Dear Nigel,
My 14-course theorbo in A has eight pegs for short strings, and eight pegs for
long strings. This means I can string it 6/8, 7/7, or 8/6. I used to have it
7/7, but a broken string made me change to eight short and six long, and I've
stayed that way ever since. Even though I could have both a low F and a stopped
low F# available, I rarely take advantage of this. I tune the 8th course to F
or F# depending on the key of the music, and just get on with it, as best I can.
In the past, if they didn't have the note available, they didn't play it.
Obvious. One can download free from the internet Fleury's treatise on playing
the theorbo, published in 1660. He clearly had six short strings on his
theorbo. On page 8 he gives a chromatic scale up from low F to the D above
middle C. Above each note of the scale he gives the appropriate chord in
tablature. His theorbo in A doesn't have a low F# and G#, so he simply plays
those notes an octave higher. For the first six notes of the scale he gives the
following chords:
_____a____b__________________
__b_____|_d__a__|__b__|__b___
__b__d__|_d__a__|__b__|__d___
__c_____|____b__|_____|__d___
_____e__|_______|_____|______
________|_______|__a__|__b___ etc.
/a a
Switching from one octave to another may upset those of a theoretical frame of
mind, but in practice it can work to one's advantage. Fleury's 2nd and 4th
chords are both 1st inversions, and may be regarded as "weak" chords. Their
effect is usually less strong than a chord in root position. Having the bass
note of these inverted chords an octave higher, emphasises their weakness.
If you play all the notes on a theorbo at written pitch, you may never use
those long strings. If you play every note an octave lower than written, you
will certainly use those low strings, but the theorbo will start to sound like
a double bass, and you stop noticing at what octave the music is played. If, on
the other hand, you keep switching from one octave to another, whether by
choice or because you are forced by what notes are available, you become more
aware of the lower notes, and can enjoy them more. Marin Marais' music for solo
bass viol and continuo shows how effective such a bass line can be, as he
switches octaves to cover the full range of a 7-string bass viol. It is worth
noting that Marais' preferred instrument for continuo, at least for music in
his first book, was the theorbo.
Taking my cue from Marais, when playing continuo, I sometimes drop an octave
for a special chord, e.g. for a scrumptious 642:
___________a_______
__a____a___a_______
__a____a___________
__b____b___________
__c________________
___________d___a___
///a
especially if the music is slow. In this example, you can see that the
voice-leading is all over the place, but it's worth it for the extra sonority
on that low D.
Best wishes,
Stewart McCoy.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nigel Solomon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "lute-cs.dartmouth.edu" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 10:18 PM
Subject: [LUTE] Theorbo stringing
> Now, while we're talking about theorbos in G or A, even though the
> majority of theorbos seemm to have 6 strings on the fingerboard and 8
> diapasons, how many of you "cheat" and stick the 7th (i.e. G if the
> theorbo is in A) on the fingerboard too? Come on, own up!
> I am asking because even though none of the Italian music, that I've
> seen anyway, stops strings lower than the 6th, as soon as you play
> continuo you invariably need a bottom Gsharp.
> What is the answer? Sacrifice that wonderful 14th course and put on a
> thin Gsharp?
> I asked my lute maker to set up my theorbo with the possibility of 7 + 7
> (rather than 6 + 8) for continuo work.
> How do other people get round that beastly note without losing the
> wonderful diapason string?
> I previously owned a 16-course theorbo with the bottom two courses tuned
> to fsharp and Gsharp. May be that's the answer, I know that Kapsberger
> used a theorbo with more strings. Most nowadays only seem to have 14
> though. Theorbos seem complicated enough as it is though, without adding
> an extra 2 strings!
>
> Nigel
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