Playing with Patterns on the Lute: A Study and Method for Playing Sixteenth-Century Divisions

Playing with Patterns on the Lute is a practical guide for all lutenists who want to learn how to ornament their music with sixteenth-century divisions. Written for the Renaissance lute in G, it includes examples and exercises in French tablature, which is familiar to players around the world.

While methods for wind and stringed instruments by writers such as Diego Ortiz, Riccardo Rognioni, and Giovanni Bassano exist, there are no surviving methods from the sixteenth century for learning these skills specifically on the lute. There are, however, a wealth of examples in thousands of European lute tablatures. Through an analysis of the divisions used by sixteenth-century lutenists in these tablature sources, internationally renowned lutenist and teacher Nigel North sets forth a method for the modern lutenist and explains, with multiple examples, how renaissance lutenists approached their division making. Focusing on patterns from eleven tablature case studies from lutenist composers, including Hans Newsidler, Alonso Mudarra, Luis de Narvaez, Francesco da Milano, Vincenzo Galilei, Giovanni Terzi, Adrian Le Roy, John Johnson, and John Dowland, North presents more than one hundred examples and exercises from their music.