Or have you played something else in the past? What’s your favorite piece to play?

Edit: thanks for everyone that has replied. This has been so heartwarming to read :)

  • Hadriscus@jlai.lu
    2·
    3 days ago

    Thanks for the disambiguation… I could have sworn that the viol de gamba was fretless ! but after looking it up I can confirm that it’s not.

    • Zombiepirate@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      3 days ago

      Yup, they use wrapped gut frets. They’re moveable so that the musicians could adjust intonation in the period before equal temperament was invented.

      • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
        2·
        2 days ago

        Can you imagine having to shift individual frets, untying and retying them to get the instrument in tune?

        What a pain in the ass. No wonder they went extinct.

        • Zombiepirate@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          2 days ago

          I play the renaissance lute, which also uses tied frets. I just play in equal temperament because its easier and my ear isn’t that good. I’m merely an ambitious amateur though, maybe I’ll get into it one of these days.

          • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
            2·
            2 days ago

            I play guitar, but I’ve never held a lute. I’d love to try one sometime. They are astonishingly beautiful works of art. I love everything about them.

            Goddammit, now I have to buy a lute.

            • Zombiepirate@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              2 days ago

              It’s so hard to get into it; I’d never played one before I picked it up either.

              This is a good entry-level lute. I had wanted one for a while before I got mine, but I was worried about spending so much and having it be unplayable.

              I fortunately talked to another musician who had one of these already and he sounded fantastic, so I decided to take the plunge. I’m glad I did! There’s nothing like playing period music on the actual instrument that would have been used (modern convenience like temperament aside) and reading from historical tabs.

              I ran into the guy again about a month ago, and he has an incredible luthier-made theorbo that sounds amazing. Maybe I’ll get one of those some day lol!

              • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
                2·
                2 days ago

                Yikes! The price. This will have to wait until I trip over a good deal somewhere. It will be on my wish list.

                And I would love to try a theorbo sometime. They are a seriously cool looking instrument.