel a écrit : > >> >> The thing is, you can play almost every piece of renaissance lute >> music >> on an 8c lute. You could play just any piece of renaissance lute >> music >> on a 10c lute. However, the more bass courses are added, the more >> changes the sound of the lute as a whole. It starts with the 7th >> course. > > I think this is one of the reasons why so many lute players love the > 6 course renaissance lute. > It has such a beautiful playability balance and clarity. Both these > qualities can be gradually lost as more courses are added, > particularly if you use metal wounds and not gut basses. > >> >> >> But from a practical point of view, the 7c lute will probably be the >> instrument of choice. > > The 7 course does not compromise the playability too much and does > not overly degrade the clarity; while it does allow you to play later > Renaissance music. > Gut diapasons may further reduce this problem, but of course are > expensive, and some think are also too time consuming in tuning. > Although others consider this is well worth the additional effort. > > Furthermore, the 7 course lute, I think, did appear quite early in > the period, and can be used for some Renaissance Italian music > (as Jacob Heringman does on some of the pieces on his recording of > The Sienna Lute Book). > There is perhaps also the model to think about. Jacob used a Gerle > style, which he dates to about 1580. > >> With lutes of seven courses, the 7th course is tuned a fourth below >> the >> 6th, in most instances. That would be low D on a lute in G. With >> lutes >> of eight courses, the 7th course is tuned a second below the 6th, and >> the 8th is tuned a fourth below the 6th, in most instances. That >> would >> be low F and D, repsectively, on a lute in G. > > > If, as Matthias says, you have your 7th course tuned to low D (and > not to F), you can also play individual notes corresponding to those > of an 8 course lute. > The open 7th course plays D which is usually the same as the open 8th > course of an 8 course lute; and by stopping your 7th course at the > 3rd fret you can obtain > the F of the open 7th course of an 8 course lute. You can not of > course play these notes simultaneously. > It has to be admitted that stopping the 7th course at the third fret > is more difficult than playing an open string, but possible. > > Best > Anthony To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
