> On Oct 23, 2018, at 12:44 AM, mjlh...@cs.dartmouth.edu wrote: > > Following on from the discussion about strings and perhaps a bit of a > non-sequitur, the well known painting by Antiveduto Grammatica shows a > lute-shaped instrument with 5 courses on the fingerboard and 9 open > basses. The two lowest bass courses i.e.8 and 9 appear to be thinner > than the other seven and therefore were presumably re-entrant.
Or made of a different substance. Or the painter is not worried about how precisely he’s rendering the strings. > How > common was it to have re-entrant basses like this on theorboed > instruments and what sources actually mention it as an option. It was probably common for archlutes to have six courses on the fingerboard and the 14th course at F# a half-step below the sixth course. On page 10 of Piccinini’s 1623 book, he sets out “accordatura ordinario" for a 13-course archlute with the 13th course at Eb, a half-step above the ninth course on page 10, but also indicates the 13th-course tuning at the ends of pieces. At the end of Toccata XI, he has the 13th course at F#, a half-step above the seventh course. Page 10 also has an “accordatura ordinario” for a 14-course chitarrone with the 14th course a half-step above the seventh. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
