What is a 13 course lute?

The majority of the following instruments are of the German Theorbo-lute type, with an elongated, 'swan-neck' type of pegbox, with eight stopped courses on the fingerboard and five diapason courses.

How many strings are usually on a 13 course lute?

Thus an 8-course Renaissance lute usually has 15 strings, and a 13-course Baroque lute has 25. The courses are tuned in unison for high and intermediate pitches, but for lower pitches one of the two strings is tuned an octave higher (the course where this split starts changed over the history of the lute).

What is a course lute?

Note: Course means a set of two strings - (A modern 12 string acoustic guitar could also be called a 6 course guitar.) Most lutes have a single top (highest pitch) string but this is still referred to as the 1st course.

What is an 8 course lute?

This Roosebeck 8 course travel lute has a body made of eleven solid sheesham staves, a sheesham neck and sheesham fingerboard. The peg box is solid sheesham attached at an angle of 135 degrees to reduce the depth of the instrument. The tuning pegs and end pin are sheesham. The soundboard is made out of European spruce.

What is a 6 course lute?

6-Course Lutes - Marcos Kaiser - Lutemaker. A six-course lute based on the elongated Bologna style. Sycamore ribs, Holly bindings, pegs and veneering. A very light and resonant instrument with a more early design, featuring heart-shaped pegs and a slightly bulkier neck, characteristic of contemporary instruments.

New 13 course lute audio sample

How many courses does a lute have?

By the 16th century the classic form of the lute was established, with its six courses of strings (the top course a single string) tuned to G–c–f–a–d′–g′, beginning with the second G below middle C.

How many types of lutes are there?

Lutes came in all different sizes: soprano, alto, tenor, bass, great bass, and even little sopranino instruments. They could be played together in groups called consorts and you would create a wider spectrum of sound and a wider range of pitches.

How much does a lute cost?

All lutes are custom made instruments, and therefore they tend to be expensive. A used Larry Brown student lute, the "standard" of the beginner's lute world, goes for $1500 USA these days, give or take $500.

What is a lute tuned to?

A lute is tuned sort of like a modern guitar. If you tune a guitar with the G string tuned down to F# you will have the relative pitches of a lute, and you will be able to play from lute tablature. The most common pitch of the top string on a lute is g, which you would get by capoing a guitar up three frets.

How many strings does a 7 course lute have?

It usually carries 13 strings in 7 courses with a scale length of 19.75" (500mm). The European lute is featured in instrumental music from the early Renaissance to the late Baroque periods. Its early origins are vague, but its real heritage comes from the Egyptian Oud.

Is lute harder than guitar?

The main point is that the lute, which (compared to the guitar) is weak in the lower harmonics and strong in the higher, can sound tinny if played with nails.

How many notes can a lute play?

As the name suggests, 6-course lutes will have 6 basic notes, while 8-course lutes will have 8 basic notes to tune. From left to right, the base notes of the courses on a 6-course lute are: G, C, f, a, d, g.

Why do lutes have bent necks?

This bend helps keep the tension on the strings and keeps the lute in tune. As with many stringed instruments, such as the guitar, autoharp, or banjo, the lute player produces sound by plucking the strings.

Can a lute have 6 strings?

It is a six stringed instrument like classical guitar. Lute guitar is also know as German lute. These instruments were common in Germany since 1850's. There were many variants made for instance 11 stringed but 6 stringed variant was the most common one which we bring you.

What is the difference between a lute and a lyre?

Lyre has a bowl-shaped resonator underneath the strings and body to project sound forward into an audience while the lute is flat-backed and designed to be played in a large hall or outdoors. The lyre is also not as popular as the lute, which has been used by such great composers as Bach and Beethoven.

What is the tuning of the Baroque lute?

Baroque lute-makers expanded the number of courses to 11 and even 13 or 14 by the 18th century. Baroque lutes were also tuned differently from Renaissance lutes, using a more harmonically based “D minor tuning” instead of the more “guitar-like” tuning that continued to be used for the viol in the baroque era.

How many strings does a Kudyapi have?

The kutiyapi, or kudyapi, is a Philippine two-stringed, fretted boat-lute. It is four to six feet long with nine frets made of hardened beeswax.

Is a mandolin a lute?

mandolin, also spelled mandoline, small stringed musical instrument in the lute family. It evolved in the 18th century in Italy and Germany from the 16th-century mandora.

What is the difference between a lute and an oud?

The main difference between the Oud and Lute instruments is that a Lute has a fretted neck and can have more strings or be a larger size than the Oud instrument. The Lute is associated with Western Shakespearean culture while the Oud is the main instrument of Middle Eastern and Arab culture.

What is the name of a three stringed lute?

The sanxian (Chinese: 三弦, literally "three strings") is a three-stringed traditional Chinese lute. It has a long fretless fingerboard, and the body is traditionally made from snake skin stretched over a rounded rectangular resonator.

What is the easiest instrument to learn?

The piano is arguably the easiest musical instrument for kids to learn and there's a ton of easy songs to learn. It's a great way to introduce children to music, mostly thanks to the simple, logical layout of the keys.

What do you call someone who plays the lute?

You might also see a lute player at a Renaissance Faire. The wooden body of a lute is very round, while the front is flat with strings extending up the long neck to frets, like a ukulele or a guitar. Lute players are called luthiers, and they play mainly by plucking the strings, rather than strumming them.