The Fundamentals of Lute Playing, Episode 31: Four and More Notes

[@mattdbridges]

another terrific lesson. great instruction!

[@laudonschuett3019]

This episode focuses on using the right hand to play four or more notes simultaneously in preparation for upcoming pieces. In the video I mention P I M A. These are the standard letters used for indicating the right hand fingers. The letters come from Spanish: P=pulgar(thumb) I= indice (index) M=medio(middle) A=anular(ring)

[@vanessagreen3986]

👍🏻

[@banjoboy01]

thanks for sharing too bad we don't have recordings from 16th century

[@laudonschuett3019]

@@banjoboy01 yeah, that would be amazing if we did

[@banjoboy01]

glad to learn it's called the Albert stroke, (it's a "pinch" on the banjo) I couldn't jump my thumb fast enough so I was using it. would you ever dampen the 5th course if possible so you could just use the thumb on the quick (rolled) chords?

[@laudonschuett3019]

So they never talk about it but I suspect they used dampened strings, especially when using the "Dalza" stroke, which is a strum with just the thumb. If you look at Dalza pivas, there will be random chords with splits and it just sounds weird to stop the strum, so I have always just dampened the string in between. I can't prove they did it but would blow my mind if they didn't : )

[@banjoboy01]

@@laudonschuett3019 also.....how often was an octave string used on the 4th course? any articles on the subject? I like the effect but need to watch when to use the index finger, thanks again Laudon

[@laudonschuett3019]

@@banjoboy01 Definitely used through Milano, Albert de Rippe, etc. Things get murkier after that. I'll see if I can find some up-to-date articles. The ones I remember are now getting pretty old and may not include more recently discovered sources! There are clues in the repertoire and I would say that the octave really starts to disappear in the 1590s, though it was probably already gone in some places and some repertoire. I'll pop back here in the next couple days if I find a good recent article!

[@laudonschuett3019]

@@banjoboy01 here is a nice little introductory article: luteshop.co.uk/2016/11/04/octave-stringing-irregular-to-the-rules-of-music/ I will see if there is something more comprehensive in the LSA journal or quarterly….

[@banjoboy01]

@@laudonschuett3019 I have seen Martin Shepard's site. article from 2016 so I didn't mention it after you responded. I'm not a LSA member but it looks like I can browse

[@mattdbridges]

P,I,M,A ?

[@laudonschuett3019]

P=thumb, I=index, M=middle, A=ring. I will put a note in the description to remind people of this. I'm pretty sure I mentioned it WAY back in episode 2 or 3 but it would be crazy to think that people would remember that this far in : ) Thank you for asking and I will put a clarification to help people! Cheers, Laudon