Well, it didn't seem silly when I had no clue about historic pitch variation, and no knowledge of lute sizes- and all transcriptions were for a "G" instrument, with no disclaimer that such a pitch was strictly nominal convenience from another age. I was 17, it was 1964, and I desperately wanted a "lute" in the worst possible way. While the "determination" has grown rarer, we have actually had to educate a few guitarists right on this list over the past couple of years. One irony- at a workshop with my old "E" bass lute, I had to get it up to F# and G (A-440) for some singers. Instant capo at 2nd and 3rd fret with a pencil and some thick rubber bands! Talk about karmic retribution. Or the Gods of Early Music have a sense of humor.
>[Eugene C. Braig IV] I never was. That's a rather silly and arbitrary >"determination" and, I think, much rarer than it was a few decades ago. >Eugene -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
