On Wed, 25 Sep 2013 16:13:28 -0400, Gary R. Boye wrote > Monica: > > Interesting; but wouldn't that throw off the fretting (i.e., the > frets would be placed for the wrong overall length of the string)?
I was this myself. > It would sound awful up the neck, unless you began moving all of the > frets around . . . You'd need to move the frets towards the nut, and that's the worst direction to move them ... Putting a second nut at the first or second fret sounds more likely. Cheers, RalfD > Gary > > Dr. Gary R. Boye > Professor and Music Librarian > Appalachian State University > > On 9/25/2013 3:54 PM, Monica Hall wrote: > > Yes - now I recall that someone called Frederick Cook wrote quite a few > > articles about the vihuela in the 1970s including one "The capo tasto of > > the vihuela". His suggestion was that the "panezuela" was some kind of > > wooden device. He says the word is derived from the verb "panear" which > > means "to run along side". But he thinks it was placed alongside the > > bridge rather than the nut and has even included a drawing of how he > > thinks it worked. "Pontezuela" is more likely to refer to the bridge > > than the nut. > > > > The article was in the periodical "Guitar and Lute", no. 8, Jamuary 1979. > > I have never discovered what other people thought of his suggestion. > > > > Monica > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dan Winheld" <[email protected]> > > To: "Lutelist" <[email protected]> > > Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2013 8:34 PM > > Subject: [LUTE] Re: Capo use on early instruments > > > > > >> Monica, Stephen, et al- > >> > >> I also remember the English (tenative?) translation of the Bermudo > >> "panezuelo"- seems like it would have to be some sort of > >> movable/removable nut, stopping the strings from below as opposed to > >> our modern capos; which presumably would not have worked too well > >> without being subjected to very fussy construction details, when you > >> consider the difficulty of such a device- it would have to stop the > >> thickest gut basses along with their octave strings with equal firmness. > >> > >> And then, with multi course lutes & cambered fingerboards it would > >> become truly not worth the effort. And, inasmuch as pitch was so > >> fluid, unstandard, and musicians- esp. the more highly > >> trained/educated- could no doubt transpose more skillfully than most > >> of us can these days, the capo might not even have been a passing > >> thought. > >> > >> This panazuelo as a nut business seems more likely (if I'm not > >> completely off the wall here) in view of the general opinion that open > >> string sound was the more highly esteemed instrument sound, vs. > >> fingered notes- indeed, one of the vihuelists considered it "the best > >> you can get" from the instrument, almost seeming to regard frets and > >> fingered notes as a necessary evil. Certainly any capo device would be > >> regarded as something that would "choke" the very essence of > >> lute/vihuela sound. Polar opposite to Jazz electric guitarists, who > >> seemed to me to avoid open strings as much as possible. > >> > >> Dan > >> > >> On 9/25/2013 11:56 AM, Monica Hall wrote: > >>> There is a passage in Bermudo which seems to refer to the use of some > >>> sort of device to raise the strings of the vihuela a semitone or a > >>> tone. It is in Book 2, Chapter 36 f.30. It is referred to as a > >>> "panezuelo" which literally seems to mean a handkerchief but there is > >>> some doubt as to whether this is really what it means. He says that > >>> experienced players place this under the strings close to the nut > >>> (pontezuela) and this rasies the pitch of the strings. > >>> > >>> Maybe someone more of an expert on Bermudo can elucidate. > >>> > >>> Monica > >>> > >>> > >> > >> > >> > >> To get on or off this list see list information at > >> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > -- R. Mattes - Hochschule fuer Musik Freiburg [email protected]
