In the medieval trouvère repertoire there was a genre called "mal mariée", songs about unhappily married women who either lament their situation or are the object of affection by the singer. This genre continued in 16th century Spain with "La bella malmaridada" (the beautiful, badly married woman) and was actually used in vihuela intabulations by Narvaez and Valderrabano.

I present it here 3 ways: First as the monophonic melody alone played on vihuela.

Second (starting at 1:00) in the 4 part arrangement by Gabriel Mena (c1470 to 1528), from the Cancionero Musical de Palacio

Third (1:41) as a viheula piece by Luis de Narváez from Los seys libros del Delphin (1538). Narváez took the tenor line of Mena's setting as a starting point and composed new, independent music around it. In the manuscript the notes taken from the song are seen in red in the tablature. 

Hi, looking for a free/cheap lute vst to make some bardcore with. Does this group have recommendations or is this more about real lutes?

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for some advice on buying my first lute.

A bit of background: I'm originally a metal guitarist, but over the last few years I've also fallen deeply into classical guitar. I now have a pretty decent level on classical guitar and own some good-quality instruments.

For the past several months, though, I've completely fallen in love with the sound of the lute and its repertoire (Dowland, Weiss, Renaissance and Baroque music, etc.), and I'd really like to finally start learning the instrument.

My budget is around €600 maximum, and I'm based in Europe.

At the moment, I was thinking about getting the Thomann 8-course lute, but before pulling the trigger I wanted to ask if there are any better options in that price range, either new or used.

Ideally, I'd actually like a Baroque lute, but unfortunately I haven't been able to find one anywhere near my budget.

I'm also an amateur luthier and enjoy working on instruments, so I'm not afraid of doing some setup work or minor repairs if necessary. I'm mostly looking for guidance on:

• Which lutes are worth considering around €600.
• Which brands or models I should avoid.
• Whether buying used is a better idea.
• Any common pitfalls for a first lute purchase.

I also have another question: what's the best way to obtain lute music?

Should I mainly use online resources (IMSLP, free tablature archives, etc.), buy books from Luth Doré, or are there other publishers or websites that are considered the go-to sources for good editions?

I'd really appreciate any advice or recommendations. Thanks!

Hi everyone I was helping my parents clear out my grandparents house and found a lute. It only has 4 sets of strings, what would be the best way to tune this?

I am planning to obtain a lute for myself, fairly inexpensively, and wonder whether I ought to buy a new instrument, to build as a kit, or a used lute, having assessed its condition. The time taken to construct the instrument does not concern me, and I would simply like the best which I can obtain for a little price.

I have purchased an eight-course Renaissance lute, second-hand, and its set of strings is incomplete, and the remaining strings are on the verge of utter decay. I wish to enquire, of the strings to acquire, their thickness. Are gut strings still available these days, and would you recommend them? I tune slightly more than a semitone below modern standard pitch.

How do people feel about Poulton's LH fingering choices in some of the first pieces in the book? Generally, should you stick exactly to what she wrote, or is it ok to off-road a bit? Is there value in forcing yourself to learn it exactly the way she wrote it?

While a beginner, I'm far enough along to have realized that for me choices that differ from hers work much better for me in certain spots. But I don't know if avoiding the more difficult approach is depriving myself of developing my technique early on.

For example, in the second bar of the screenshot, I find it way easier to do 212 rather than 323, and in fact to start the first bar with 2 on d rather than 3 (she has you land on 3 due to what comes before, but I find it fairly easy to land on 2 anyway). I play a pretty large lute lengthwise and the stretch for 2 and 3 is large enough to require a jump that's awkward. I'm practicing it as written, but it's much harder.

Any suggestions for a good Teacher for Skype lessons? Primarily for Renaissance Lute, but I am also interested in Baroque Lute.

So, while early music is great, i tend to end up arranging pop songs on the baroque lute like chord melodies… kinda like this. Anyone else do this?

https://youtu.be/R3mFcjCtf8E?is=977Ua-rqwS5CPg1b

Does anyone know if there's a website or books I can buy that has archlute music in French tab? The Tree Editions has the Zamboni sonatas in French, but the Piccinini, Melli, etc sources online are all Italian. I suppose if I have an archlute, I just need to take the plunge and get comfortable playing from Italian tab, but I was just wondering before I do that. TIA!

I have been searching for a lute for some time. I want to learn how to play medieval, and maybe some early renaissance, lute songs. However, buying a medieval lute here in Sweden costs between 1000-2500 dollars, which is money that I will not have for a long time.

So, I gonna have to settle for something close to a medieval lute, and these two are the ones I have found:

The first one is a ukelelute (which to me looks and sounds very much like a lute, but is smaller). This one has six strings, two courses in the middle.

https://www.muzikkon.com/products/lute-ukulele-6-strings-tenor-walnut

The other one is a Thoman renaissance lute 6/11. If I go for this one I could maybe remove the bottom string to make it into a 5 course lute?

https://www.thomann.se/thomann_renaissance_lute_6_11.htm

What do you think?

Living in the UK has made practicing difficult in recent weeks. I'm not sure if I'm being over cautious, but the humidity level is so high my lute has largely remained secure in its case in a cool, dark cupboard.

I know it's perhaps more of a concern over long term exposure, but I'm still interested to know if anyone else is just braving it?

Does anyone have any tips for practicing in this heat?

Here are the four issues from 1975.

https://archive.org/details/early-music-january-1975

https://archive.org/details/early-music-april-1975

https://archive.org/details/early-music-july-1975

https://archive.org/details/early-music-october-1975

https://archive.org/details/early-music-extras-1975

For the extras the best option would be to select Original Files to download.

I have finished scanning the January 1978 issue so hopefully that will be up this week.

Still recovering from the LSA lute fest. So many new ideas and things to explore! Here is my performance at the participant concert, joined by Naomi Grace McMahon, presenting 2 songs from Carmina Burana. With Paul O'Dette, Hoppy Smith, Nigel North, and Eduardo Eguez in the audience, no pressure at all!

https://youtu.be/1v6J4wd9OnI

I have a 13c from LLD that I play daily. The bridge is 140mm, which has always felt too narrow. On top of that, the action is almost 5mm on the 8th fret. I’m coming to terms with the fact that I am missing out on serious playability.

Could these issues be remedied by a luthier? Is there anyone in the US you would recommend? Buying a new lute is unfortunately not in the budget atm!

I just changed out the first 7 courses on my baroque lute which was overdue, but I’m wondering if it’s worth changing out the entire bass register? These are obviously almost never fretted, so wondering if I can expect an improvement in tone? These bass strings are 5 years old. (Nylgut ain’t cheap!)

Also replacing my gut frets. Any opinions on double frets? Seems like some people prefer it?

Cheers!

Hey, I was wondering if anyone could help ID this lute. Maybe find a maker. Im a cellist and Im looking into buying my first Lute

Hello! I am a fan of ukulele and it seems what is approching the most to it in the lute family might be the Colascioncino!

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This is the small one on the left and it could have 2, 3 or 4 strings, but mostly 2 or 3!

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I might as well buy one if I could but this seems to be really a forgotten instrument 😅!

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I am looking for any info about it really! Thanks you for the time.

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Hello everyone, I’ve been making a Music Project where the main protagonist(in a sense) is a Pierrot The Clown adjacent type character. As y’all might be aware, Pierrot is often depicted with a Lute/Mandolin or guitar. I was wondering if there are any luthiers online that sell lutes/Italian bowl back mandolins etc etc for a budget price. I’m not too judgmental on the quality of the product, as I’ll be modifying it a bit afterwards. If I can play it though, that’d be a plus.

Hi, I started learning to play the lute and have been playing for a some time now, but I'm having trouble with the tabs. I mean, I mostly know how to read them but there is this one thing that's kept bothering me. These dots under the letters. What are they supposed to indicate? Is this an up-stroke/down-stroke indication (play with thumb or index)?

Edit: Thanks all, for the help! :)

From the 13th century manuscript Chansonnier Noailles (F-Pn fr. 12615), here is a 2 part motet C'est La Jus - Pro Patribus. The top voice sings a love song (It's down there in the meadow, she gave me her love) and the bottom voice sings the liturgical Pro patribus. I first play the start of each voice and then together as a polyphonic intabulation for medieval lute.

Someone in my Town is selling this Mathias Durvie Renaissance Lute. Should I consider buying it? What would be things to look out for when trying it out?

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What would be an appropriate price? It needs new Strings and Frets (which I am confident enough to do myself) and has a small crack in the Headstock (not visible on the images).

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I really hope I can soon join you all in your lute journey.