On Feb 8, 2009, at 1:07 AM, Anthony Hind wrote: > Yes, I have those too, but by looking at a detail, you miss the > general point, I was making. That dilettanteism is relative, and > Jacob is more of a specialist than most. This has probably lead him > to develop his very elegant renaissance RH position.
You're right in the sense that your premise is pretty much idle speculation, so specifics don't affect it. In fact, it's pretty much immune to information of any sort. If, for example, you were to learn that his right hand position on a six-course is different from his position on theorbo, it could be because his relative specialization has led him to a different position. If the two positions turn out to be the same, it's because he's such a specialist that his six-course position has influenced his theorbo position. I think the whole specialist-dilettante dichotomy is a pointless exercise. Every musician needs a set of skills, and it doesn't take every waking hour to develop them. If it did, a lute player would be detracting from his renaissance lute skills by playing theorbo, but he'd also be detracting from them by riding a bicycle, collecting stamps or having sex (particular if he did them all at the same time). Or look at it this way: is it dilettantism for a lute player to play an instrument where he needs to use a bow? If you're inclined to answer yes, consider that every violinist needs to learn both plucking and bowing technique. Is it dilettantism for a clarinetist to play saxophone? Or for a horn player to play Wagner tuba? Or for a percussionist to play 30 different instruments? These are required professional skill sets. Even a pianist needs to learn skills other than just depressing keys, such as drowning out the other players in a chamber group, being egotistical, annoying neighbors, and sightreading perfectly without having the slightest grasp of the music. -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
