Yep, I've followed this baby too. And thought it finally almost settled down till these paragraphs, Vance.
So if you or anyone else could explain to me how an eight course instrument can slow you down I would be most appreciative. It seems to me that a six course instrument would have the same effect in its limiting access to a large and significant portion of the literature. This might not slow you down physically but musically is another question.
What would slow me down would be to buy another instrument type and choosing yet another rep to play. I had an 8c (ok, still do) and I've made my choice of limits. Limits are good things. Some play lutes also; some play lutes only; some play only baroque or ren lutes....
The Lute is what it is, and as such it is an instrument possessing many strings. If anyone is going to progress beyond the first part of the Sixteenth Century they are going to have to deal with "many strings".
There seems to be an assumption here of progress meaning moving temporally forward in time. Ie, Johnson is good but to progress one should go to whoever followed him. I don't buy it. I don't want to move on from my chosen repertory. I've got more than my remaining lifetime's worth of music within the 6-c rep. Yes, I miss playing some Terzis, Molinaros, Cuttings and Dowlands but I don't need to spread myself thinner. Instead I apply myself more focused on my daCremas, Gintzlers and Spinacinos.
Even if I were a beginner now it would be perfectly authentic to play a 6-c for an entire lifetime. Plenty did and were no less the lutenist for it.
Slow me down. Fa. Sean To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
