Hello,
I am looking for advice on a first student lute, in this case a renaissance lute. If this email is inappropriate for this list, or there is a better place to post it, please let me know. I have been reading about lutes on the internet, but still have a lot of questions. I am a amateur guitar player, and have played classical, acoustic and electric guitars for many years. I have listened to lute and vihuela music for years, but very little hands on experience. I am quite familiar with guitars but don't really know that much about lutes and have a number of questions. I have played some lute tab on the guitar by tuning the g string to f# and capoing at the third fret, as well as playing some tunes on the guitar. Number of courses: Of the 6, 7, and 8 course lutes, it would seem that a 7 course lute would be most practical. It would allow me to play the earlier repertoire as well as most of the Dowland pieces. It doesn't seem like there is a whole lot to be gained from going to an 8 course lute. Is this reasonable? Are 6 and 7 course lutes tuned differently (unison vs octave course)? Scale length: I don't have large hands, and with a classical guitar the scale length makes a difference with some chords and stretches. Renaissance lutes seem to vary in scale length from 540mm to 670mm. Besides the tuning of the open strings, are the larger scale lengths harder to play with small hands? With guitars, often the intonation suffers with shorter scale lengths, is this true of lutes as well? Body Size/Ergonomics: When I look at pictures of lutes they look to be of a similar shape, but it's hard to tell if the body sizes are different. Does the body size vary? Does it vary with the scale length? Alto lutes do appear to have a smaller body, so small that it actually appears harder to hold. Is there a body size that would be most comfortable to hold? Does the body depth differ, and if so, is a shallower lute more comfortable to hold? Ergonomics: I think comfort/ergonmics are very important. Besides the body shape and size, and the scale length, are there any other factors affecting ergonomics? With some guitars, especially larger bodies with a sharp edge, I find them quite uncomfortable for my right arm and can only play them for so long before my circulation is restricted. Is the sharp edge of the lute top an issue? Number of ribs: All of the student lutes I have looked at have either 9 or 11 ribs. What effect does the number of ribs have, if any? Are there any other things I should be thinking about? It is probably clear that I only know enough to be dangerous. Also, even a student lute is a big investment for me and I hope to make as good a choice as possible. Any and all comments and advice is appreciated with thanks, morgan -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
