Hi Andrew, 1600 is a rough date. John Dowland is a crown's witness >;) who during his carrier changed from thumb-in to thumb-out. I'm uncertain concerning all the other European players, but e. g. Jean Baptiste Besard recommended thumb-out in his method shortly after 1600 (1603, if memory correctly serves). To put it the other way round, I don't know of a source that recommends thumb-in after 1600.
As for the baroque lute, all the iconographic material that I'm aware of points to thumb-out, even though there is a picture of Charles Mouton who stretches his thumb out but doesn't hold his fingers in an exact 90° angle toward the strings. So, the least that can be said is, that thumb-out isn't un-HIP for lute music after 1600. Mathias "Andrew Gibbs" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> schrieb: > Hello Mathias > Is it right to think that thumb-out is the historically correct > technique for lute music composed post 1600? Did lute players all > over Europe switch to thumb-out around 1600? And this might be a > silly question: are there any players today who use both techniques: > thumb-in for renaissance pieces and thumb-out for baroque? > > I didn't play much guitar before taking up the lute so learning thumb- > in hasn't involved breaking any habits - but I am (perhaps overly) > concerned with historical correctness. > > Andrew (also a beginner player) > > On 1 May 2007, at 14:11, Mathias Rösel wrote: > > > 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. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
