According to the information we have available, in the Middle Ages the right-hand technique of the lute, used a plectrum or quill, a technique that lent itself ideally to monody (a single voice) where the lute accompanied or doubled the voice; in this way the instrumentalist improvised on melodies.
The development of the lute in Europe gradually adopted the rules of the polyphonic style that was gaining more and more ground even though it had not yet reached the stage where it would be recognisable by today's terms. Frets were added to the neck and the plectrum was gradually replaced with the fingers ; the right-hand position remained the same, however, for some considerable time.
Even though lute technique developed with the music, on the whole it changed only slightly. The little finger rested on the top of the instrument and the thumb and index finger struck the strings alternately.
Music for the lute is written in "tablature".
Five or six horizontal lines are drawn and numbers or letters determine the position of the finger to obtain the note to be played: letters are used in French and English tablature, numbers in Italian and Spanish tablature. The same system is used for the guitar, archlute, theorbo and other plucked instruments.
The two tablature systems are opposite to each other: as a general rule when letters are used the highest notes are at the top of the tablature whereas with numbers they are at the bottom. When letters are used "a" is the open string, "b" the first fret of the string played. With numbers "0" is the open string and "1" the first fret, etc. All the remaining notes are based on the same principle. The rhythm is written above the stave.
The system will become clearer in the theoretical example heard in the musical extracts of pieces by a few famous lutenists and composers of the 16th Century. The examples consists of renaissance dances and an extract of an Italian lute fantasy.
Extract of a Bransle, a French dance for the lute by Adrian le Roy, published in 1551(here in a modern edition published by the CNRS)
Extract of an Italian dance of the same period, approximately 1550, Pavana "chiamata la milanesa", by Giovanni Paulo Paladino known as il Milanese.
Some of his works were published in Lyon under the name of Jean Paul Paladin. He was a lutenist in the court of François Premier.
(Modern edition published by the CNRS).
Extract of a Spanish galliard by Alonso Mudarra from "Très libro de musica en ciffra para vihuela" from 1546 (the vihuela, according to sources and the instrumental writing, was tuned identically to the lute and, similarly to the lute, could be tuned according to the string length in A, G, E, etc.).
An extract, "Smythes Allmaine", taken from the extremely rich compilation by Diana Poulton : "The Collected Lute Music of John Dowland" ; this great composer had a profound effect on the music of his time and developed the art of English lute playing. He also wrote a number of lutesong books.
Extract from a fantasy by Laurencini di roma taken from the book a "Variety of Lute Lessons", published in 1610 by Robert Dowland who was none other than the son of the famous John Dowland . The piece is written in a polyphonic style. The finger-style playing enabled the solo repertoire to develop and songs with several voices to be transcribed for solo lute ; the renaissance lutenists perfected the art of reducing songs and making them playable on the lute.
The basic tablature system was used for many plucked instruments, such as the Vihuela, the Spanish guitar (baroque guitar) and lute-related instruments, for example the archlute, and the steel-strung instruments related to the cittern, for example the orpharion, as well as the baroque lute and theorbo.
Mainly because of their greater power and richness of sound, the archlute and theorbo were played over a longer period as continuo instruments. The art of continuo playing began in Italy in around 1600 and gradually spread to many other countries in Europe.
Guitarists can, however, play this repertoire provided they adapt their technique somewhat to that of the instrument for which the pieces were written.
Not wanting to over generalise, I will develop this new approach to the technique in greater detail further on...