Lute Tutor

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Alex McCartney wrote on 14. Open string rhythm 5

Torsten is absolutely correct: this course is focused on the technical and ancillary musical aspects of playing the lute rather than general music theory. Whilst you don't need to fully understand regular musical notation to play the lute (although it helps) some knowledge about rhythm is essential. Since this has come up a couple of times, I'll look into producing some introductory rhythm videos. Here is a useful link for this particular dotted rhythm.

Torsten Schenkel wrote on 14. Open string rhythm 5

Not sure if it's in the video (this course seems to assume that we know to read regular music notation). But it's the same on tablature as in normal music notation: A dot behind a note (or rhythm symbol in this case), means that the note is to be played longer by one half the original length. So in this case the dot makes the first note be 1.5 and the following one 0.5 beats long. So you'd count "1 and 2" for the first one and play the second one on the "and" again (that is if you count "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and".

Alexander Hartl wrote on 14. Open string rhythm 5

Wherd do you explain what dotted rythm means? I can not find it in the tablature videos.

Alex McCartney wrote on 8. Open string piece 4

Hello Alexander, this is a stage that every lute player goes through, so don't worry -- you're not alone! The solution that I encourage is to keep striking the strings well (and therefore "loudly") without worrying too much about 'splashy' clashing. It's very natural to want to play quieter in these situations but if you do so, you'll end up losing control over the resonance of the instrument which, in time, has a greater effect on ones playing. Over time your technique will improve and you'll find that you bump into vibrating strings less and when you do need to strike a string that's already moving, your fingers will learn how to approach the string in such a way that it doesn't feel like a 'bump'. I hope this encourages you to keep up the resonant playing!

Alex McCartney wrote on 3. The right hand position

Hello Torsten, yes, I do indeed use more of a 'thumb-out' technique on the archlute, particularly when playing later repertoire. All of the material on these courses is targeted at the smaller renaissance lutes and I find it much easier to attempt a spectrum of techniques to help me play instruments from different eras. The archlute used in the Vivaldi is a much later instrument (with many more strings) and therefore -- similar to a theorbo technique -- I've taken a more 'thumb-out' approach. This technical solution suits my hands though, and it's not always the best solution for everyone. How are you finding the 'thumb-inside' technique?

Alex McCartney wrote on 5. Effortless swing

It's such a tricky transition to make -- I came from the classical guitar too, so I have some idea about what you're going through. I'm glad the 'pinky anchor' makes this process easier for you. It's one of the main points of technical reference that I keep coming back to.

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