Stephen,
You've hit the nail on the head as far as lute tutors. I never
used a method book. Instead, I sought out some very good teachers.
Even though I would often drive for hours to take a lesson, I was
fortunate to live so close to people who knew what they were doing.
Unfortunately, my instruction was always sporadic and there are still
huge gaps in my technique, which I'm only now beginning to close since
I'm finally in a regular lesson situation.
I didn't start out with Damiani's book, but I believe its OK. Most
other lute methods proceed from an extremely faulty pedagogical base.
They will usually begin something like this: here's how to tune the
lute; here's how to read tab; here's how to play a note; here's 150
pieces, including virtuoso fantasias by Dowland and Milano; now here's
how to read German tab, etc. Rarely do I see invented modern exercises
or etudes to help with finding notes, much less fineries like tone
production. That's really what most tutors for other instruments are
about. The situation gets worse with the instruments with loads of
basses.
Videos are a start. Sadly, most of us are never aware of what
we're actually doing, (Its so easy to convince yourself, "I'm doing it
exactly like the guy in the vid," - or worse, "Why don't I sound like
the guy in the vid? I'm doing it exactly like him!") so there simply
is no substitute for finding a qualified teacher.
Chris
--- On Wed, 5/20/09, Stephen Arndt <[email protected]> wrote:
I dream that someday someone will publish a lute
method with systematic, step-by-step video instructions to supplement
as far
as possible the absence of a live teacher.
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