Not related specifically to the topic at hand - I notice that you lift your left hand index (fret c) as you depress the 2nd finger on fret d. I was taught (supposedly historical), once you put a finger down, leave it down until you must move it, or until you should move it 'for a musical reason'. I would be interested in your thoughts on this.
That is a great question! In many of the rudimentary instructions on the lute from the 16th century, it says exactly what you have stated above....BUT, in Robert Dowland's "Varietie of Lute Lessons," he has a translation of Besard's lute instructions that clarify it a bit further, at least for him. Essentially, you hold fingers down when playing different strings but when on the same string, you should lift the finger as you put the next finger down (like modern "walking" on classical guitar). Now, that all said, a couple things to keep in mind: All of the pedagogical sources on lute from the 16th century are VERY rudimentary (even the Robert Dowland source). First, imagine in a couple hundreds years if the only instruction books on electric guitar to survive were Mel Bay and Hal Leonard introductions on how to play guitar. You would look at them and then listen to Hendrix or Van Halen and your jaw would drop because there is this massive gulf between the two. Similarly, if we look at the music of Albert de Rippe, Simone Molinaro, G.A. Terzi, etc., there are all these things we have to do just to be able to play them that are not in any surviving instructions. We have to look a the music for clues on technique. Second, I would bear in mind that Renaissance technique was hardly uniform. Even looking at these rudimentary sources, we see big differences. Check out the difference between the right hand approach of Dowland and the right hand approach of Thomas Robinson in his Schoole of Musicke. Very different! From a personal standpoint, I actually try to treat each situation differently and find that which works best for that particular moment. I suspect that the really great players (like those today) are not necessarily bogged down by uniform rules like "always do this" or "never do that." Anyways, sorry for the long answer but I do think it is a really interesting topic and one that I continue to explore! For example, I have thought about leaving the fingers down more to see if it helps with speed. Definitely some great stuff to experiment with! Cheers, Laudon
@@laudonschuett3019 This is a comforting thought. You are not bound by rules. You can do whatever you 'need to do' to play the music. The end goal is to make beautiful music, and if you diverge from the written notation, so be it. When learning a new piece the initial goal is to work on playing as the TAB indicates. then adapting it to what fits the player's skill level and produces the most pleasing result for that player. That makes luting more a delight than a task. Nice!
@@robertpurrenhage1400 I’m glad you find that idea comforting! I know that many people find comfort in “hard and fast rules,” but it just doesn’t track with how art works, which has always been about pushing boundaries (especially the more interesting players and composers). Happy lewting! : )
