FAQs

Here are some frequently asked questions about the lute:
General

Music

Construction

            (please scroll down to answers)

General


A lute is a lightly constructed stringed musical instrument in a variety of sizes and configurations. Lutes can
be roughly classified into three groups: Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque. Generally, a lute has an
almond- or pear-shaped body with a round back, a slightly concave soundboard with a carved rose for the
soundhole, frets tied to a short neck, and a pegbox attached at nearly a 90 degree angle.


The Medieval lute period begins around 1350, at which time the lute had evolved from its ancestor the oud
to the point of being a distinct instrument. One defining characteristic of the lute at this time was the
addition of frets. Medieval lutes have 4 or 5 courses (pairs of strings, although the top course could be a
single string). These early lutes were plucked with a quill, whereas later lutes were played with the
fingertips. Very little lute music from this period has survived.

The Renaissance lute spans from the late 1400s to about 1600 and can have from 6 to as many as 10
courses. With the passage of time, additional courses were added to the lute on the bass end in an effort
to expand its range. After the development of the 10-course lute, there was a transitional period of
alternate tunings and eventually the addition of extra courses. Yet even into the Baroque period, the
Renaissance lute still remained popular in some areas.  

After 1620, a new tuning and playing style now designated as Baroque became universal with the
development of the 11-course lute in France, followed by further changes in techniques and the addition of
two more courses (13 total) in Germany.

Some later lutes have 14 or more courses. There are other types of lutes, such as the archlute and
theorbo, with neck extensions to hold longer strings tuned to even lower pitches.


The back or bowl of the lute is made up of staves or ribs that are often sandwiched between thin wooden
strips called spacers. The ribs and spacers are usually of contrasting colors. An extra piece of wood,
similar to an additional rib, is wrapped around the bottom edge of the bowl. This end clasp helps to
support the bowl at the termination of the rib tips. Also on the bottom end of the bowl, a thicker piece of
bent spruce called the counter cap is glued on the inside lower rim, opposite the end clasp. The counter
cap makes the bowl stronger and offers a larger gluing surface for the soundboard where string tension
will exert pressure on the instrument. The ribs are given support on the other end of the bowl by being
glued to the neck block, which is carved in curved facets to mate with the tapering ribs.

The soundboard (or top or belly) is supported underneath with thin pieces of wood called bracing that run
perpendicular to the grain lines of the top. At the lower end of the soundboard there are smaller braces
that run at different angles to help focus the tone of the instrument. The soundboard is given further support
on the bottom end of the lute bowl by being glued to the counter cap and on the other end of the bowl by
the neck block. The delicate edge of the soundboard is often protected where it is glued to the bowl by a
thin strip of hard wood called half-edge binding, as this strip is set half-way into the depth of the top. The
decorative carving of the soundhole is called the rose. This fragile area is reinforced by very small strips
of wood that are stained black so they won’t detract visually from the carving. The rose is carved into the
soundboard itself and not inserted as an additional piece into the top. The bridge is attached to the
soundboard between the rose and the bottom edge. Strings pass through holes drilled in the bridge and
are looped over upon themselves so that tension anchors them from slipping.   

The neck is relatively short and can be quite wide, depending on the number of courses. Lute frets are
strings of animal gut (processed sheep intestines) tied onto the neck, unlike a modern guitar with metal
frets set into the fingerboard. This allows the player to adjust the placement of the frets if a different tuning
system or temperament is desired. Where the neck meets the body, the frets are continued onto the
soundboard with small pieces of wood called body frets that are glued to the top. The fingerboard is
flush with the soundboard and should have a slightly convex shape or radius in order for the frets to lie flat
on the surface. (Lutes with flat fingerboards are prone to buzzing where the fret material cannot lie flush,
particularly where the string must bend at the edges of the fingerboard.) Later lutes of the Baroque period
have a much larger radius to the fingerboard to allow easier barring of the extra courses.

The pegbox functions much like the tuning system of a violin. Each peg is held in place by friction, with the
string being wound on the peg shaft. The pegs must be mated very carefully into the holes of the pegbox
with matching tapers to ensure a good fit. The strings pass over a nut, usually made of bone, as they
navigate the sharp angle from the end of the fingerboard to the pegs. On later lutes there are sometimes
appendages to the pegbox (i.e., a bass rider for lower strings and a chanterelle for the top course) to
reduce the overall pegbox length that would be required to house a continuous row of so many pegs.  

Some later Baroque lutes have a different pegbox configuration, often called a “swan neck” because the
pegbox is a series of two or three smaller pexboxes that are arranged in a way that resembles an “S”
curve, like the neck of a swan. The multiple banks of pegboxes allow the lower strings to be of a longer
length in the upper pegbox(s). The triple pegbox design gives the lower register more of a balanced sound
as the transition between lower and upper registers is not as abrupt a jump.

Unlike violins, most lute pegs are not made of ebony, and if they are black they are usually dyed
fruitwoods, boxwood, rosewood, or maple. Some lutes have necks and pegboxes with a veneer of ebony
or a different hard wood covering a lighter core wood, while other lutes have unveneered necks and
pegboxes of pear or another wood that is hard enough to be durable and stable but not too heavy. Neck
extensions on some Baroque lutes are often dyed black.


Stings were traditionally made of gut (i.e., the processed intestines of sheep), and today lute strings can
be gut, synthetic gut (i.e., Nylgut), nylon, carbon fiber, copper or silver wire wound on a core of synthetic
fibers or gut, or a combination of these materials. The number of strings can range from 7 to more than 24.
The strings are arranged in pairs, called courses, and this is how many lutes are distinguished from one
another (e.g., a 7-course Renaissance lute or an 11-course Baroque lute). Although a course is defined as
a pair of strings, the highest course on most Renaissance lutes is usually a single string and, on lutes of
the later Baroque period, the two highest courses are usually single strings.


The first course of a lute is the string with the highest pitch. Renaissance and Baroque tunings differ.  
Between these periods, there was a transitional period of experimental tunings. For example, a 6-course
Renaissance lute in G would be tuned G-C-F-A-D-G from low to high. By comparison, to take a guitar and
place a capo on the third fret, if the guitar's G string was detuned a half step to F#, this would be the typical
Renaissance tuning. Additional Renaissance courses (which can number up to 10 total) are usually tuned
in descending order: F-E (or E flat)-D-C. Therefore, a 10-course Renaissance lute (in G) from low to high
would be:

C-D-E-F-G-C-F-A-D-G

Renaissance lutes were made in many shapes and sizes. These instruments had a tuning that was the
same relative to one another, although the highest string could be tuned to any number of pitches based
on the size and string length of the lute. For example, a very small lute could have the highest string tuned
to D, and another could be larger and have its highest string at the lower pitch of G, and yet a larger lute
could have a first course tuned even lower to E or F. Regardless, the intervals between the strings would
be the same, as if you placed a capo at different points on the neck of a guitar. In the Baroque period, the
pitches between instruments were more uniform, although string lengths could differ by several
centimeters depending on the instrument.

The Baroque tuning is based on a D minor chord. On a 13-course lute, the lowest string is tuned to A, and
the tuning then progresses B-C-D-E-F-G-A and then continues with the notes of the D minor chord: D-F-A-
D-F. Note that some of the lower seven courses might have to be re-tuned before the start of each piece,
depending on the key and the required accidentals. (Often these lower strings are plucked by the right
thumb without being fretted.) To compare with the Renaissance tuning above, here’s the complete 13-
course Baroque tuning from low to high in the key of C:

A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-D-F-A-D-F


Because the lute’s ancestor, the oud, has pairs of strings, so does the lute retain this feature. The pairs of
strings were likely an attempt to increase the volume of the instrument.

The higher courses are unisons, or the same pitch, whereas the lower courses are strung in octaves, with
the lower pitched string towards the bass side. The thumb or fingers must pluck the pairs that make up
each course with considerable care or else the course will be sounded as two distinct notes. Although it is
physically impossible to sound each string of a course at the same moment, the illusion can be successful
with a good technique.


The oud (the Arabic instrument from which the lute evolved) has a similar pegbox configuration. The oud
has more of an “S” curve to its pegbox, whereas the lute pegbox is usually straight but tapered towards the
tip. One advantage to this steep pegbox angle is that the strings passing through the grooves in the nut are
under more pressure as they travel toward the pegbox. This exerts enough force so that the strings won’t
buzz in the groove of the nut.

Structurally, this design is very strong, providing a large gluing surface at the notch or rebate where the
neck and pegbox meet, without obstructing the fretting fingers or thumb. This design also allows the player
to more easily reach the pegs, which are all the same distance from the hand and are all clearly in view.



-  Always keep the lute in its case after playing, and check that latches are closed before picking up the
case.  

-  Keep the lute case away from direct sunlight, heaters, exterior walls, and extreme changes in
temperature and humidity.

-  Don’t leave a lute in a car on a hot day. Lutes are constructed with animal glue, which is more sensitive
to heat and humidity than modern adhesives.

-  Use a hygrometer and humidifier (Dampit or a small piece of damp sponge in a partially closed Ziploc
bag) in the case to control relative humidity, which should be around 40 percent. Low humidity is usually a
problem in winter.


-  When tuning, always tune up to the proper pitch. This avoids the possible slackening of the string behind
the nut when lowering the string to pitch, which may cause the string to go flat after beginning to play.  

-  If the pegs are sticking, use light pressure to back the peg out of the pegbox while lowering the pitch of
the string, then proceed to tune up to pitch. If the pegs continue to stick, apply a generous amount of dry
hard soap such as Ivory to the peg shaft where it contacts the pegbox. An alternative is to use a very small
amount of W.E. Hill’s peg compound.

-  If pegs are slipping, use light pressure to push the peg farther into the pegbox while tuning up to pitch. If
the peg continues to slip, rub a small amount of chalk on the peg shaft where it contacts the pegbox. Make
sure that the chalk does not contain wax.

-  Whenever tuning the lute, it is good practice to gently push the peg into the pegbox as the proper pitch is
approached.

-  If a string is sticking or breaking at the nut, use a little graphite from the tip of a pencil to lubricate the
groove. If the problem persists, gently file the leading edge of the string groove to remove the sharp edge
and lightly buff with aluminum polish and a thin cotton string. Excessive filing of the string groove can result
in buzzing.

-  Use of a digital tuner, such as the Korg CA-30, can ensure that the proper string tension is not
exceeded. With this Korg tuner, check that the 440 Hz setting is not accidentally altered.

-  When changing strings, change one string at a time to maintain an even tension on the lute.


-  Use of a strap, and a small piece of suede covering both the lap and where the lute contacts the torso,
will stabilize the instrument. I don’t recommend the use of non-slip shelf liner because this tends to leave a
mark on the varnish.

-  Make sure the nails of the right hand, especially on  the pinky, are trimmed to avoid scoring the
fingerboard, which is more prone to wear and damage than the top of a guitar.

-  When wearing short sleeves, placing the top of an old sock on the right forearm will greatly diminish
discoloration of the top. Washing hands before playing the lute also keeps the soundboard clean.

-  In warmer weather, avoid prolonged contact with the oil varnish on the back of the lute. Don’t rest your left
hand on the back near the neck and use a piece of soft seude as a barrier between you and the varnish.  
The varnish can be carefully polished with a violin varnish polish.

Music


Unlike standard music notation, tablature is a graphic representation of the lute fingerboard. There were
three basic types of tablature: German, Italian (and Spanish), and French. The German system was very
difficult to read, in addition to being unable to represent the later additions of lower lute courses, and was
eventually discarded in favor of the French style. In both the Italian and French systems, bar lines similar to
the treble clef denote the courses on the lute. Either letters (French) or numbers (Italian) on the bar lines
designate the fret to be employed. In the French system, “a” would mean open string, “b” the first fret, and
so on. The rhythm is given above the staff. The Italian style is basically a mirror image of the French
system (i.e., the highest course in the Italian system is represented by the bottom line of the clef, not the
top line).


One must first decide whether to learn the Renaissance or Baroque style. If you wish to learn both, I would
suggest starting with the Renaissance technique first. For Renaissance lute, some good method books
are A Tutor for the Renaissance Lute by Diana Poulton (1991 Schott), or Method for Renaissance Lute
by Andrea Damiani (1999 Ut Orpheus Edizioni). For Baroque lute, I suggest The Baroque Lute
Companion by Stephan Lundgren (1993 Lundgren Edition), or Method for the Baroque Lute by Toyohiko
Satoh (Tree Edition 1987). All of these books are valuable resources because each one contains helpful
material not found in the others.


-  Try to find a good teacher so you won’t develop bad habits.

-  Get a good method book and work patiently, methodically, and thoroughly.

-  Try to practice every day.

-  Use a metronome to establish a steady rhythm.

-  Always have specific and attainable goals for each practice session and evaluate you progress.

-  Don’t practice for more than 40 minutes at a time without a short break. Get up and stretch and even
walk around to restore your level of concentration and blood circulation.

-  Keep the thumb of the left hand from rising across the mid point of the back of the neck. If possible, keep
the thumb slightly below the middle, as this position will open up the hand. On Baroque lute, keep the
thumb closer to the lower edge of the back of the neck.

-  Don’t press too hard with the fingers of the left hand when fretting the strings. Use only enough pressure
so that the strings won’t buzz. With too much pressure, it is impossible to develop the speed necessary to
play more advanced pieces.

-  Don’t press too hard with the pinky of the right hand on the soundboard, or with the right forearm against
the edge of the lute body.  

-  With Renaissance lute, the right arm should pivot at the elbow and gently rock up and down with the
alternating stroke of the plucking fingers and thumb. When you pluck the strings with the right hand, let the
weight of the right arm and gravity help to move the thumb through the courses.

-  The tips of the plucking fingers should be relaxed, with no tension at the first two joints of the finger. The
plucking motion of the finger should come from the third joint, where the finger meets the palm of the hand.

-  Always start practicing a new piece or exercise very slowly and then gradually speed up when you have
mastered it at a slower tempo.

-  Rather than playing through an entire piece several times in a sitting, try to isolate one section and
concentrate on troublesome areas before moving on to another section. Many students tend to learn the
beginning of a piece better than the later parts, so it may be helpful to sometimes start at the end of the
piece and work backwards, focusing on small sections at a time and thinking about the ideal movements
of the fingers for both hands.


Temperament is the adjustment of the intervals within an octave to deal with inherent shortcomings of the
Western 12-tone scale. Pythagoras allegedly discovered this phenomenon by testing different lengths of
string and determined that by adding up the sum of lengths of string for intervals within a given range of
notes, this total length of string would be longer than a length of string that sounded the same range of
notes without being divided up into intervals. Therefore, the intervals within an octave require a greater
length of string than the undivided octave. As a result, the intervals within the octave must be adjusted by
slightly compressing them. Perhaps the physical properties of the vibrating string itself, especially at the
ends of the strings, have an effect on the required lengths.

Historically, there was disagreement with how to deal with this problem for hundreds of years. Various
systems were developed and disputed to account for this discrepancy, whereby certain intervals might be
compromised to allow others to be pure. Today, most instruments, such as the piano, are now in equal
temperament so that the intervals within the octave are equally compressed very slightly. For the lute, the
placement of the frets can be adjusted to gain more purity with commonly played intervals, at the expense
of other less-frequently played intervals that will sound more out-of-tune.

Construction


Hide glue is usually derived from the skin of cattle, and is made of collagen or protein from the connective
tissues in the hide. It is usually sold in a granular form. Putting a quantity of glue in a small glass jar, an
equal quantity of water is added for 30 minutes and then the jar is heated in a water bath to approximately
140 degrees Fahrenheit. More water (from the surrounding bath) can be added to dilute the mixture.

The glue is usually applied with a brush. It is critical that the temperature of the glue does not drop too
much before the work piece is clamped. If the glue begins to cool past a certain point, it will start to gel. If
this happens before the clamping process is completed, the bond will not be good. Yet the joint can be
undone and more hot glue applied to melt the gelling glue and the process repeated until the bond is
satisfactory.  

Using generous amounts of glue helps to elevate the temperature of the glue for a longer period. In
addition, two or three applications as you rub the work pieces together between coats will help get the
glue into the pores of the wood and elevate the temperature of the pieces to be glued. Some people warm
the surfaces to be glued beforehand to prolong the time before the glue will gel.  

The glue can vacate a joint by capillary action, pulling itself into the endgrain of the wood, if multiple coats
and the rubbing of parts are not done. Another method to avoid this joint failure is to apply a size, which is
a diluted coating of glue to the work surfaces in advance of starting the gluing process. In this way the size
will block the pores of the wood so the hot glue can’t later escape the joint by sucking itself into the wood.
Hide glue can be undone with water and heat, so the joint is reversible. Although this is very helpful to
repair an instrument, the procedure is time consuming and must be done carefully to avoid damage to the
instrument.


A rib is bent with heat by pressing the thin piece of wood against a curved section of metal. Although
steam could be used, a bending iron is the most common method, as the rate and shape of the bend can
be controlled more precisely as you press the wood against the hot iron. Commercial irons can be
purchased that plug into an outlet and feature a thermostat control, or a simple pipe can be mounted on a
platform and a blowtorch positioned inside the pipe.  


The carving of the rose is basically a two-step process. A disk of paper with a pattern is glued to the
underside of the soundboard and the negative space is removed by using knives and/or gouges. The
paper also helps to keep the delicate wood from breaking as it is carved. Then the soundboard is turned
over and the surface of the rose is carved by a series of angled cuts and bevels.

An alternative method is to glue a piece of reinforcing paper on the back of the soundboard, and then glue
a second disk of paper with the pattern on the top of the soundboard. The negative space is then cut out
from above, the top paper with the pattern carefully removed, and the carving continued from the top as
before. This second system has two advantages. First, the cuts are all made from the top of the
soundboard, so any misalignments as the knife cuts through the wood won’t be as noticeable. Second, a
higher-quality paper can be used under the soundboard to support the wood when carving. This paper will
also hold up better during the life of the instrument. The risk of this second system is the possibility of
breaking the rose carving as you remove the paper pattern from the top after cutting out the negative
space.


Traditionally, oil varnish has been used on the bowl of a lute and sometimes on the other parts of the
instrument. This is the type of finish historically used on Italian violins and is a mixture of linseed oil,
turpentine, and pine resin. Sometimes ingredients are added that affect the hardness of the varnish and
the ease of application with the brush.

For parts other than the bowl, a drying oil such as Watco’s Danish Oil can be wiped on the rest of the
instrument. The soundboard should be lightly finished, and a number of different things have been applied
historically in an effort to attain the best balance between tone and protection. Some of these finishes have
included diluted hide glue and egg white, and some historical and modern lutes have no finish on the
soundboard.

The basic process of making oil varnish is to dissolve pine resin in a jar of turpentine and strain the
mixture to remove impurities. Then the turpentine and resin mixture is slowly cooked (outside with no open
flame) in a pot until an exothermic reaction takes place, whereby a flammable white vapor is released. At
this point, linseed oil is slowly added to the pot to bring the level of the mixture up to the original volume.  
The varnish is then cooked until the desired color is achieved and poured into a can to cool and then
strained. Varnish can be thinned later with more turpentine.

The application of varnish can take a great deal of time, as each coat must be thoroughly dry before
applying another layer. Sometimes more than 10 coats must be applied. When using colored varnish (e.g.,
amber, red, yellow), a few coats of clear varnish must be applied first to seal the wood, then several coats
of colored varnish are applied until the desired tint is achieved. This is followed by 3 or 4 coats of clear
varnish to ensure that the colored layers don’t wear away.

Each coat, although quite thin, can take several days to dry. One method to accelerate this process is to
build a UV (ultraviolet) cabinet. This is a basic plywood box with florescent light fixtures mounted inside
and some method of ventilating the air by means of an exhaust fan. After applying a coat of varnish in the
evening, the surface is usually dry to the touch in the morning. But the varnish is not fully dry except for the
film or skin that has formed on the outermost surface. After the varnish is partly dry and most of the vapors
are given off, the UV cabinet can accelerate the rest of the process by bombarding the finish with a
specific spectrum of UV radiation. These actinic lights, the type used in some aquariums, cause the
polymers in the varnish to bond more quickly, so that another coat can be applied the next day after
leaving the lute overnight in the UV cabinet. (Note that this type of fluorescent light is considered to be
dangerous to the eyes.)

During the application of the last few coats, the varnish is smoothed with successive grits of sandpaper up
to 1200 grit with water, then 0000 steel wool or the synthetic equivalent, and finally buffed with a polishing
compound. The final coats are left to dry for a longer period to make sure the surface is completely cured
to take the final stages of polishing.