Joe,
I think what Ed had in mind was the different touch required to
play a modern high-tension classical guitar and a lower-tension,
lightly-built lute along historical lines. The different feel of each
instrument is the major consideration for me, rather than historical
considerations (although, of course, I keep this info in mind as well).
If one wants to keep modern guitar as a main instrument and only pick
up the lute now and then without too much adaptation in right hand
technique, I would think it would make sense to have the strings of
each course a bit further apart than if one spends a lot of time
playing lute. Playing with nails, approaching the strings at a very
sharp angle and with a lot of concentrated force makes perfect sense on
the single-strung, high-tension guitar but is likely to make the
strings of a course rattle together on a lute unless adjustments are
made to either the technique or the instrument. (I would advise
changing technique.)
One can try to play with nails. I've heard some people get a nice
tone out of a lute with nails, particularly if the instrument is
darker, but for me the results were unsatisfactory. Another option, if
one has nails, is to file the nails in such a way that the nails are
not used on lute. I did this for years until it really got in the way
of higher-level playing (on lute).
Chris
--- On Mon, 6/15/09, Mayes, Joseph <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Mayes, Joseph <[email protected]>
Subject: [LUTE] Re: First lute advice
To: "Michael" <[email protected]>, "Lute list"
<[email protected]>
Date: Monday, June 15, 2009, 2:49 PM
I know I am sticking my neck way out here, but I thought I'd throw
in
my 2 cents - let the flames begin!
As I see it, in the early days of both lute and guitar, the
technique
was largely the same: thumb-under, pinky on the soundboard, etc. As
time passed, and both music and the technique to play that music
evolved, lute technique moved toward what "purists" consider "Guitar
technique" that is, thumb-out, alternating between index and middle,
etc. The guitar continued in an almost unbroken chain of development
to
the present day, while the lute, its players and its music went
away.
Ergo, one can think of modern guitar technique as evolved lute
technique. There is no difference in lute set-up to use guitar
technique. I have never heard of a luthier being asked to
accommodate a
different style of play in the string spacing at the bridge. Unless
Ed
Durbrow was thinking of plectrum playing - then I must admit
complete
ignorance.
Best Regards,
Joseph Mayes
__________________________________________________________________
From: [1][email protected] on behalf of Michael
Sent: Mon 6/15/2009 12:50 PM
To: Lute list
Subject: [LUTE] Re: First lute advice
On Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 1:20 AM, Ed
Durbrow<[2][email protected]>
wrote:
> If you are a guitarist, one has to ask if you are planning on
playing
with guitar technique or plan on learning lute technique. This makes
a
difference for the spacing of the courses at the bridge.
Could someone please address this issue in more detail? What does
it
mean to play a lute with a guitar technique?
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