Hi John, thumb-in is not the only technique to be used for the renaissance lute. There is still another technique, called thumb-out, which resembles guitar technique a lot. The pinky stays on the soundboard, but the forefinger, middle and ring finger are held in a right angle toward the strings (instead of parallel as with thumb-in), and the thumb is stretched out, being held parallel to the bass courses.
I've played the lute for almost 25 years by now, using thumb-in exclusively, even with the baroque lute (sic!), as I was under impression that is the proper way. Only since some five months I've seriously tried thumb-out, and I have to say, it works well, producing quite a distinct sound which differs from what comes out of thumb-in. All I wanted to say is, you are not doomed to thumb-in, and if it doesn't work for you, try the other. It was developed around 1600 for playing lutes with seven and more courses. Mathias To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
