Lute Music in the Sixteenth Century

 


The most common form of the lute in the sixteenth century was a six-course instrument, of varying size, strung with gut strings and played with the fingers. The exact pitches varied with the size of the instrument, with smaller lutes being tuned A-d-g-b-e'-a' ("alto" lute) or G-c-f-a-d'-g' ("tenor" lute) and larger bass lutes being tuned D-G-c-e-a-d' or E-A-d-f#-b-e.

In addition to these actual tunings, lutenists often thought of the fingerboard as a series of transpositional "tunings" (actually, imaginary labels) to fit intabulated vocal music. Thus, a vocal model based on Mode I ("Dorian" mode) might be transcribed as if the lute were tuned to D: D-G-c-e-a-d'. Intabulations where the vocal model is available will be preceded by the appropriate tuning; other genres and pieces with unknown models will carry no pitches before the tablature staff (unless to clarify a scordatura), but the interval pattern will be the same. The "G tuning" given below is generally thought of as the most common after 1530.

Lute Tablature

All three types of tablature were used for lute music. Note that French tablature for the lute uses a five-line staff (with letters in the spaces) and Italian tablature a six-line staff (with numbers on the lines). German tablature does not use a staff.

French Lute Tablature

(Fantasie from Morlaye 1552a) 

           \                 \               \ 
     \.    \           \     \     \         \ 

g'= ________________a__c________a__a_____a___________a_
d'= _a_____c___|_d_____a___|_______a___|_a___e_____|___
a = _a_________|_a_____a___|_b_____b___|_a_________|___
f = _a_________|_a_________|___________|___________|___
c = _c_________|_c_____c___|___________|_c______a__|___
G =                          d     a                 d


Italian Lute Tablature

("Ave Maria de Josquin" from Spinacino 1507a) 

   \ 
   \                      \
   \                  \   \

G-------------------|--------------------3--|-1--3--------------------|---
C-------------------|-----------3--1--0-----|-------0--1--3--------3--|---
f--0-2-3-2-3-2-0-2--|-3---2--0--------------|----------------0--2-----|-0-
a-------------------|-----------------------|-------------------------|---
d'------------------|-----------------------|-------------------------|---
g'------------------|-----------------------|-------------------------|-1-

 

German Lute Tablature

("Der heilig herr" from Gerle 1546) 

         \                                 \
  |      \                         \       \             \ 

                        _  _       
  5    | 5  3  c  n  5  3  4  1  | o   c   i  2  g  3  | 4 
       |                         |                     |   
  g    | g           c           | 3       g           | c 
  _    | _           _           |                     | _ 
  1    | 1           1           | f       1           | 4

 



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