Single-strung archlute

[Patrick Micel]

David Rastall wrote

"Do any of you who play archlutes or theorbos ever play
them single-strung? I've got my archlute single strung at the moment. I
have a Baroque lute on order (that's why I've been so interested lately in
talking about Fr. Bar. dance), and until it arrives I'm practicing on my
archlute in Dm tuning (as a way of familiarizing myself with Dm tuning, as
I've never played in it before). I put single strings on as a kind of
"quick fix," until the new lute arrives, but I'm wondering how appropriate
it is to leave the archlute single strung in G tuning also. Is there any
precedent for doing that, or is it completely "un-lutelike" not to use
double courses?"

If you single-string your archlute it doesn't mean you're breaking any
tradition. I mean, if you want to you can consider it as being a small
theorbo in G without re-entrant tuning. It's true most people think
archlutes must be in G and theorbos in A even though a lot of archlutes
seen in paintings and instruments we have in museums have very short
fingerboard strings (54 cm) and are best in A.

I have one just like this and it works very well both as a solo instrument
and for continuo playing. It also makes the changeover from theorbo to
archlute when accompanying much easier.

Nigel Solomon