Dear reader,
this blog is dedicated to all friends of medieval music and especially to those that are intrigued by the sound and the beauty of the medieval lute, just as I am!
I personally had to make the experience that once you decide to pick up the medieval lute, you barely find lutes on an intermediate price-level at all. But it is even harder to find any notes or tablature specific for the instrument. Also, not too much effort has been done yet to publish the results of the investigations and efforts trying to reconstruct how this instrument might have been played, etc. One would find close to zero non-professional downloadable material in the web as well (I found one offer that was basically arranged for the Renaissance lute). As a consequence, you literally have to study the lute and browse throughout the entire internet, if you just want to find out if the medieval lute is your thing, or not.
So, therefore I decided to investigate songs, themes, melodies and lyrics, especially of the high- and late medieval period and to bring them into a form that a beginner to any plucked instrument would be capable of accessing, reading and playing immediately. If you are just interested in the instrument itself, wanting to find an access to the medieval song inventory on a very basic level, I find it somewhat unnecessary to be having to study neumatic systems (e.g. square notation or mensural notation), German late-medieval lute tablature (which is rather difficult to learn) or modern notes at all!
I don’t claim to be historically accurate, or representative, but I definately hope that this blog will be inspiring and helpful to you.
Music is a living thing and it ought to be shared!
I hope you enjoy reading my blog.
Yours sincerly,
Georg Bernd Fasel
The Medieval Lute Blog 