Medieval Lute

 

I fell in love with the handcrafted instrument in the video, a reconstruction of a 4-course Medieval Lute made and played by Jo Dusepo, so I have commissioned one from her. They take about two months to make but there is an eight month waiting list.

The Lute originated from the Middle Eastern Oud to which chromatic frets were later added, but many believe that a quite Eastern approach persisted. This has been a huge area of debate, as indicated here. Nobody  knows for certain how mediaeval instruments were played, so there is a lot of room for interpretation. Styles vary from Fine Art to Folky, and from foursquare European to Silk Road fusion.

Medieval music was modal and harmonised with Unisons, Octaves, Fourths and Fifths but Thirds were considered discordant so I won't be playing any modern triad chords. After a lot of discussion I've decided to have it tuned DADG, a drone tuning which Jo suggested. There is obviously a coincidence here with DADGAD guitar tuning and the Zouk (GDAD).

Irish Bouzouki

I bought a Hora Irish Bouzouki from Romania with the idea of transferring my mandolin skills to an instrument that would be better  for song accompaniment. 

It's really good quality and fantastic value and I'm very pleased with it, but it's quite a bit different from playing the mandolin.

I've enrolled with the Online Academy of Irish Music which not only provides Zouk lessons but includes access to all its singing and instrument courses.

My musical activities have now settled into four main areas:

Singing with Concertina
Sea and other English songs. These are being re-engineered in a more chordal style.

Unaccompanied singing
Sea and other English songs, Irish songs. The mainstay of my participation as a folkclub floor singer.

Singing with Zouk
Predominantly Irish songs. This is a work in progress but I am optimistic.

Mandolin
Essentially Irish tunes. For private enjoyment.