I've thoroughly enjoyed my 8-course. It seems easy enough to play
7-course repertoire on the 8 - the open 'F' is nice, and it's no real
inconvenience to train my brain to see '/d' and automatically play '/a'
-------- Original Message --------
SUBJECT:
[LUTE] Re: Seven courses versus eight.
DATE:
2014-10-04 14:32
FROM:
David Tayler <[email protected]>
TO:
"[email protected]" <[email protected]>
I've slightly revised my views on this, I think you can make a case
that there are a couple of important pieces that are "conceived" in
8-course tuning, but the number is small.
It would seem on the basis of contrapuntal analysis that the version of
Lacrimae of Dowland in G Minor was written for 8 course, as well as his
other early work in Francisque. The problem is that in the span of just
a few years, you start to see 9 courses and ten courses, and there's no
way to match works with specific lutes within a short span of time.
Also, there's many examples where you can play the F fretted. I think
you can argue that there were early adopters, just like today, so there
was a lot of overlap.
So you can almost always use the 7c for the eight, but the fact is, the
8c is almost always more resonant. You could argue that the 7 and 6
sound more "early", and I think that is for sure true. When in doubt,
buy two, that is always the way of the LBA (lute buyers addiction).
Also in terms of LBA, maximize the usefulness of your collection. So
for example if you want to a play lute duets a tone apart, make one of
the lutes a 6 or a 7c, and the other an 8 or 10, and use the lower one
for English and French lute songs, as well as 8c-10c literature. It
isn't like having two matched 7c for Pickering, but it keeps the LBS
under control.
8c is very popular--there's a reason for that. Sort of like a minivan
with the "sport" suspension.
dt
On Wednesday, August 20, 2014 8:45 PM, Herbert Ward
<[email protected]> wrote:
What is the extent and nature of the historical
liturature which is playable on an 8-course
Renassiance lute, but not on a 7-course?
In other words, is a 7-course instrument a
workable subsitute for an 8-course?
This assumes the 7-course lutenist is willing
to retune his 7th course between pieces.
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