The Fundamentals of Lute Playing, Episode 25: Barrés (Part 1)

[@robertpurrenhage1400]

Hi Laudon, Just spotted your latest (vacation from vacation). This is the best explanation of the finer points of barre chord manipulation. Another reason to develope a secure holding position. I tend to hold lute more horizontal, then I notice I raise the peg head higher for barre chords. Now I know why! More food for thought and action. Many thanks.

[@laudonschuett3019]

Thank you so much! It is a wonderful tool once you have it mastered but I know how frustrating it can be for both students and teachers to learn. Definitely the one thing I wish I could just instantly teach students to do! : )

[@vanessagreen3986]

👍🏻

[@jakobhausladen9132]

Hi, love this video series! Maybe you were already planning to talk about this in the next episode, but I'm curious if you have some tips for the E flat major chord (the version with a partial barré on the first fret). I'm struggling with this one, not with the chord per se, but changing in and out of it fluently I find quite hard :)

[@laudonschuett3019]

You are definitely not alone! I’m planning on talking about it in part 2 of the barré videos. Some of it depends on the flexibility of your tip joint and the size of the instrument relative to your hands. The angle of your elbow plays a large role as well. I will definitely plan on doing some demonstrations in the context of a phrase so that people can see how to get in and out. That all said, I know many very advanced and even professional players will just skip playing the second course (the octave on the fifth course covers it) so that is always an option if it is holding you up from playing a phrase! More to come : )

[@jakobhausladen9132]

@@laudonschuett3019 Great, I'm looking forward to the second part then! And yes, I've definitely left out the second E flat sometimes to make difficult passages more playable, but I always feel a bit guilty about it :D

[@laudonschuett3019]

@@jakobhausladen9132 you definitely shouldn’t feel guilty! It’s good to work on weaknesses but a beautiful performance should always come first : )