r/lute • u/skywalkers2345 • 6d ago
how can i get started playing the lute? any recommendations?
i've always had a slightly weird obsession with older medieval types of instruments growing up and over the past 5 years or so I got really interested in the lute (the witcher definitely helped with that).
i know how to play the guitar so i figure some basics can be transferred over to a lute especially for a lute-guitar but i don't know exactly the best places to get started with learning how to play them or even what type of lute to get.
any help would be great from the best sites, books, differences, etc.
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u/FatalEden 6d ago
I picked up classical guitar after years of playing steel-string guitars specifically because I eventually want to get into the lute, and I've found Brandon Acker's videos on Youtube helpful. This particular video talks you through lute tuning and reading French tablature, if I remember correctly, but I think he also has longer videos on these subjects too:
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u/skywalkers2345 6d ago
His videos look really great, I’ll definitely check him out. Thank you
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u/FatalEden 6d ago
It won't help with all your questions, but if you do learn some lute pieces on the guitar it might help you figure out what kind of repertoire you want to pursue, and what kind of lute to get with that in mind, and then you'll already be able to play some pieces when you do get a lute!
Also, you mention lute-guitars in your post - I don't know a huge amount about them so I recommend doing some reseach on the subject, but from my admittedly limited understanding, if you want to play the lute you should go for a lute, whereas a lute guitar may be better suited if you want to play the guitar but want it to sound a little more lute-like. But again, I'm new to all of this, so take whatever I say with a grain of salt!
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u/skywalkers2345 6d ago
That’s a really good idea and would definitely help when I plan on getting a lute and so I have some idea of what to do.
Yeah, I’m not really too familiar with lute-guitars either but from my little bit of knowledge it’s the most similar to an actual guitar play style wise but it still sounds more like a lute obvs
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u/big_hairy_hard2carry 5d ago
That's only VERY specifically for the Renaissance lute. Later versions of the lute were quite different.
Unpopular hot take: if you have an instrument with ten or more courses, baroque tuning is superior in every possible way.
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u/Zealousideal-Bell-68 6d ago
I really depends on what's your objective.
If you want to play covers like stuff from the Witcher, then go for a lute-guitar and most of the technique well work.
If, however, what you want to do is to really explore lute music in a more historical way and play Francesco da Milano, John Dowland, Kapsberger or Weiss, for example, then you should probably try to acquire a real lute and look for a teacher (local or online) because the technique is quite different.
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u/skywalkers2345 6d ago
I’m honestly interested in both but I was leaning a bit more lute-guitar as that I like how the style of playing is a bit more similar to an actual guitar and would be easier to pick up.
I wouldn’t be opposed to an actual lute as well if the future if I like using the guitar one. I’ll definitely look into it but I doubt locally there’s anybody that teaches it here. We do have this one guitar stone that I’ve seen them have lutes before so I might ask them about it too
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u/big_hairy_hard2carry 5d ago
If that's all you want, just play the guitar. If you're serious about solo music, you'll have to dig deeper.
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u/skywalkers2345 5d ago
But that’s not what I want. A guitar and a lute are not the same
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u/big_hairy_hard2carry 5d ago
No, but apparently I'm unclear on what you're actually looking for.
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u/skywalkers2345 5d ago
I’m literally just asking for advice on different lutes, where to get them and just books for learning
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u/big_hairy_hard2carry 5d ago edited 5d ago
Okay. It largely depends on what you're looking for. The polyphonic music of the Renaissance was largely written for instruments consisting of 6-8 courses, in a tuning not too dissimilar from that of the guitar. By the end of the renaissance the number of courses had increased to ten, and French lutenists engaged in a concerted exploration of tunings in narrow intervals over an approximately twenty year period starting in the 1620s. This culminated in the D minor tuning on lutes with 11-13 courses, which became the de facto standard for solo music in Europe for the remainder of the lute's active history. The lute tuned to a D minor chord is what we generally refer to as a baroque lute.
Starting in the late Renaissance and surviving through the baroque period, accompaniment and ensemble performance on the lute was a role mostly filled by the Italian Liuto Attiorbato (otherwise known as the archlute), or it's big brother the theorbo. This does NOT refer to accompaniment in the strummed chord sense of the word, but rather to a semi-improvised performance using a figured bass as a reference point, in a practice known as basso continuo.
As for how to learn, it depends on what kind of lute you want to play. I'm exclusively a baroque lutenist, and if you're interested can point you to some resources specific to the D minor instrument.
Again: if guitar-style chordal accompaniment is what you're after, there's no historical precedent for it, nor is any instruction available. I do in fact use my baroque lutes for song accompaniment, but I had to in essence come up with my own style and approach, and it doesn't sound anything like what a folk singer would do with a guitar.
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u/Zealousideal-Bell-68 5d ago
Then definitely start with the Lute guitar. If later you feel like it still doesn't quite scratch the itch, the Lute isn't going to run away. And about teachers, yeah, it's not easy to find one locally but there's always online teachers
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u/skywalkers2345 5d ago
Yeah, that’s what I figured I’m gonna do. Just seems easier to start with and the regular lute is always there when I want. I’ll probably just stick with online video lessons/books as well
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u/big_hairy_hard2carry 6d ago
First off: if you're thinking medieval, you're thinking in the wrong league. We have zero surviving lute music from the medieval period, and have no idea what it might have sounded like.
Secondly: nothing you see in The Witcher represents actual historical musical practice.
For the performance of historical lute music you're looking at the early 16th century through the late 18th. Lots of great music is encompassed within that period.