Good for you, Joshua.  I hope you continue to play, as lute music is so 
wonderful and rewarding.

If I can explain some of the responses from this list, to your note about 
using a capo on the 3rd fret, it seems as though there are some who think a 
lute is basically tuned in g.  Actually, there are bass lutes in D and E, 
tenor lutes in F, F# and G, alto lutes in A, soprano lutes in c and a high 
d, even octave lutes in an octave higher that g.  Members of this list play 
all those various sized lutes, so to have the notion that raising the pitch 
a minor third makes a guitar lore lute-like is not true.  I even play a 
vihuela in Bb!

I think the list was saying that because you tune your guitar in g, it does 
not in effect make it more lute-like, as there is not standard pitch or 
size of lutes.  It is true that many of us play "g" lutes, but if you look 
at the surviving 10 course lutes, most are a lengthy 66 or 67 cm, making 
them suited for E, as your guitar is tuned.  Those longer E lutes for some 
players can be somewhat more awkward to play as compared to g lutes, due to 
the length.  Alto instruments in "a" are easier yet to play for certain 
repertoire, due to the shorter length.

Publishers have often [mostly in the past] made tablature editions, with 
parallel staff notation, using a "g" instrument in the transcription.  Some 
did it for an E instrument, some have done it for alto in a.  So, in order 
to make your guitar work for this wonderful music, I hope you can 
understand that  the relative pitch does not in any way make music any more 
lute-like.  Be sure to tune the 3rd string down a half step.... THEN the 
music will sound more like a lute, as the relative tunings will be correct.

Keep playing!  I hope someday you can get a lute.

ed



At 05:50 PM 11/13/2007 -0800, Joshua E. Horn wrote:
>I don't know.. I put a capo on the 3rd fret of my guitar and got the
>relative tuning of a Ren. Lute.. it seems to work with the tabs Im
>reading.
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