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Tutor For Renaissance Lute Complete Beginner To Advanced Student
(Schott). For the complete beginner to the advanced student
148 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 22, 2015
Diana Poulton's Tutor for the Renaissance Lute is probably the single greatest technical resource for that instrument, and I'd recommend it for everyone from pure beginners with absolutely no musical background to those already possessing a reasonably advanced degree of mastery on the instrument. There is very little rigorous pedagogical material extant for the lute until the Mary Burwell Lute Tutor of the early Baroque period, at which time stringing and tuning was so foreign to that of the renaissance that the text is effectively useless in that context. This modern tutor does an admirable job of bridging the information gap. Barring the future discovery of a detailed technical treatise from the late 16th or early 17th century in a private collection (and one may always dream), we will probably never have a more complete and accurate treatment of the technical considerations peculiar to the instrument. Even if such a treatise were discovered, its scope could not compete with that of Poulton's book. Even the Mary Burwell Lute Tutor, known for its relative attention to detail, is essentially a chronicle of hyper-localized tastes and trends which rarely makes mention of what was being done by lutenists in other locations.
The lessons are clear and well written, with easily obtainable goals. As one might expect of a technical manual, the musical examples are laid out in order of increasing difficulty. I suspect that Poulton took Robert Dowland's A Varietie of Lute Lessons as the model for the layout of her book. All of the major systems of intabulation in use during the renaissance are addressed in turn, including the only explanation of the (nightmarish) german intabulation system that has ever been clear enough that I was able to finally sightread a piece notated in this system. The musical examples are well chosen, and many are facsimiles. Too often the musical examples given in technical texts are useless for all but technique acquisition, yet every single one of Poulton's selections is worthy of a recital program.
It is also the only lute book I have seen that includes full range scales. It is absolutely worth the $35. I "finished" the book a few days ago, but one doesn't read and shelve a technique manual. I'll be revisiting this book daily for decades.
The lessons are clear and well written, with easily obtainable goals. As one might expect of a technical manual, the musical examples are laid out in order of increasing difficulty. I suspect that Poulton took Robert Dowland's A Varietie of Lute Lessons as the model for the layout of her book. All of the major systems of intabulation in use during the renaissance are addressed in turn, including the only explanation of the (nightmarish) german intabulation system that has ever been clear enough that I was able to finally sightread a piece notated in this system. The musical examples are well chosen, and many are facsimiles. Too often the musical examples given in technical texts are useless for all but technique acquisition, yet every single one of Poulton's selections is worthy of a recital program.
It is also the only lute book I have seen that includes full range scales. It is absolutely worth the $35. I "finished" the book a few days ago, but one doesn't read and shelve a technique manual. I'll be revisiting this book daily for decades.
March 19, 2015
Just what I was looking for.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews