I’m sure that this sub gets this question a lot but I absolutely adore listening to people play the lute and would love to learn, but it’s a little more intimidating to pick up than something more mainstream like guitar. I’m not even sure where to start. Is there a place to buy a “beginner’s” lute, or any well known books or learner’s guides online? If anyone could drop me some advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Hey friends! I’ve been playing lute for about 3 years on my 13c archlute and guitar for about 23 years. I’m gearing up to play Handel’s messiah in the coming year and have started working on the realization for that but it is a lot of music to get through writing out. I don’t really have much experience with continuo playing, just with standard notation, French tab, and chord symbols. I’ve been translating the continuo part in this case to chord symbols because I can read that a lot faster than the others and it would make learning this volume of music a much faster process.

I guess what I’m asking is, does anyone have a chord symbol transcription of any part of messiah they’d be willing to share? Or any other types of realizations? Thanks!

I’m guessing a lot of people here have a classical guitar background like me, so yall will know what I need. What are some good pieces for a newcomer to the ren lute? I’m playing etudes and scales to get the fundamentals, but I want to start learning some actual music too. I have a 7 course, and standard notation or tab is fine. Thanks!

I am gathering all the info, knowledge and courage I can before starting the physical work of building a lute.

The thing is that there is one measurement I can't seem to confirm the thickness of the lute bowl ribs. I've read 1,5mm one one place, but what would you guys say?

Hello all! I have a 7 course and an 8 course lute and I love playing them but I was just trying to figure out, if I was stuck out in the middle of nowhere or was back in the renaissance period. How would I tune these? Pitch pipes exist for guitars but there doesn't seem to be something similar for lutes.

Does anyone own an archlute made by Sandi or Gungor? I know they were pretty hit or miss some years back, but I wonder if they've improved at all? Just want to get some input before I drop any money on one. Regarding my specific needs for an instrument: I don't necessarily need a top-of-the-line instrument, as I don't anticipate performing professionally. But, I also don't want an instrument that isn't very playable.

Gungor: https://reverb.com/item/73441645-handmade-14-course-renaissance-lute-baroque-archlute-mahogany-and-rosewood-material-hardcase

Sandi: https://www.cankayamuzikevi.com/en/14-telli-archlute

Can anyone direct me to a site where I can print(or buy) music for 6-8 course lute, bass viol, and treble viol? I use lutemusic.org frequently for solo stuff, but I still haven't quite figured out how to search by instrumentation. Anyway, any additional suggestions would be SO appreciated. Thank you in advance 🙏

Hello everyone, I'm from Taiwan and I've always been really into folk and historical musics, and lute music from baroque period has always been one of my favorites, so I'm thinking about getting one. But so far the lute I've found have been pretty pricey(starting from 3,000€😔) and the only really affordable one I've found so far is some half factory made lute from a guy in China which he offers 6500rmb(roughly 860€), but I still kinda want to see what are my other options. Would be great to have some of your recommended makers and dealers, thank you!

I’m using MuseScore right now to manually intabulate songs, and I like the desktop app, but the mobile app is awful for Lute. It only shows a generic all-caps font for the tabs, it doesn’t show the note durations/timing at all even. So it is fine for songs I already know well, but impossible as a learning tool for new songs as you have no idea what the flow even is.

I know I could just use pdfs, but I like a program that lets me play in exact time with the song, adjust tempo to slow or speed up, etc. I’ve been limping along with MiseScore but I’d like to be able to be more portable.

But if there is another app out there that actually works for proper lute notation that would be great to try! Bonus points if there’s a way to convert my existing MuseScore scores.

Looking for a 4 course medieval lute and it is way harder than I thought it was going to be. I have played guitar all my life, never a lute, and – as I never have had a lot of money – buying one for 3500$ is not really an option. I have built my own Trossingen Lyre before, which sounds really good, and I could try to build one, but as soon as there is a neck on an instrument, things get pretty advanced.

Renassaince lutes on the other hand are much cheaper. Is it possible to buy a renaissance lute and only string it with 8 strings to get the feeling of a medieval lute?

Do you have any suggestions for low price range medieval lutes or other suggestions?

Here are some links to the medieval lute (if I understand it correctly):

https://youtu.be/eGrUJvWYR90?si=o8Oo-gPe2JVIg1nw

https://youtu.be/nplr1inhbgc?si=SV5zf1xhHYMNXH4P

Hello people. I've never handled a lute and a friend gave it to me to tune for him. I know nothing about how to tune it, or strings to have on it. I'm honestly not even sure why he wanted me to do this, I digress. From what I read online I believe it's a 6 course. It might be strung wrong but the low string is by itself then followed by 5 sets of 2. | || || || || || . Could someone point me in the right direction to one, know if it's got the correct strings on it, two, if not what's strings I should use ie nylon or acustic guitar strings, and three know the general tuning I'll need. I don't have any fancy tuners, I just use my tuning apps on my phone for my personal instruments. If anyone could help I'm sure he'd appreciate it.

Edit: here's a picture of it it took me way to long to figure out how to post one.

Hello ! Happy new year everyone :) I search for any kind of scores (tablatures or modern notation) of early lute music. Could someone please recommend websites where I could find/purchase them ? I know some of them are on imslp but I would like to know if there is a bigger « library » specifically for lute (or any kind of publisher). Thank you very much ! 🎶

Whatever it's called, I have the fretboard strings tuned to Renaissance lute tuning (E A D F♯ B e) What should the diapasons be tuned to?

I've googled it, and there isn't a good answer, probably because I'm doing it weird. And I realize I can tune them to whatever I want, so I would appreciate not hearing the least useful answer ever.

Is it more useful to just copy the fretboard strings but an octave lower, or maybe that bur 3 half step higher?

I mostly just want to use the bass strings because they're there. I'm otherwise not that into them. (It's not mine; a friend is letting me borrow it.)

I would ask the offices this question but they are shut down for the holidays! Does anyone know the difference between Muzikkon’s deluxe and regular 8-course lute? I can’t spot anything obvious so I’m thinking I may as well get the regular version, but don’t want to miss out on anything cool.

Thanks for anyone that can help. :) happy holidays!

Does anyone know if there are any teachers/schools in LA, preferably somewhere around Santa Monica, that offer lute lessons? I’m a big lute lover and wanted to start playing, but can’t really find anything online.

This is my friend's lute. The guy that sold it to him called it a theorbo, but it looks like an archlute to me. I'm not a lutinist, though. I googled the difference, and one of the two key differences is that a theorbo has single string courses, like this lute, while an archlute has two strings per course.

The other difference is that a lute's strings descend in pitch. My friend is busy right now, so he can't check, and I'm not really that invested. I was just curious.

So is it a short theorbo or a single string archlute? Does anybody know?

Cuerdas Pulsadas is offering discounts on all the catalog, strings, frets, straps... Just in case you didn't know

https://www.cuerdaspulsadas.com/2024/12/15/were-celebrating-14-years/