r/lute

Hello, for the last three years I've been thinking about buying and playing the lute, but I feel that buying a new instrument, which is expensive per se plus taking to learn to play it it's quite a difficult difficult decision, that's why I haven't take the step yet.

For more context, I am already a professional musician (I study double bass 10 years and piano 4 years in the music school and play in a couple of orchestras and also learned to play guitar by myself), and I am really keen into Renaissance music, but well, I feel that learning could be still quite difficult.

So I wanted to seek advice about these two things. Advice about buying a lute (I am spanish, no if someone doesn't know how it works in my country, don't worry, I understand, but I would like any advice that could be possible) and more important, anything that could be useful for me to learn how to play it.

Thank you very much. I wait for your answers.

I just acquired a beautiful 5c gittern, so for those of you who play medieval lute, gittern, or other early plucked instruments, I am curious what you like using for a plectrum?

I tried various oud risha and didn't really like any of them - they all sounded and felt too synthetic and clickety. I'm processing some feathers right now so I plan to try that as soon as they're ready (I foraged raven feathers from a park near my house). My current favorite is a loop of 2mm tailgut which I find easy to hold and gives me a warm rounded tone.

I also really like using my fingers, but I've noticed that the gittern isn't as loud as lute and vihuela, though the tone is amazing and very distinctive and different from the lute and vihuela.

I know nothing about it but it’s my partners favorite instrument and I want to buy a high quality one my budget is 800-1300. like I said I really don’t know anything so any advice would be great

every decent lute is over 3k usd. i’ve been stuck playing lute repitoire on an electric guitar for YEARS (i figure it’s better to pluck something than nothing) !!! i’ve wanted a 7-9 course renaissance lute since i was a kid.

can’t wait till i graduate and get a real job, first thing id save for is a decent lute

It's been hard to put the 13 course lute down! Here is another great Weiss work, the Sarabande movement from the Sonata in G major found in the Moscow manuscript, a document compiled by one of his students about a decade after his death. 13 course baroque lute built by Andrew Rutherford (A 415). 

Hopefully this doesn’t ruffle any feathers, but…

TL;DR - Is lute learning/playing culture generally fun and exploratory, or judgmental and hierarchical with a “stuffy conservatory” vibe? What’s your experience?

Long version:

I’m coming off of cello (and fiddle to a much lesser degree) after deciding that proper polyphony is the way for me, and am interested in the 7-8 course lute at some point (though I’m currently going through Samantha Muir’s book on classical ukulele and really enjoying it). But I‘ve got a bit of “musically induced trauma” from cello that I’m trying to avoid.

Something I noticed in cello lessons and culture in general was a strong “stuffy conservatory” feel, and an unpleasant baggage that seemed to come with learning a classical instrument. It was like I was there to prove my worth as a student every time, rather than explore and grow. I was happy to play, and happy to hammer fundamentals, but there was always a sort of judgmental vibe that generated anxiety, even though nothing scary or weird was explicitly leveled against me. I got the sense that this highly evaluative, SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT, style is a sort of a trauma that is traditional to pass down to students (kind of joking, but also kind of not). My teacher was never cruel and was patient and nice, but there was always this formal vibe, and feeling that I needed to prove that I deserved to be at a lesson I was paying to be at. That my life should revolve around coming maximally prepared for our next lesson. I get that every teacher wants their student to succeed, but there was… something else there beneath the surface, even with multiple teachers.

Contrast that with fiddle, which was so much different. There was a sort of “we’re in this together, let’s make music and have a good time” feeling in lessons, even though, by all accounts, I was learning from the single best fiddle player in my region. Learning by ear and playing folk music has some pretty intense challenges, but it was *fun* and made me want to pick up the fiddle and practice for enjoyment, versus picking up the cello almost like it was a second job (even though I enjoyed playing).

Granted, this is very much teacher based, I’m sure, and can go good or bad depending on what you get, but there’s no denying a difference in culture. Lute seems like it could go either way. One the one hand, there are a lot of folk songs and the community is small, and that must surely come with a lot of enthusiasm and love of the instrument and music. On the other hand, a lot of people are probably coming from classical guitar backgrounds and I fear that bring that same conservatory vibe, especially if Historically Informed Playing comes into the picture as an aggressive enforcer or cudgel rather than as a fascinating enhancement and goal, and I fear that it may be more “earn, and know, your place” hierarchy and approach versus the more exploratory, enjoyable vibe that exists in, say, fiddle and ukulele, even when approached with the goal of acquiring and growing genuine expertise.

Where does lute stand? Do you notice a difference compared to the culture of your other musical background (if applicable)?