A Tutor for the Renaissance Lute

This book is pretty much the standard work and the author clearly knows the subject. It's written as a sequence of graduated musical etudes interspersed with English prose. It could be used by an instructor, or for self-study. (There are no lute instructors in my area, which is probably typical in the US.)The instructions are concise and there aren't very many exercises. Quite often there are one or two paragraphs describing a new skill, followed by an accompanying etude which may take days or weeks to master. The text itself is terse and is sometimes hard to grasp on the first read, but this writing style also makes for quick review.A 140-page book can't possibly cover everything there is to know about the lute, but it does give you enough information and skills to get up and playing. As of this writing I'm about halfway through it and I'm already able to perform some of the simpler Dowland tunes. Not bad for 6 months of study.If you come from a guitar playing background, you're used to having a lot of supplemental material for playing technique etc. This is not the case for lute. What other instructional material does exist is mostly published and sold by various lute societies you can find on the internet.This book probably doesn't suit everybody's learning style, but everything you need really is here, and your choices are limited. It's a great value.

My lute teacher told me to buy it and it’s pretty good. The exercises are fine and do the job.

I must agree wholeheartedly with Caraculiambro. I recently purchased a lute, and I have 0 knowledge of music theory as I have never played an instrument in my life. This book, however, is a wealth of knowledge and covers all the subjects that one needs very well.From tuning, to holding the lute, to basic timing and fingering, to starting the reader off with introductory songs, and ultimately to more complex ones.The only thing it doesn't cover is exact tuning/frequencies. Since I'm a completely newcomer to music, the different keys that the book mentions held very little meaning for me (let alone trying to distinguish between octaves). I did some research on that and got a tuning app for my phone that specifies note AND frequency. I created a table as to what each course/string should be tuned to (note and frequency), and now I'm all set.If you're trying to play a lute, this is a phenomenal resource. Don't hesitate to get it.

Diana Poulton did us all a service by all she did for the lute and its music. In addition to her magnum opus on the life of John Downland and, in a second book, the collection of all Dowland's lute music, she gave us her Tutor for the Renaissance Lute. The fact is that there is probably no better tutor out there and it is the one recommended by my lute teacher and teachers across the US and the UK. It is the best tutor there is (that is already published) for the lute . So, it would be a mistake not to buy it. I do not think though, that it is the best lute tutor that CAN BE published. Poulton's style of writing is very much a product of her generation and is written in a somewhat dated British terse style that one has to read several times to understand. She moves very quickly from easy beginning exercises to a piece of music that my lute teacher said was "at least four levels above what a beginner can play who just completed the beginner exercises preceding it." I think Poulton's tutor would be terrific if it could be revised and updated, more detail added, more clarity in what is already written, and a smoother flow from very beginner material up to more challenging material. I doubt that sales of the book will inspire the publisher to have it redacted as I suggest and that is a pity because beginners would profit so much more from an improved Tutor. So, buy it and do your best with it and, maybe someday, the publisher will agree to have it improved. We are in debt to Poulton for this book, make no mistake about that. I just feel it can be updated and improved. If she were still alive I bet she would have already improved it more than once and we would all be the richer for her marvelous work.

I've played the lute as a strict, self-taught amateur for a number of years, but it's only recently that I decided it was time to learn the instrument properly. Diana Poulton's tutor is justly famous, and I'm glad I finally purchased it. No doubt, it isn't cheap, but it is more than worth the money. Her lessons are clear and the exercises for right and left hand will take a student beyond classical guitar technique to the real world of lute playing. Some exercises are scales, some simply work the hands for the purpose of habituating them to the technique being taught. Happily, there are many actual Renaissance pieces, the first as early as the third lesson, to get the student playing the music that has made the Renaissance lute so beloved. I do not think there is a better book for the purpose, and I urge anyone who wants to learn the instrument to buy it.

If you really want to understand the Lute and how to play it correctly definitely you need to buy this book..!! It is a piece of art..!!

An excellent source for historical performance practice!

This is all I needed! Many helpful tips expecially if you don't have a lute teacher in your country/state (which is my case).

とても説明が具体的でわかりやすいです。

I have been learning to play the lute for some time now and decided to buy a copy of this. I have found it very helpful. It explains from the vey basics of beginning and onto much more difficult things quite quickly, and has a good selection of examples. It is a useful guide, particularly if you do not have access to a lute tutor.

Play guitar usually.. So was put off with the lute because of how they word things differentlyLutePack of 7 chords whats thatGuitar pack of 7 strings ahhhAnyway if they had put its double strung like a 12 string i would have bought one years agoThis book has still got the terminology of lute players but if you convert that to guitar terminology it makes the learning process much easier

A very thorough and complete guide to playing the lute by an experienced and pedagogical woman. It begins with the very basics and proceeds to intermediate and experienced levels with lovely pieces from renowned composers.

A good introduction to this instrument. Some knowledge of music would be an advantage. The pieces are graduated and it is possible to find them on the internet played by other musiciens.