The transcriptions of lute and vihuela musical examples within these narratives are scored in their original pitch registers: that is with the first and sixth strings tuned notionally to G (and very occasionally A). From a guitarist standpoint however such pitch compasses at the fingerboard are hardly user-friendly. A way round this is to lower the third string a semitone to conform to the tuning configuration of the former instruments: E, A, D, F-sharp, B, E – G, C, F, A, D, G. After which a capo is placed at the third fret. The original register is thus upheld, besides which bass notes G, C can be struck unstopped – so often the case in original tablatures. However it should be mentioned in this connection that in pitching the guitar’s open strings to those of the vihuela and lute, the timbre of the present-day guitar is of course stronger and more so projected than the relatively softer tones of double strung instruments.
To add that certain ornaments within the tablatures have proved irritants in the processing of the music extracts here. They have therefore been swatted, but I hasten to add at no expense to the relevant contents of the transcriptions.
Conspicuous by their absence perhaps are indexes for these narratives. In place of them the ‘Find’ facility on screen as readily pinpoints locations of names and topics within the texts. Flicking progressively through highlighted references also pays dividends in casting light on several facets of the target. A resourceful expedient, then.
Shortcuts to the opening pages of chapters are activated from the start by highlighting a heading listed in the Contents page. They are also speedily accessible from any point within the volume by opening the Navigation panel, Contol+F. Click the Heading tab and within its menu highlight the desired chapter title.
It goes without saying that the dates specified with the music examples within are those stated at their release as manuscripts and prints. Yet a composition in view could have been conceived as much as two decades or more before. For instance, many items for the lute were released in a publication from1507; yet their inceptions were no doubt from the last years of the 1400s.
Should the pitch compass of the instrument in hand not descend to encompass bass notes within a composition in view, transposing such outsiders up an octave is a consideration. This adaption has anyway been exercised within the traditions of lutenists and guitarists. As one, the Dutch lutenist Nicolas lutenist Vallet remarked in Regia Pietas from 1620 that music intended for a ten-course lute can be played on an instrument with less strings by octave displacements. And guitarists made such allowances, in their case by placing the number eight below the bass note amenable to octave displacement.