One of my lutenist friends, Ryan Closs, recently suggested an interesting project. We're both homebrewers, and the plan is to brew a historical beer recipe and learn some music from the same period. We will be using a recipe that was written down sometime between 1679 and 1689 by the Carmelite monks at Dendermonde, and we'll be learning some music for the lute by Hieronymus Kapsberger. Once the beers are finished, we'll all be trying them. It's been a while since I had a chance to focus on some lute music, so I'm really looking forward to it!

As for the beer, the recipe isn't terribly different from a modern Tripel. The original recipe translates to:

Instruction to brew 16 barrels of good beer 

12 vats of wheat at 24 stuivers per vat, that is                                      14.8 guilders 
36 vats of barley at 20 stuivers per vat, that is                                      36 guilders 
6 vats of spelt or ‘vorte avere’ [rotten oats?] at 18 stuivers, that is    5.8 guilders 
40 pounds of  hops at 3 stuivers a pound, that is                                 7.10 guilders 
5 ‘waeghen’ of coal at 30 stuivers a ‘wage’, that is                                7.10 guilders 
50 pieces of wood at 6 guilders per 100, that is                                    3 guilders 
for wear and tear and brewer’s work                                                      8 guilders 
                                                                                                                       80.6 guilders

For the most part, I'm following the advice given on Lost Beers, but I made a few small changes to the recipe.

 

Goedt Bier (by the Carmelites of Dendermonde)
5.5 gallons/20.8L

8.8% ABV : OG: 1.091 : FG: 1.023 : 35.16 IBU : 7.57 SRM
(Actual OG: 1.087)

Fermentables:

12 lb. (5.4 kg) Muntons Maris Otter (63.2%)
4 lb. (1.81 kg) Rahr White Wheat (21.1%)
2 lb. (0.9 kg) Best Malz Spelt Malt (10.5%)
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Briess Cherrywood Smoked Malt


Hops:

3.5 oz. (98g) Hallertau Mittelfrüh (60 minutes)
1 oz. (28g) Hallertau Mittelfrüh (10 minutes)
Yeast:

2x Wyeast WY1214
2x Omega OYL-071 Lutra Kveik

Brewday:

Reiterated Mash:
Mash A: Step Mash 7 lb. Maris Otter, 4 lb. Wheat, 2 lb. Spelt.
1. 104°F for 30 min
2. 135° F for 15 min
3. 152° F for 60 min
4. 170° F for 15 min Mash Out
5. Room temp Sparge

Mash B: Single Infusion Mash 5 lb. Maris Otter, 1 lb. Smoked Malt
1. 140° F for 30 min
2. 150° F for 60 min
3. 170° F for 15 min Mash Out
4. Hot Sparge

Water: 
Balanced Profile:

10 gal. RO water plus:
8g Calcium Sulfate
6g Calcium Chloride
3g Magnesium Sulfate
3g Sodium Chloride

I chose to replace a pound of my base malt with a pound of smoked malt because during the 17th century all malt was dried in wood- or straw-fired kilns. I chose the Cherrywood smoked malt because it sounded appealing and it was available at my homebrew store. Because of the limitations of my brewing equipment (BrewZilla 35L), I will be adding a pound of rice hulls to the grist because the wheat and spelt could be very sticky, and I will be splitting the mash in two in order to work around the maximum capacity of the BrewZilla. This is called a "reiterated mash" and it will add at least an hour to Brew Day, but I think it will be worth it in the end. I've chosen a balanced water profile because I think it will compliment the beer well, and because brewers have been adjusting their water since long before the 17th century. I'll also be using Irish moss during the last 15 minutes of the boil to help achieve a clearer beer. 

Fermentation will occur at approximately 72°F. I plan to leave the beer in the primary fermenter for a minimum of 3 weeks, so it will probably be going into the keg and bottles around Halloween. At 8.8% ABV, it will probably benefit from a little age so I will stick most of the bottles back for a few months. I expect to be able to taste the finished product around Christmas or the New Year. 

As for the music itself, I've been reading through the pieces in Libro Primo D'Intavolatvra di Lauto by Hieronymus Kapsberger, and I'll be focusing on a few of my favorites like the Corrente 12a on the last page of the book. I'm not used to reading Italian tablature, which is "upside down" compared to modern guitar tablature or French tablature, but after a few days of practice it's not so bad. My favorite thing about this book is the doodles between pieces! 

Snail!

Rabbit and Dog!

Fish!

I'll be posting some practice videos over the course of the project on Instagram and Facebook, so keep an eye out for updates!

 

As you may have read in my last post, I left in late July for Colorado-- the first stop on my summer concert tour. From 23rd through 29th of July, I was in Buena Vista and Salida, Colorado for the inaugural residency of the Collegiate Peaks Guitar Retreat. I stayed in a mountain cabin at an elevation of approximately 9,500 feet, and I had lessons or audited with the "Guitar Guides": Will Douglas, Emma Rush, and Kevin Manderville. It was an honor and a privilege to spend a week with such great musicians! 

Buena Vista, CO

In Buena Vista, the focus was not always on the guitar: we visited the Jumpin' Good Goat Dairy farm and I got to milk my first goat. We also climbed a mountain trail up to the "Lost Lake" at 11,800 feet. I've never considered myself much of an artist, but between the beauty of the place itself and mild oxygen deprivation, I decided to do a very quick sketch of the lake. I had only brought a blue and a black ink with me, so I set to work with my fingers and wasted a few ounces from my water bottle.

'Lost Lake' in Buena Vista, CO (above) and my sketch (below)

Over the week the Collegiate Peaks crew performed several times around Buena Vista, including shows at local restaurants, Deerhammer Distillery, and The People's Stage. As the only lutenist, I got to provide audiences with an introduction to renaissance music (and early music in general).

My week in Buena Vista passed all too quickly, and I soon found myself bidding our mountain cabin ,,auf wiedersehen" as I headed north and east to Denver.

Colorado Sunrise (above) and I don't recall what reservoir this is (below).

When I got to Denver, I met my good friend Russ Callison at TRVE Brewing Co.-- the most metal brewpub I've ever visited.
 

kvlt af

You might remember Russ from my review of the CD "Eyes to the Future" by his duo, Derelict Hands. It was good to see him, and we got to play a concert together for the first time in many years. A thousand thanks would still be insufficient to Russ and Taylor-- the trip would not have gone nearly as smoothly without their efforts. Special thanks are due Duain Wolfe for opening his beautiful home to us for the concert.
 

While I was in Denver, I had the opportunity to visit a gamelan orchestra's rehearsal... and to play the bell-tree for them! It was my first time to ever see and hear a gamelan in person, and it was amazing!
 

Gamelan Rehearsal (above), Bell Tree (below)

After spending a few days in Denver, the time came to drive out to Salt Lake City, Utah. I stopped in Estes Park on my way out, and obviously, I had to see The Stanley Hotel!

All work and no play at The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, CO 

the aptly named "U.S. State Not-Appearing-In-This-Blog-Post"

I was to perform a concert for the Utah Classical Guitar Society in Murray, UT with my SLC-local friend Susan Price. The drive took a bit longer than I expected, and I arrived in SLC with just enough time to drop off my things at the hotel and get a quick shower before the concert. 

The next morning, I got up early and drove to Sacramento, California. Along the way, I stopped to stretch at the Bonneville Salt Flats. 
 

Bonneville Salt Flats (above), Emigrant Gap (below)
 

When I got to Sacramento, I had the better part of 2 days to relax and enjoy seeing my family before my next performance, for the Sacramento Guitar Society in El Dorado Hills. I got to meet my nephew Max for the very first time, and spent time with my neice Sammy, my brother Mark and my sister-in-law Michelle. I don't often get to play the doting uncle that spoils the kiddos, so I really enjoyed doing my best to make up for lost time. 

Sammy and Max
 

Special thanks go out to the Sacramento Guitar Society, Daniel Roest, and Lili Williams for their help facilitating the concert, and to Don and Mehri for hosting my concert in their beautiful home. 
 

Due to a scheduling issue, I had to cancel my concert in Eugene, Oregon, and was unable to meet up with my friend there. Instead, I drove directly from Sacramento to Port Angeles, Washington, where I arrived just in time to catch the day's last ferry to Victoria, B.C.

California Sunrise, Sweet Calcutta Rain, Honolulu Star-rise--- The Song Remains the Same
 

As tight as the scheduling was, I did take a few minutes to stop to play a few notes and take a selfie at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's theatre, which is based on Shakespeare's Globe.

Above: Rascal fiddler, twangling Jack
 

The week in Victoria for the LSA's WestFest was amazing: I had lessons with Robert Barto and Sylvain Bergeron, and I got to meet some incredible people! 

With Robert Barto (above), Sylvain Bergeron and Elizabeth Kenny perform an encore (below)

I did take a little time to explore Victoria and Vancouver Island, though I look forward to seeing even more of B.C. in 2019! One morning I got up very early and hiked out to the "other" Niagara Falls in Goldstream Provincial Park. Sure, they're narrower than their namesake, but at 47.5m/156ft they are almost as tall!

Niagara Falls, Goldstream Provincial Park, British Columbia
 

At the end of the week, I bid farewell to my new lute friends and boarded the ferry back to the U.S.
 

See you later, Canada!

I spent a few more days with my family in Sacramento, and spent a day in San Francisco where I finally got to meet the luthier who built my lute, Mel Wong. Mel gave us a tour of his workshop and taught us how to bend lute ribs. After playing on his instrument for the last year and a half, it was nice to finally shake Mel's hand. 
 

My Sister-In-Law, Michelle, learning to bend lute ribs under the tutelage of luthier Mel Wong
 

Of course, I also had to get pictures of Alcatraz, sea lions, the Palace of Fine Arts, and Golden Gate Park.

My brother and I, and Alcatraz.
 

The Pier 39 Sea Lions!
 

The Palace of Fine Arts (above and below)
 

chillin' with Lemmy on the beach at Golden Gate Park

Unfortunately, I couldn't stay forever-- I had to get home to resume my teaching and gigging duties in the Dallas area, and my Texas family wanted to make a trip to view the solar eclipse, so I left Sacramento and headed south toward Los Angeles. I stopped at Sequoia National Park and hiked out to see the General Sherman tree to stretch my legs. 

Sequoia National Park (above), Gen. Sherman Tree (below)

From there I continued to L.A., but I arrived too late in the day to do much other than get a cool picture of L.A. at night.
 

Los Angeles at Night
 

Still, I hiked up to Griffith Observatory hoping to get the ultimate tourist photo: the Hollywood sign. 

 

The Hollywood Sign
 

No one told me that they don't illuminate it at night, though. Oh well, maybe next time!

 

I then turned east and drove through Arizona and New Mexico. My last stop before arriving at home was at the Meteor Crater in Winslow, AZ. 
 

Have Gut, Will Travel
 

I got home and had a night to relax before we all piled into the car to drive the 12 hours to Illinois to watch the solar eclipse. We visited my Great Aunt at her farm, which fell right on the path of totality. It was amazing! I tried to get a few pictures, but a cell phone camera just doesn't cut it. 

 

 

As totality approached, the sky became as dark as it is at twilight, the rooster got confused and crowed for a half-hour, and the birds went to sleep.

 

The Solar Eclipse at Totality

 

The Twilight of Totality
 

It feels good to at last be settled in at home after a solid month on the road, but I definitely miss all of the breathtaking views, all of the giggling silliness of my niece and nephew, and all of the music-making and learning. I'd like to thank the Lute Society of America and Collegiate Peaks Guitar Retreat for helping me out with scholarships, everyone who donated to the trip, everyone who hosted me and my concerts in their homes, and my family for being so supportive along the way. I can't wait to do this again!

I'm excited to have been selected for a scholarship to attend the LSA Workshop West this year at the University of Victoria, on Vancouver Island from August 6-12, 2017! This year's lute faculty consists of Robert Barto, Elizabeth Kenny, Sylvain Bergeron, Ray Nurse, Travis Carey (who will be teaching a class on lute building!), and Phillip Rukavina.  

This will be my second time participating in the LSA's summer festivals, and I can't wait to be there! There will be lecture classes, masterclasses, private lessons, and daily concerts, and I will have the opportunity to perform in a recital with the other scholarship recipients, too. AND I'll get to help build a lute!

After doing a lot of research, I've determined that it will be cheapest for me to drive from Dallas to Vancouver; thence, by ferry, to Vancouver Island. I am no stranger to long solo road trips. Although I have driven some pretty incredible distances unaccompanied in the past (Dallas to Chicago in 18ish hours. Never again.), this will be the single longest trip I have ever undertaken, without question. Well travel'd in these Contiguous United States as I may be, this trip will cross off 3 of the remaining 5 states of this Union which I have yet to visit: California, Oregon, and Washington.

My pilgrimage will take me around 47 driving hours (for contrast, the furthest I have driven in a single go was Dallas>Chicago, and it took me a little over 18 hours in one sitting*). For this trip, I am hoping to split up the drive into 4 days of driving, and I hope to be able to visit with some friends and family along the way. I hope to see my close friend Russ in Denver (you bought Derelict Hands' "Eyes to the Future," right? Yeah, that one) I will also get to meet my nephew Max for the first time in Sacramento!. I hope to also make a detour to San Francisco to meet Mel Wong, the luthier who built my instrument for me. From Sacramento, I will take I-5 north through Portland and finally arrive at the University of Victoria. 

There are still a few things that need to be done in order to be ready for the festival; the scholarship covers my festival tuition completely, but I still have to pay the room and board ($730), and I'll be renting a car to make the trip ($250). If you would like to help me get to the festival, I will be accepting donations of any denomination through my YouCaring fundraiser here. 

I am hoping to schedule some fundraising recitals around DFW in the lead up to the festival, and I'd like to try and do a few house concerts along the road to Vancouver. Keep an eye out for updates on the YouCaring page, on this blog, and at my facebook page!

I am pleased to announce that I will be performing two MORE concerts of lute music for the Dallas Museum of Art "Late Night" program on March 17th. The concerts will take place at 9:30 and 11:00pm on Friday the 17th in the European Galleries on Level 2. The 11pm performance may be moved into the Medieval exhibit. The performances are planned in conjunction with the DMA’s “Art and Nature in the Middle Ages” exhibit which closes this month. Admission is free for DMA Members and children 11 and under. Tickets are $15 for general admission, or $10 for students with ID and can be purchased online here.





 

I am excited to announce that I will be in attendance for the Lute Society of America's biennial Lute Festival! I have already purchased my airfare, I've made arrangements to stay with one of my cousins that lives in the area, and I will officially register for the festival in just a few weeks. This year's lute faculty consist of Robert Barto, Xavier Díaz-Latorre, Jakob Lindberg, Ronn McFarlane, Christopher Morrongiello, Nigel North, Paul O'Dette, and Charlie Weaver. There will also be two voice teachers, Ellen Hargis and Dame Emma Kirkby.

This will be my first time participating in an early music festival, and I can't wait to be there! Since I began studying the lute, I have only had access to a lute teacher on a handful of occasions. My first lute lesson ever was in November of 2014 with Hopkinson Smith (nothing like starting at the top, amirite?). Since then, I have studied with Michael Craddock when he is in town. But that works out to just one or two lute lessons a year. At this year's edition of the LSA Lute Fest, I will be immersed in the lute and early music culture. I will have opportunities to study with some of the finest early music specialists in the world, as well as the chance to meet other lutenists and early music enthusiasts from all over the US (and maybe even a few from outside the US!). I believe there will be daily concerts as well. Since I have been very active with the lute since my first instrument arrived, it seems crazy to note that there have been only two lute concerts in the DFW area since 2004 of which I am aware. Both of those concerts were given by Hopkinson Smith, and I was in the audience both times. 

Aside from all of the festival activities, I will also get to meet my cousin's husband and son! I haven't seen her since before she got married, so it will be nice to have some time to catch up.

In order to ensure the safety of my instrument on the trip, I had to buy two seats. This way, the lute has its own seat. Otherwise, it would have been traveling in an overhead compartment (assuming there was enough room at boarding time) or stuck underneath the plane (i.e. the pit of despair). Having seen far too many instruments broken by airlines over the past several years, I decided that it was worth doubling my travel costs in order to know that the lute would be in safe (read: my) hands for the entire journey. 

There are still a few things that need to be done in order to be ready for the festival. I still have to pay the festival tuition ($550) and I'll need to get a better case for my lute (~$500). If you would like to help me get to the festival, I will be accepting donations of any denomination through PayPal. I am hoping to schedule some lute and guitar recitals at several DFW venues in the lead up to the festival. Keep an eye out for updates on this blog and at my facebook page!

Well, the Texas Guitar Competition and Festival hosted at UT Dallas has come and gone. It has been a busy week, so I haven't had a chance to sit down and write an update. I played well in the semifinal round, and while I am proud of the improvements I have made in my playing since the last UTD festival, I did not advance to the final round. I got to meet several players from all over the world, and the finals performances were very good!

I was able to participate in three masterclasses over the course of the festival, and luckily my friend Eddie Healy was able to catch some pictures. So, here they are!

 

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Thursday afternoon was the semifinal round. I played around 1:15p, and while it was certainly not a 'peak' performance, I was mostly happy with how I played. Later that evening, Jérémy Jouve (above) gave a masterclass in the Jonsson Performance Hall. I played the first movement of the Musikones suite by John W. Duarte, and Jérémy had some great suggestions for me. Unfortunately I had to miss his concert later on in the festival, but it was a pleasure to meet him and pick his brain a bit.







On Friday morning I had the opportunity to play in masterclass for Michael Craddock on my new Mel Wong 8-course. He is an early music specialist, and an accomplished player of lute, theorbo, vihuela, and renaissance guitar as well as the modern classical guitar. He's also a really fun guy with a good sense of humor. We worked on the Frogg Galliard as it is found in the Folger Manuscript. We got quite a bit of work done in the class, but the next day we had a private lute lesson together and spent the whole hour on the more nitty gritty stuff. Every time he comes into town, I try to schedule a lesson. Otherwise, I'm kinda on my own with the lute! 








Later that afternoon I had a masterclass with Celino and Lito Romero. I played a guitar transcription of the Prelude from a lute sonata originally in D minor by S. L. Weiss. They were also a lot of fun to work with, and their advice helped to inspire a new 'vision' for the piece. 







On Saturday there was a "Luthier Showcase" in which instruments by a variety of luthiers were played on the stage at the Clark Center. I was asked to play a brand new cedar/cedar doubletop built by good friend of mine, Aaron Ringo of Wood Ring Guitars. It was a pleasure to play on it. Like all of the other Wood Ring Guitars that I've played, the tone was beautiful and it felt very natural and comfortable in the hands. Its timbral palette was already quite wide, and it was nearly effortless to get the kind of nuance and variety of tone colors that I wanted. Needless to say, I was reluctant to put it down. It's a very fine instrument, and I believe it is currently up for sale on his website. If you're in the market for a concert guitar, you absolutely can't go wrong with this one.


 

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Last Tuesday I sold my first lute and on Monday 2-1-16, I received a brand new 8-course renaissance lute built for me by luthier Mel Wong of Blackbird String Arts in San Francisco. I am very excited about this gorgeous new instrument, and I thought I would share with you some pictures and a little information about it. I will be recording a few pieces with it over the next few weeks, so be on the lookout!

Mel based my new lute on a series of lutes made circa 1599 by a German luthier from Tieffenbruck in the Bavarian Alps named Michielle Hartung. According to Grove Music Online, Hartung purchased his freedom in 1590 and subsequently apprenticed under Leonardo Tieffenbrucker the Younger in Venice. Hartung was one of several influential German luthiers (including Leonardo Tieffenbrucker the Elder and Wendelin Tieffenbrucker) living in Padova, Italy around the turn of the 17th century. In fact, Hartung married Wendelin Tieffenbrucker's daughter. These German luthiers are sometimes referred to as the Füssen School due to their previous connections with that city's rich tradition of instrument building. 

Padova is about 25 miles west of Venice. There has been a renowned University at Padova since 1222, which employed Galileo Galilei (himself a fine lutenist, and the son of famous professional lutenist, composer, and theoretician Vincenzo Galilei) as a mathematics lecturer from 1592 to 1610. Considering that the population of Padova in 1600 AD was just over 15,000 people, I don't think it's at all unreasonable to suggest that Galilei and Hartung may have known each other. I would love to read the Galileo letters to see if there is a mention of such a meeting. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell these letters have never been translated into English and my grasp of Italian is no match for early 17th century manuscripts.

Two of the original instruments on which my lute is based are actually bass lutes tuned in E and are currently housed in the Germanisches National Museum, Nurnberg collection, catalog numbers MI 44 and MI 56. Another is a tenor lute (like this one) tuned in G, and located at the Museo Civico Medievale in Bologna, catalog No. 1808. Hartung, like most luthiers, used labels inside the instrument to identify his works. His labels for these instruments read: 

"M. Hartung in Padova me fecit, anno 1599" which translates to "M. Hartung made me in Padova in the year 1599"

 My own instrument is a simplified version of the original body design. Looking at the original instruments listed above, it seems to me that the body shape is more like the MI 56 lute, but the rose is certainly the MI 44. The soundboard is Engelmann Spruce, the bowl is made of flamed maple, the neck is made of Honduras mahogany, the pegbox is made of beech, and the tuning pegs are boxwood.

I've included pictues of the instrument made for me by Mel Wong and pictures of MI 44 (bottom left) and 56 (bottom right) for comparison. I have not yet found images of the one at Bologna.

"Packington's Pound" was recorded on the new instrument, and is included below if you'd like to hear how it sounds!



 

​I first saw and heard a lute in person at an intimate concert at the University of Texas at Dallas in 2007, if I recall correctly. I had just begun studying classical guitar, and my professor had given me some renaissance music to learn. I was excited by these pieces because they were full of magic: they clearly sound ancient, but the music is so inventive and at times chromatic that it still carries with it a profound sense of newness. When I came back for my next lesson, already bitten by the early music bug, my professor gave me a free ticket to Hopkinson Smith's concert and told me that he was the very best "do-not-miss" lutenist in the world. She was right. It was absolutely amazing, and drove my interest in early music even further. She loaned me a boxed set of Paul O'Dette's complete John Dowland, and I was hooked. However, I continued happily playing these pieces on my guitar until I began to study the works of Weiss and the Bach "Lute Suites". I had always looked to the lutenists and the history in order to help me arrive at my interpretation of a piece on the guitar, so I looked at the original manuscripts bearing Bach's own signature and several well regarded guitar transcriptions side by side. I couldn't help but feel that many if not all of the pieces had been bruised severely in being forced onto the guitar. I began to feel that if I wanted to hear these pieces as I would like to hear them, the only option was to try my hands at playing the music on historical instruments using historical techniques. 

With that said, some of my favorite music is very modern, and clearly requires a guitar. I have not lost any love for the guitar, but have come to the opinion that the best instrument on which to play the lute repertoire is, in fact, the lute. 

Since I began including the renaissance lute in my performances this past October, it has not been uncommon for me to encounter people who have never heard or even seen a lute before. In fact, at most events I am approached by at least a dozen people, each with a small list of questions. Musicians often have questions of a more specific nature. It's something I enjoy almost as much as I enjoy the musicmaking itself. This post will address some of the most commonly asked questions regarding my lute, hopefully without getting too terribly technical. 

The lute is not a single instrument, but is rather a large family of instruments descended from the middle eastern Oud. Lutes became intensely popular in Europe from about the 15th century to the 18th century. At some points, nearly every household was in possession of at least one lute. Since the guitar as we know it is a fairly modern invention and an evolution of lute-family instruments, much of the standard classical guitar repertoire from the 15th to nearly the 19th century comes to us from the lute or other lute-like instruments. Unfortunately, not all lute music is playable on all lutes, or on guitars for that matter. As a result, much of this wonderful repertoire is yet unheard by modern ears. Although there are many different kinds of lutes, there are some common features: a teardrop or almond shaped top, a bowl-shaped back made of several staves of wood, a wide and sometimes slightly curved fretboard, friction pegs, pairs (courses) of strings, movable frets, and finally the intricately carved rose that served not only as a soundhole, but as a mark of the maker's mastery. 

I will not attempt to present all of the various members of the lute family, as they are far too numerous and since there are a great many lute-family instruments that we still do not know much about. The simplest way to think of the lute family is in 3 main periods of evolution: medieval, renaissance, and baroque. Within these periods there was a reasonable amount of variation, but that is for another time. 
 

In the Medieval period, the lute usually had 4 or 5 courses of strings, and was played with a pick made of a quill in much the same way that the majority of acoustic guitarists play today; the lute was used to accompany the voice or a melody instrument like the recorder with strummed chords. Later, some "clever German players" realized that by dropping the pick and playing with the fingertips, much more complex music was possible. 
 

In the Renaissance, the lute picked up a course of strings, bringing the total to 6 courses. Although the renaissance lute was usually tuned in G, we will use an hypothetical lute in E for the guitarist's convenience. The Renaissance 6-course lute would have been tuned (low to high) E A D F# B E, which is identical to the modern guitar save that the third string must be tuned down by one half-step. Toward the end of the Renaissance, bass courses were added one at a time in order to extend the low end of the instrument. After nearly 200 years of the lute having 6-courses, 7-, 8-, 9-, and 10-course instruments popped up within a relatively quick succession.
 

In the Baroque, the lute's tuning changed radically, and more courses were added again, usually simply by building onto old renaissance instruments that were designed as 6-10 course lutes. Baroque lutes are commonly 11- and 13-course instruments. These are the lutes that would have been contemporary in Bach's time, and indeed his friend Sylvius Leopold Weiss would have played on both. The first six courses were tuned to a D minor chord, and the bass courses were tuned to the scale of the piece to be performed. A 13-course baroque lute would be tuned (low to high) A B C D E F G A D F A D F. This tuning is NOT like the modern guitar at all, although the tuning of Koyunbaba by Carlo Domeniconi bears a striking resemblance to the first 6 courses of the Baroque lute. 

The renaissance lute will be featured alongside the guitar on my upcoming CD, Prima Materia.


*all photos by Mel Wong at www.blackbirdstringarts.com*