In this video, Brandon Acker gives a historical overview of the renaissance lute. With roots in the Middle East, the lute became one of the most popular instruments of its time. Brandon covers the technical evolution of lute playing and how these changes opened up the possibility to perform both rapid scalar figures as well as complex polyphonic textures on the instrument.
Interpretation on the Classical Guitar
There are typically several issues we run into when interpreting early music on modern instruments. In this lesson, Brandon Acker demystifies the interpretation of Renaissance music. Brandon presents several solutions addressing reading different types of tablature, ornamentation and improvisation, as well as tuning and overall guitar setup. Finally, Brandon demonstrates how to approach performing on the guitar with two masterpieces of the renaissance, Francesco Da Milano’s Ricercar No. 84 and John Dowland’s Frog Galliard.