When you consider the thousands of years between the first lutes and modern lutes, it’s actually quite remarkable how similar the lutes of the past are to more recent lutes (like the guitar and orchestral strings). We can learn a lot about Greco-Roman lutes by looking at their predecessors and descendants. The lute spread much like languages do. Just as regional dialects develop, so, it appears, did lute preferences. The lute did not develop linearly from Mesopotamia, through Greece, and then on to Europe. Its development resembled more of a web, spreading slowly throughout Mesopotamia with increasing variety (like dialects of a language) and then moving on to the rest of the continent.
The earliest lutes can be traced back to approximately …show more content…
3100 B.C.E on a cylinder seal. In it, you can see a seated figure holding a lute which has a neck extending to the figure’s left. It is difficult to discern the shape of the body (resonator), but it appears to be circular. The neck of the instrument is significantly longer than the body of the instrument. This would have allowed for more precision in intonation since the distance between tones and semitones on the neck would have been greater than if the instruments total length were shorter. The best way to understand this concept would be to consider modern string instruments: playing a half step on the bass requires a greater distance between fingers than a half step on a violin would. This design, when you consider the quarter-tones commonly used, would have proved beneficial for the Greeks and Romans later on. The apparent size of the instrument can also tell us something about pitch. Unfortunately, there is no way for us to know the amount of tension in the strings; however, we can most likely safely assume the range was somewhere between that of a modern cello and that of a modern violin and probably similar to the vocal range of the average human. Another noteworthy detail is the appearance of four possible tuning pegs between the lutenist’s left hand and body. If these are indeed tuning pegs, the hypothesized pitch of the instrument would raise for two reasons: (1) shorter strings and …show more content…
His left hand holds the neck of the instrument and his right appears ready to strum, just like in previous examples. The body (resonator) of the instrument appears to be circular and the neck is long and thin. This shape is similar to the older lutes and the modern banjo (which is not a descendent of the Mesopotamian lute, but is a useful comparison). Unfortunately, the artwork is not detailed enough to indicate the number of strings or the presence of a tuning mechanism. We can, however, see what appear to be tassels hanging from the neck. While we cannot say with absolute certainty what these tassels were for, we can guess that they were probably used to attach the strings to the neck of the
The earliest lutes can be traced back to approximately …show more content…
3100 B.C.E on a cylinder seal. In it, you can see a seated figure holding a lute which has a neck extending to the figure’s left. It is difficult to discern the shape of the body (resonator), but it appears to be circular. The neck of the instrument is significantly longer than the body of the instrument. This would have allowed for more precision in intonation since the distance between tones and semitones on the neck would have been greater than if the instruments total length were shorter. The best way to understand this concept would be to consider modern string instruments: playing a half step on the bass requires a greater distance between fingers than a half step on a violin would. This design, when you consider the quarter-tones commonly used, would have proved beneficial for the Greeks and Romans later on. The apparent size of the instrument can also tell us something about pitch. Unfortunately, there is no way for us to know the amount of tension in the strings; however, we can most likely safely assume the range was somewhere between that of a modern cello and that of a modern violin and probably similar to the vocal range of the average human. Another noteworthy detail is the appearance of four possible tuning pegs between the lutenist’s left hand and body. If these are indeed tuning pegs, the hypothesized pitch of the instrument would raise for two reasons: (1) shorter strings and …show more content…
His left hand holds the neck of the instrument and his right appears ready to strum, just like in previous examples. The body (resonator) of the instrument appears to be circular and the neck is long and thin. This shape is similar to the older lutes and the modern banjo (which is not a descendent of the Mesopotamian lute, but is a useful comparison). Unfortunately, the artwork is not detailed enough to indicate the number of strings or the presence of a tuning mechanism. We can, however, see what appear to be tassels hanging from the neck. While we cannot say with absolute certainty what these tassels were for, we can guess that they were probably used to attach the strings to the neck of the