On May 28, 2008, at 12:04 AM, Bruno Correia wrote: > I'd like to ask everybody about the role of the lute when playing > with a > singer. Which are the aspects we should focus when doing the > acompanniment? > > > As the lute is a very soft instrument with little or no dynamics at > all, > certainly there must be other issues to focus on. I imagine that a > good > point is to give attention to the articulation in order to make the > lute > speak instead of sing the lines (the short sustain doesn't allow much > singing anyway...). > > Appreciate coments!
Hi Bruno, I think it's important to keep in mind the difficulty for a singer with classical training to adapt to the environment of the lute song. The idea of "collaboration" is not always immediately obvious. I agree completely with the idea that the two performers should sit next to each other, lute and voice as one instrument. The whole voice-teacher thing of "mark down where I breathe!" is all very well, but in lute songs it has to work both ways. I once had a singer wave a pencil angrily under my nose in rehearsal then turn away, as if there was someone else in the room, and say "oh yes, they always think they can remember when I breathe!" Okay, be that as it may, my bad; but my point is that I tried many times to suggest places where the lute parts have to "breathe." Unfortunately she had difficulty in seeing my role as more than simply her accompanist. (Actually, I did mark down where she breathed, and we began to make progress after that. ;-) ) I think the most important thing is to know your part thoroughly, and be able to stop anywhere, start anywhere, and be in complete control of what you're doing. Number the bars, and make sure you and the singer agree on bar numbering. Learn the song itself as well as the lute part. Sing along with it as you practice on your own. One hallmark of classically trained singers is much sophistication in their use of language. Take advantage of that: in rehearsal, follow the singer. Go where the singer takes you. Even if they may not know much about singing to a lute, you can be sure that good singers know what they're doing when it comes to language. They have the authority in that. Despite my tongue-in-cheek remarks above, do what you can to accomodate the singer: write down when they breathe!!!!!! ;-) Hope that helps. David R [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
