Luteshop's Top Tips - Holding the lute

[@mediocrefunkybeat]

Thank you very much for this. I've been in the possession of an 8-course (with a top single) lute for a number of years and haven't learned to play it at all. I need to decide how I'm going to tune it - but videos like this are invaluable to somebody like me that really doesn't know the first thing about playing the instrument!

[@luteshop]

It sounds as though you need a teacher to get you started. You can find lists of lute teachers on the website of the Lute Society of America (www.lutesocietyofamerica.org) and the English Lute Society (www.lutesociety.org). There are also people (myself included) who offer lessons via Skype. Good luck with your lute adventure!

[@mediocrefunkybeat]

@@luteshop Many thanks. I appreciate your reply. I certainly wouldn't want to take it on without a teacher!

[@claudiosolaresMMX]

thanks for the great tutorial. I find that leather cloth tip utterly clever!

[@schmaved]

Thanks for this, as a classical guitarist I was making all the schoolboy errors and was developing a sore back. Cheers

[@rjlchristie]

Hardware and kitchen outfitters can sell a rubbery fabric that is used in glassware shelving to cushion breakable ceramics and glassware or prevent them slipping. If you can source a light weight thickness of this fabric it is much better at preventing slipping than either leather or carpet.

[@pip5528]

Great tips as usual, Martin! I am wondering something about straps. I know people say you can either make one or get one from someone that sells them. Where can you get a strap?

[@MacKenziePoet]

Can the lute be played standing up? If so, what would be required?

[@luteshop]

As I said in the video, you can certainly play standing, and a strap will be necessary. Standing is good for relaxation and balance, and I find it increasingly attractive. The only downside is slightly less stability, but putting your cloth/leather/whatever you use between the back of the lute and your chest will help. The other considerations remain the same - for thumb-inside, you need the lute quite high so your arm can come around the end without bending the wrist; and for thumb-outside the body of the lute will need to be lower so the arm can approach from above, again without bending the wrist.

[@Mason_Earle]

Thank you for this lesson, maestro

[@rrocketman]

Wow this was great

[@johnmarvinscott]

Any advice on finding a strap? Making one?

[@luteshop]

Making one is a good option. Lutes are so light that the strap doesn't have to be thick or strong, and usually all that's needed is a slot which will fit over the endpin of the lute and a free end which can be loosely tied to the pegbox (a typical silk scarf is enough). Some people like a strap which continues (another free end) beyond the endpin, which you can sit on (a "tail") and some commercial makes of strap (Arion, for example) supply this kind.

[@robertallair7278]

Thank you for publishing these tips. They are very helpful for newcomers like me. My seven course lute has no strap-pin. Would you recommend that I take it to a guitar shop to have one installed, or is this something I could do myself?

[@luteshop]

You could do it yourself. You have to make a strap pin, and I recommend making it tapered and a loose push fit and gluing it in. You have to be very careful when drilling the hole in the lute - you need some means of holding it firmly in place.

[@trubux]

when you look at old paintings of lute players, you practically never see straps. from this i deduce that straps were at least uncommon, and that lutenists must have used another method to keep the lute from slipping. sometimes the lute was placed on a table (as seen in the picture of hans judenkünig). this seemed to help also with amplifying the lute. i seem to recall that i read quite some time ago that (at least some) lutes had a loop of string attached to their back. this loop was attached to a button on the lute player's clothing, thus securing the lute. do you know anything sbout this?

[@luteshop]

You're absolutely correct - paintings showing straps are rare, and the loop of string going from one button to the other down the back of the lute is well shown in several paintings. As you say, presumably this string was hooked over a button on the player's clothing. I've not tried this myself, but I am told by those who have that it's not very stable, but of course modern clothes are rather different from those of the 16th-18th centuries. Holding the lute against a table is well documented, and does indeed seem to amplify the sound. I find this rather difficult to achieve with a "thumb-inside" technique and it seems more suited to "thumb-outside", because the neck tends to be angled up - but of course some 16th century players used a thumb-outside technique as well.

[@wendouse8893]

So helpful, thank you. Do you do Skype lessons?

[@luteshop]

Yes, and Facetime. Email me if you're interested in pursuing this ([e-mail])

[@analogalien]

Martin, did you make the Archlute in this video?

[@luteshop]

Yes, but it's not an archlute, it's a 13-course "swan-neck" baroque lute, greatly inspired by the lutes of Schelle c.1744.

[@analogalien]

@@luteshop Very nice. Do you make archlutes, too?

[@luteshop]

@@analogalien Yes, both the solo liuto attiorbato and the much larger continuo archlutes. You can find out more about the liuto attiorbato at luteshop.co.uk/projects/liuto-attiorbato/

[@Sevenstrings-classical-guitar]

Excellent channel I subbed with pleasure !!!

[@heikorudi6105]

Is the baroque lute a "Martin Hoffmann" lute?

[@luteshop]

The body is based on the Warwick Frei, the neck on Schelle. String lengths 72 and 99cm.

[@heikorudi6105]

I love it!

[@رياضالغامدي-ع5ب]

يا الله والله شلت هم الدوزان

[@yuridanylko]

I wish I had the money for one ):