Well, I was sort of fearing some push-back from the "tap-dancing barefoot" crowd. I don't know how you can speak for most of the lutenists out there. I certainly only meant to speak for me. Sweetness requires nails. The sound - sort of a "thub, thub" one achieves without them is so unsatisfying as to be lamentable.
No - that's not actually what I think - It's just the same sort of tone that I'm responding to. Tarrega played with nails until he lost them due to fungus - He convinced his late-in-life student Pujol that flesh was the way to go. Sor hated nails? I'd like to see that research. As for "asking Hoppy," I think that illustrates part of the problem with the HIP folks. Because the stars do it one way - that's the right way. Bear in mind that Dolmetch and Bream, et al thought they had it right, too. But, as I say, I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. Play any way you want to, just leave the dogma on the porch. Joseph Mayes ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bruno Correia [[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2013 8:29 PM To: List LUTELIST Subject: [LUTE] Re: Bream Collection... I just noticed It may sound good to you, but not for most of the lutenists out there. Ask Hoppy about this issue? Ok, you don't need to ask him, after all you don't ride a horse to the gig... Hey, I'd like to do that, the traffic has been so bad nowadays. The most frequent word to describe the lute's sound is sweetness! How can you have achieve it with nails? Double strings also require that both strings be pressed at once and not one after the other. The lute is after all a sweet instrument (specially with gut). Even in classical guitar tutors (19th-20th century) the issue of nails was still rolling on. Sor hated it and only tolerated Aguado because of his great skill. That's why Tarrega and Pujol also avoided it (even if it was a requirement due to the high tension of the Torres guitar). Going back: The sources were just saying that many people were careless about their sound production. In order to avoid it, what about cutting your nails once and a while, washing your hands (daily if you can)? 2013/12/10 Mayes, Joseph <[1][email protected]> I play the lute, archlute and vihuela with nails for the same reason that I play the classical guitar with nails: because it sounds better! Of course, by that I mean it sounds better to me. Nails give the attack a precision that flesh does not. It also comes closer, IMHO to the sound usually described in historical sources as desirable on lute - silvery, tinkling, etc. Many sources tell us not to use nails - which they wouldn't have bothered to do if people were not doing it that way. I don't play with flesh, I don't ride my horse to the gig, and I don't attend any bear-bating. My $.02 Joseph mayes -- References 1. mailto:[email protected] To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
