I contemplate writing an ear-training computer program. It would select random pitches from a scale and pair them with random note values to create a melody, which the trainee would listen to and try to reproduce (by voice or instrument). The trainee could ask the program to replay the melody as needed.
I have no expectation that the melodies will usually musical. But, leaving that question aside, my question is this: For a typical lutenist involved in the Renaissance and Barqoue repertoire, what scales would be most useful? Some possibilities would be: major natural minor harmonic minor melodic minor dorian mixolydian .... Also, if you're interested in using such a program, let me know what type of computer you use (Windows, Macintosh, or Linux). If more than a few people respond, I'll make certain accomodations during the programming. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html