Lute — Lutherie Encyclopedia

LuteType: instrumentA pear-shaped, round-backed stringed instrument with courses of gut strings, central to European music from the medieval period through the Baroque era.## History The European lute descends from the Arabic oud, which was introduced to Europe via Moorish Spain during the medieval period. The name itself derives from the Arabic "al-ud" (the wood). By the 14th century, the lute had become the most important instrument in European art music, a position it held for roughly 400 years. During the Renaissance (1500-1600), the lute was as ubiquitous as the guitar is today, used for solo music, song accompaniment, and ensemble playing. The Baroque era (1600-1750) saw the lute evolve into larger, more complex instruments with additional bass courses. By the late 18th century, the lute had been supplanted by the keyboard and the guitar. A 20th-century early music revival has restored the lute to active performance. ## Construction The lute's most distinctive feature is its deep, rounded back, constructed from thin strips (ribs) of hardwood bent and glued together to form a bowl shape. The number of ribs varies from 7 to over 30, depending on the period and style. The soundboard is typically European spruce with an elaborately carved rose (soundhole decoration) rather than a simple round hole. The pegbox bends back sharply from the neck at nearly a right angle. Renaissance lutes typically have 6 to 10 courses (the first course is usually a single string, the rest are pairs), while Baroque lutes can have up to 14 courses with extended bass strings on a second pegbox (theorbo or archlute configurations). Strings are gut or modern syntheti…