A Tutor for the Renaissance Lute

for the complete beginner to the advanced student

By Diana Poulton

A magisterial review of Renaissance lute music, playing styles and tablature by a great scholar - but the title page claim that it is "for the complete beginner to the advanced student" is misleading. You still need a teacher - a beginner expecting this book to be a "tutor" would start to...

flounder quite quickly. The few diagrams in the text - of lute roses - are for decoration only, while a diagram or two of hand positions might have been useful. Assuming you know the basics already, or have access to a teacher, the book is a joy - the text clear, the music beautifully printed, the facsimiles of 16th century tablature a delight, if a little rarified. It is well designed, and sits open on the music stand, a practical consideration. A difficult book to rate - as an academic work or as part of a practical teaching program clearly 5 stars, but as a basic tutor it misses the mark.