A Method for the Renaissance Lute, with a Supplement for the Archlute

A Method for the Renaissance Lute, with a Supplement for the Archlute

Intended for both beginners and advanced players wishing to refine their technique, this method offers a progressive approach—either with a teacher or in self-study—integrating both modern notation and tablature. A basic knowledge of music theory and sight-singing is recommended.

The book emphasizes vocal interpretation, musical rhetoric, and physical efficiency, drawing on historical sources. It covers the solo repertoire from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries for six- to ten-course lutes and the archlute, presenting both thumb-in and thumb-out techniques.

Graded exercises and progressive pieces allow for gradual immersion, with facsimiles included to support further study. While accompaniment is not addressed, references are provided. Instructional videos are also available to complement the method.

Written by Peter Croton, an internationally renowned lutenist, respected pedagogue, and former professor at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, this method offers an accessible yet rigorous pathway into the expressive and demanding world of the Renaissance lute.

Peter Croton – Lutenist, Guitarist

Awarded multiple international prizes, Peter Croton is a world-renowned lutenist and guitarist. Described as a “lyric poet of the lute,” he is praised for his virtuosity and rich tonal palette. Born in the United States, he lives in Switzerland, where he teaches lute, continuo, and historical performance practice at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and the conservatories of Basel and Bern.

Trained with Loris Chobanian, Eugen Dombois, and Hopkinson Smith, he has performed at numerous international festivals and recorded several albums. Author of pedagogical manuals and compositions for voice and lute, his works, such as Performing Baroque Music on the Lute and Theorbo, are widely recognized and published by Amadeus Verlag and Tree Edition.

Le Luth Doré Urtext Editions

Le Luth Doré Urtext Editions offer scores faithful to historical sources, optimized for musicians and musicologists. Our editions combine careful engraving, practical layout, durable materials, and detailed critical apparatus in multiple languages.

Each text is rigorously established note by note to ensure an authentic restitution of the works, including original fingerings and ornamentations, as well as relevant stylistic suggestions.

Created by experts, our editions provide clear readability and enlightened interpretation of early music repertoire.

• Editors: Roger Harmon & Peter Croton
• Musical period: Renaissance
• Instruments: Renaissance Lute & Archlute
• Notation: Italian & French Tablature
• Modern edition: Urtext
• Publisher: Éditions Urtext Le Luth Doré
• Year of publication: 2019
• Collection: Didactic Music Collection
• Pages: 282 pp.
• Dimensions: 230x310 mm
• Weight: 0.942 g
• Binding: Sewn perfect binding
• ISMN: 377-0-0017-8833-3

I. Background Material: Improvisation, Instruments & Tablatures, Rhetoric, Consonance & Dissonance, Phrasing, Rhythmic Inequality, Tempo, Passagework
II. Anatomy & Biomechanics: Movement, Bones & Joints, Muscles
III. Preparing to Play: Mental Imagery, Brain & Learning, Motor Skills, Training, Repetition, Tactus, Breathing, Warm-ups
IV. The Renaissance Lute: Tuning, Right-Hand & Left-Hand Exercises, Melodic Fragments, Practice Routine, Velocity, Body Movement, Modes, Italian Tablature, Gamut
Graces of Play: Appoggiatura, Mordent, Trill, Turn, Double Fall, Tut, Arpeggio, Vibrato, Grace Signs
Two-Voice Music: Thumb Technique, Open & Fingered Basses, Counterpoint
Advanced Shifting: Exercises, Pieces
Multi-Voice Music: Three & Four Voices, Chords, Bar Chords, Lute Chords
English Pieces
10-Course Lute: Right-Hand Transition, Exercises, Ballard, Vallet, Kapsperger
V. Supplement: Archlute, Exercises, Melii, Piccinini, Zamboni