lute

The open strings typical of the lute during the 16th century.

Member of a family of plucked stringed musical instruments of the 14th–18th centuries, including the mandore, theorbo, and chitarrone. Lutes are pear-shaped with up to seven courses of strings (single or double), plucked with the fingers. Music for lutes is written in special notation called tablature and chords are played simultaneously, not arpeggiated as for guitar. Modern lutenists include Julian Bream and Anthony Rooley.

Lutes are descendants of earlier Eastern instruments. In Western use, members of the lute family were used both as solo instruments and for vocal accompaniment, and were often played in addition to, or instead of, keyboard instruments in larger ensembles and in opera.

The notation of lute music, tablature, uses a stave made up of six lines rather than the normal five and letters rather than notes. Of the 13 or 14 strings on a lute, 6 can be held down against the keyboard like a guitar, whilst the remainder are bass notes which are played by the thumb. The six lines on the stave represent the six strings. The letters of the alphabet indicate which fret the string must be held down against. The bass notes are shown by letters and numbers, and curved lines across the top of the stave are used to represent the rhythm.