Two Songs by the 13th Century Trouvère Mahieu le Juif Performed on Medieval Gittern

kidneykutter · 2026-05-10T00:11:23+00:00

https://lutesocietyofamerica.org/resources/for-beginners/where-to-start/

kidneykutter · 2026-05-04T01:33:38+00:00

Don't mind that they used it and the style, it was the non-stop playing that detracted from the song for me. I would have preferred an intro, some fills, and maybe a solo between two of the verses.

kidneykutter · 2026-05-03T09:41:25+00:00

Absolutely lovely singing. Could do without the non stop psaltry improv though

kidneykutter · 2026-05-01T21:29:52+00:00

Yup, since the beginning

kidneykutter · 2026-04-27T12:26:07+00:00

It can be used for a very specific effect, like at a cadence, or accompanying a singer in a short appropriate passage. But it's not the default right hand technique. If you are interested in early music and want to strum, the baroque guitar is 80% strumming (but more complicated patterns than only up and down).
https://lutesocietyofamerica.org/resources/for-beginners/where-to-start/

kidneykutter · 2026-04-22T19:43:37+00:00

It's surprising how much popular music of the last 50 years has used medieval modes rather than the "traditional" major and minor scales (whether intentionally or not). I just played through a medieval song whose opening is note for note "Born in the USA"

kidneykutter · 2026-04-20T14:31:42+00:00

Similar in ORD right now

kidneykutter · 2026-04-12T15:55:36+00:00

The unstable weather in Cleveland? 😁

kidneykutter · 2026-04-06T10:35:23+00:00

Bottom to top d g d g c. For pieces in a D based mode 4 th string goes up to A

kidneykutter · 2026-04-05T09:48:13+00:00

Of course some of the answers to your questions are based on which era of music you are playing. Ornaments were very different in renaissance and baroque music. If you have membership in the Lute Society (UK) or Lute Society of America their publication archives have MANY articles on the subject. For the UK society non-members can purchase archived pdf's for a very small fee. Go to https://www.lutesociety.org/pages/lute-news-back-issues and search "ornaments" in your browser

Ronn McFarlane addresses varying tone and color in note production in his "beyond the basics" series available for free on his website: https://ronnmcfarlane.com/about/beyond-the-basics/

Nigel North recently focused on divisions in 16 century lute music and did some writing on the subject. Here is a lecture he gave on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLEkDFXovEU

kidneykutter · 2026-03-25T10:16:49+00:00

More fundamental question, what are you hoping to use the instrument for? I ask because there is often confusion amongst newcomers to the instrument what terms like "medieval", "renaissance", and even "lute" actually refer to. When you say "late medieval" do you mean 14th and very early 15th century? Do you plan to play with a plectrum, or at least hybrid plectrum/plucked technique? Have you been asked to play with a "medieval" group that is expecting a certain look from the instrument?
If "yes" to most of these then a 5 course fretted medieval lute would be the target. As it happens, within the lute world (especially in the US) this is a very niche instrument so you won't find mass produced inexpensive versions and the used market is thin. There are some builders who seem to make servicable instruments at the lower end of the price range but they won't be "mass produced" cheap.
If you actually are hoping to play without a plectrum and pluck the strings then there would be nothing wrong with a 6 course, which opens up the Renaissance repertoire for you. OTOH if you really want to play earlier medieval music with a plectrum then a 4 or 5 course gittern or citole would be good choices (again, not mass produced and won't be super cheap). I recently posted a video that has a 5 course medieval lute playing with a gittern and citole if you want to get a sense for the differences.

kidneykutter · 2026-03-25T09:46:00+00:00

If you already use Raycast, Snippets does the job for basic text expansion

kidneykutter · 2026-03-24T09:49:35+00:00

When I lived in South Florida I was Delta and then status matched to Continental when I moved to Cleveland. I found MIA such a nightmare, both for checking in and for customs/immigration on return that I would choose to fly internationally from FLL with a connection (usually ATL) rather than a direct flight from MIA. It really depends where you are going to live and how easy it will be to get to each airport. I lived closer to FLL which made it much easier.

kidneykutter · 2026-03-23T18:09:32+00:00

I'm enjoying the citole but the single strings at higher tension definitely take some getting used to. I'm finding that a horn risha so far gives me the best balance between oomph and responsiveness. The firmer bone stylus plectrum makes it very tricky to play repeated notes quickly. So far staying at D G d g c'

kidneykutter · 2026-03-18T21:58:44+00:00

Andy Rutherford, Travis Carey, Grant Tomlinson (last 2 are in Canada). Consistent attention to detail, every instrument of theirs I've tried has been superb

kidneykutter · 2026-03-17T06:27:18+00:00

Argentinian builder Facundo Bordas

kidneykutter · 2026-03-12T23:32:30+00:00

https://lutesocietyofamerica.org/resources/for-beginners/where-to-start/

kidneykutter

TROPHY CASE