Preface
Introduction
CHAPTER 1. TUNING AND TABLATURE
Tuning - Tablature (French tablature - Italian tablature - Rhythm symbols - Fingering and other symbols) - Stringing and doubling - Tuning practice (Practical advice on tuning - Tuning problems) - Strings
CHAPTER 2. BASIC TECHNIQUES
Posture and position of the lute - Right-hand position - Right-hand functions - Sound production (Positioning p - Forearm movement - Attack - Positioning i) - Alternating p and i - Finger articulation for polyphonic passages (Positioning p - Positioning i) - Preparatory exercises - Differences from guitar technique - Body control
CHAPTER 3. THE RIGHT HAND
Forearm and accentuation - Fingering
CHAPTER 4. THE LEFT HAND
General principals - Preparatory exercises - Avoiding stiffness - Differences from guitar technique - Hand coordination
CHAPTER 5. SCALES
Right-hand scale technique (Forearm movement - Finger articulation - Integrating the two techniques)
CHAPTER 6. EXERCISES FOR TWO LUTES
Exercises on a ground bass - Contrapuntal exercises - Articulation - Dances and ground basses
CHAPTER 7. SHIFTING LEFT-HAND POSITIONS
Fundamental principals - Position changes using the same finger - Position changes by substitution - Position changes by jump
CHAPTER 8. EXERCISES FOR TWO LUTES WITH POSITION CHANGES
CHAPTER 9. RIGHT-HAND TECHNIQUE IN POLYPHONIC MUSIC
p-i articulation - Positioning m - Rest stroke with p - Left-hand positions and movement - m-i articulation - Combining p, i and m - Easy pieces in two voices - Two-voice scales
CHAPTER 10. COUNTERPOINT
Voice progression and intervals - The species - Florid counterpoint - Imitation - Syncopation - Suspension
CHAPTER 11. CONTRAPUNTAL PIECES IN TWO VOICES
CHAPTER 12. THREE VOICES
The right hand - Combining chords and single notes - Repeated chords and monophonic passages - Arpeggios - Chords and counterpoint
CHAPTER 13. CONTRAPUNTAL PIECES IN THREE VOICES
Technical aspects: three-voice scales, the barre - Contrapuntal pieces in three voices
CHAPTER 14. CHORDS OF FOUR OR MORE NOTES
The ring finger (a) - Five- and six-note chords - Chords played with p
CHAPTER 15. IDIOMATIC LUTE COMPOSITIONS
Chords and divisions - Characteristics of lute composition
CHAPTER 16. TRANSFORMATION OF LUTE TECHNIQUE DURING THE 16th CENTURY
Evolution of right-hand position - Exercises for m-i alternation
CHAPTER 17. TECHNIQUE
Scales (Full-length scales in all keys - Scales with divisions) - Speed - Left-hand legato and ornamentation - The barre (Preparatory exercises - Barre exercises) - Scales in two and more voices (Two-voice scales - Three-voice scales) - Polyphonic patterns - Right-hand exercises
CHAPTER 18. RENAISSANCE PERFORMANCE PRACTICE
Interpretation (Rhetoric - Sound quality - Rhythmic inequality) - Ornamentation (16th-century sources - The first half of the 16th century - The second half of the 16th century - The first half of the 17th century - The Elizabethans)
CHAPTER 19. TEMPERAMENT
Meantone temperament - Equal temperament
This manual is a guide to the study of the Renaissance lute, taking the student on a step-by-step journey through technical matters and exercises of increasing difficulty. It is aimed at both the beginner and those who would like to improve their own technique. Special attention has been given to those who have specialized in guitar, so where necessary some important differences between the techniques of the two instruments have been underlined. All the material has been set out following a rational approach to the various challenges. To this end I thought it useful to write many of the exercises myself, especially those at the beginning of the course. I hope to guide the student from the technical basics to a level sufficient for playing music of intermediate difficulty. Of course, any material regarding technique will help the student progress to higher levels.
The main areas covered are:
• hand positions, according to Renaissance practice;
• study of appropriate sonority;
• development of contrapuntal sensitivity;
• idiomatic techniques;
• introduction to the different Renaissance musical forms;
• recognition of different interrelational forms.
Given the practical approach of this manual, information regarding the original sources is limited, yet it should go without saying that the original music is reproduced without any modifications beyond the correction of obvious errors. Original fingering is reproduced where it exists, specifically with regard to the right hand; left-hand fingerings are my own.
Chapter 1 briefly introduces the French and Italian tablature systems, together with the tunings used in the rest of the manual. Chapters 2-4 are dedicated to hand positions. Chapters 5-8 concentrate on the thumb-and-index technique, for the playing of single-line melodies. Chapters 9-14 present a gradual approach to the techniques of contrapuntal writing, with Chapter 10 dedicated to setting out the basics of Renaissance counterpoint and facilitating the understanding of polyphonic tablature. Chapter 15 analyses some of the major characteristics of idiomatic lute composition, while Chapter 16 concerns the technical transformations that took place at the end of the 16th century. Chapter 17 gathers together all the technical material, and is aimed at both integrating methodological information as well as being the starting point for further study. Chapter 18 is a collection of period writings dealing with performance practice, from lute and related sources. Lastly, Chapter 19 gives a brief overview of temperament on the lute, with some practical advice regarding the placement of frets.
Even though the exercises are set out in order of difficulty, it may not always be best to carry them out in strict order. It is probably better for each student, with the help of a teacher if possible, to create his or her own personalized study program, according to ability. Beginners can follow the order set out, keeping in mind, however, that the later exercises in each series are more difficult than the early exercises in the following series. For instance, it might be better to begin with the two-voice exercises in Chapter 9 before finishing the thumb-index exercises. Such an approach allows for the study of new techniques while those learned previously are being perfected.
Most of the exercises and pieces in this manual can be played on a 6-course lute; seven courses are necessary in only a few cases. This enables the study of a specific repertoire without forcing the student to change instruments. On the other hand, recent developments in lute-building techniques, together with greater understanding of the repertoire, show that it is not possible to play the entire repertoire with only one Renaissance lute; to really enter into the different sonorities and interpretative atmospheres, one must use the appropriate instrument.
Biographical Notes
Having studied the guitar, Andrea Damiani first studied lute under Diana Poulton, later studying with Anthony Bailes and Hopkinson Smith. He has earned diplomas in lute from the Royal College of Music in London and the Conservatorio “N. Piccinni” in Bari.
Mr. Damiani maintains a busy concert schedule both as a soloist and as a member of several well-known Italian groups, such as the Concerto Italiano, which has played at major festivals in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.
As a soloist, Mr. Damiani has given numerous recitals dedicated to the repertoire of the Italian Renaissance and Baroque, and of 18th-century German composers, especially J. S. Bach and S. L. Weiss.
Mr. Damiani has recorded for and broadcast over several major European radio networks, such as the BBC, ORTF, RAI, WDR, etc. As a specialist in basso continuo on the theorbo and arch-lute, he has participated in numerous recordings for Arcana, Erato, Harmonia Mundi, Opus 111, Philips, Symphonia and Tactus. As a soloist he has recorded a CD dedicated to rare 15th-century sources from the province of Marche for the E lucean le stelle label, and another dedicated to "Il Fronimo" of Vincenzo Galilei, for Stradivarius.
Andrea Damiani is regularly invited to teach on several international early music courses, such as those held in Chiusi della Verna, Erice, Lanciano, Urbino and by the Cini Foundation of Venice. He is currently Lute Instructor at the Conservatorio “A. Boito” in Parma.
