John Dowland - Sir John Smith (lute)

[faneca21]

Bravo! Dificil e excelente interpretação !

[fretstringer222]

I am looking to buy a Oud/Lute. The one I am looking at is made in the middle east and all the videos I have watched about it are playing middle eastern sounding songs.

I know it is a middle eastern Oud but, I kind of wanted to play more classical and medieval music, is this still a possibility? For example could I play John Dowland?

Please help!

[rpgEvilshenlong]

@fretstringer222 I would say: No. An Oud has a different tuning, different number of strings and most importly: no frets. It's a whole different instrument, but also a very lovely one. Get one if you love the tone and the istrument but I think playing music like Dowland is mostly not possible, or only with many excuses.

[rodo5522]

Como se llama el instrumento??

Whats name the instrument?

Sorry for my bad english

[petesahot666]

@rodo5522 laud en español, lute in english

[ClubbingKing08]

@rodo5522 It's called a "Laúd" in Spanish.

[LIkEaDrUg94]

Mind telling me what kind of lute that is you're playing?

[McPhersonBassMaster]

@LIkEaDrUg94

It's probably a rennaisance era lute, due to the fact it doesn't have the bass strings hanging off the fret board, with a separate tuning box.

[bbbbmer]

Very very nice! Thank you for sharing your substantial talents...

[shamino1000]

Tablature?

[internalriot]

I'm thinking of getting a lute and want to know how many courses would give me the most amount of songs to play(if that makes any sense). And maybe what a good brand would be. thx.

[NonstopRam]

0_0

[klauswhitedreamer]

really wonderful! ... :)

[douskara]

Beautiful!! Thank you!

[dowland58]

Your general sound on the lute is very good, but I have the impression you play this piece a little too fast, so rapid passages sound here and there blurred.

I wuould suggest to slow down the piece, gaining in clarity

[w00tsquierstrat01]

i should of learnt this instead of guitar

[frenk1973]

Marvelous!

[rockontorockoff]

Alright. This is the coolest thing I've seen. If only lutes would be played in bands more often. Hey wanna join a band? Hahahaha

[igoropulas]

Songs from kitchen sounds soo goood !

[cademot]

Excellent! I would have to say, it's a bit fast for my taste. And I wish the audio quality was better.

[superdarkhypersonic1]

whats the diffrence between a lute and an oud?

[violatione]

@superdarkhypersonic1 The Oud is the father of the Lute. Ouds tend to have fewer courses and are not fretted so you have to be a much better musician to play one as intonation becomes an issue. The tuning is also very different.

[bjicjds]

legendary

[Andore23]

great!! very nice!! =)

[galliard1981]

You are very good! well done!

perhaps you could enlighten me about the finger technique... I see you are using your index as a pick sometimes and I was wondering if its a common lute technique!

[Meymeygwis]

Wow man, you Rock!

[yaronimus1]

very moving and beautifully crafted playing.

[violatione]

This is my absolute favorite Dowland piece, and you sir have done it justice. Thank you for sharing your art with us.

[folkatka]

Well done!

[thoyo]

very nice man!! great technique

[AllForASmile]

Do you have an album, audio only files, or something where I could listen to more of your music? I love it, its so relaxing. =D

[dantheartisan]

No! Why aren't you playing lute? Are you playing something else?

[gorgamin22]

you would make an awesome folk metal guitarist....search for the band ensiferum

[breakdanc3]

im interested in playing lute, .... its an amazing instrument ..where would u suggest i find or buy a lute for learning and playing .. something thats affordable?

[15h0tmy531f]

i heard those are a bitch to tune and when you do they dont stay in tune

[fultoso]

great work Sir !

[vividefi]

beautiful

[Antnelson13]

IF someone were interested in starting lute- what do you suggest? I am a pro violinist, if this gives me any leg up?

[littlebrabbel]

I love that piece! great job! Best, Anna

[davidpmacdonald]

your right hand is very fluid - great job!

[thejugglenaut91]

amazing! truly very good

[semicroma]

How do you do with the right hand in the fast runs? Looks like you use the finger as a plectrum with up and down strokes.

[snakepoop101]

Extremely complex lute song...awesome.

[Milarepa72]

Bellissimo!!

[lilythepink123]

I love it! You're really good.

[AcousticFlare]

What is the tuning for the lute?

[Snebotnie]

Generally, you can tune a lute almost like the guitar, but the third string is a F# instead of a G.

[fsan2005]

Amazing. No comments. You rock, man.

[causeyway]

Where can i find lutes?

[pedrolobo25]

nice! :)

[wwelti]

Beautiful. And amazing to see your fingers fly!

[assa123assa123]

I would agree that there is something about the tempo and rhythmic fluctuations, but otherwise the playing is great and very entertaining!

thanks

[jacksonrox]

what type of lute is that and how much is it?

[esotericify]

Must be hard to get a case for that.

[llamasrage]

I have a feeling if you can find a lute, you can find a case for it.

[SGFVampwulf]

I love the playing, but the tempo seems a little off.

[FoondCake]

Excellent, 5/5.

[DimebagOHammet]

Your good....

But lutes do sound like a Classical guitar....

[BFGUITAR]

Not at all. Listen again.

[ckyvick666]

no, classical guitars sound like lutes. they were sort of made first...

[Zynohtna]

i think u mean classical guitar sounds like a luts

[coreyagraph]

if you want to sound like a lute, put a capo on the 3rd fret.

[bossarosa]

sooo gooooood agh

[tootlootler]

Great, I laughed out loud. Great !

[alkh0bani]

you are proffessional player .. but.. lutes sound same as guitars whats the difference ??

i like the oud it sounds way better than both

[BFGUITAR]

Lutes sound completely different then a guitar. There are double course strings and the strings have a much lower tension. Lutes have a much sweeter sound than a guitar but have less timbre which is one reason why they were never popular after the baroque era. If you think they sound the same you need to get your ears checked.

[AFNYOAQIS]

they have double strings lke a 12 string guitar

[estefano18]

@BFGUITAR what do you mean by timbre, timbre can't be less of more, its just the form of the wave, its "likiling", i do prefer the timbre of the lute over a hundred of others instruments

[clauclaux]

@BFGUITAR lute sounds like a nylon 12 strings guitar but the sound is weaker but still clean....like on a guitar this would sound more "partitioned" because a powerful fast picking like this would born accents

[vladtheimpaler17]

that is one sweet ass faucet dude..

oh yeah good lute playing too!

[stach1991]

EXCELLENT!!!

[ThunderboltSnake]

~Magnifique... Great Inspirational Lute Playing... Respect~

[MaulDicker]

Great sound in the kitchen, eh?

[hectorianus]

La interpretación es magistral pero la acústica en la cocina de casa es horrible. Vibran los tenedores y las cucharas por doquier.

[crazycabose]

were would i be able to get a lute? ive been wanting one for some time now.

[dregret]

You're a great lute player. Please keep up the great work.

[luteplayer80]

Thank you very much! Alas in these last times I am not playing lute, and I miss it....

[CrusoeCale]

That's too bad, for you are very good.

[geosochi]

I share the sentiment. Please keep it up, for everyone's sake (:

[blurfist]

@luteplayer80 time to pick up the lute once again!

[prhedst]

@luteplayer80 why your not playing??

[jazzmanendin]

I would like to have a lute where did you buy yours and how much its cost?

[orion777temp]

waiting for more videos you are a great lute player

[nomusician]

more signifcant difference please between melody and melismatic embelishment. pay more attention to the beautiful voice-leading in the bass.

good choice of pieces

peace.

[boatynoh]

You could use a little work on sounding constructive rather than whatever your tone above would best be described as... I thought he played beautifully.

Nice work my friend!

[nomusician]

and now what do you think?

[boatynoh]

As apposed to 20 hours ago? Same thing I guess unless something I am unaware of has changed.

It comes off a bit negative when your only comment about the performance is critical and your only positive comment is about the composition.

Side note: even though I replied to nomusician's comment, it appeared above his. This might have confused my wording. Why does it do that sometimes?

[adilzahrani]

amazing...

[TheCanadianGuitarist]

wow I wish I could play the lute, i'm guessing there are a lot of differences between lute and guitar, right?

[Nicorette1234]

not singificantly, the main difference is the amount of strings I think, a regular lute has around 16 strings I think, but they are put together into 'courses' like a 12 string guitar. then the tunning is different. and if you play fingerstyle guitar, you preatty much already know how to work the right rand (only if you use nails, you would probably have to cut them off for lute, because lute does not require nails for pluking strings since the strings are nylon like a classical guitar)

[luteplayer80]

guitar and lute are VERY different

[Nicorette1234]

ive played both quite a bit, and from what I can tell, the 'technique' is very similar.

[luteplayer80]

The technique is very different, it just depends on how accurate you want to be; it took me about 10 years to switch from guitar to lute.

[ficklampa1]

what are the differences?

[Nicorette1234]

yes what are the main differences?

[moustatache]

@luteplayer80 You where classical guitarist?

[STColeridge22]

@Nicorette1234 Don't tell your granny how to chew apples. The guy obviously knows what he's talking about seeing as he is playing the lute and as he said has played guitar also. I'm a guitarist myself and can see that there are complexities in the lute that I don't evene want to begin thinking about.

It's liek saying there's not much difference between a motobike and a car, except a car has more wheels.

[DanielBatchelar]

Some instruments, such as piano, "push" the audience, some "pull," or seduce. The lute, with its soft, personal voice is the ultimate among the latter. As for technical points, the lutenist places right-hand thumb behind the fingers, while guitarists place the thumb in front of the fingers. The lute also has softer strings with lower tension, so fingernails are clipped. This allows scale passages to be played with thumb and index finger, which leads to notes inégales (a slightly swinging feel).

[DanielBatchelar]

This was an attempt to add to earlier comments on the differences between lute and guitar.

[DaveRowee]

Hi I play Renaissance and Baroque music for guitar. I feel on this piece, your timing is a tad all over the place. Also the piece does a lot of the work for you so you do not need to play it so brutally. This is such a gorgeous piece of music by Dowland.

Do you play anything by Muddara?

[Pwnrofnoobz]

Bravo! Magnifique! I do love the sound of a good lute, and you sure know how to belt out some seriously stupéfiant music!

[Domytar]

magik

[CiscoNast]

How can anyone respect the radio after watching this?

[willtheforsaken]

great

[ANDRSNS]

Great finger technique! Thanks!

[Judas4]

I love Middle Ages music so much.

[djsmurfie]

This music isn't from the middle ages...... sorry to be pedantic.

[Acazziah]

Oh, I had a mistake!! It looks like. What is this song style? However, it is very nice. And thanks for the correction.

[djsmurfie]

It's Renaissance lute music.

[lupusfunera]

what a feel! awesome!

[orion777temp]

amazing

[Rocky1990]

this is so very genius.

[TRLD57]

awesome!

[DanielBatchelar]

Bravo! Everything a lute should be, and everything a lute player should be. There are two kinds of instruments: those that push you back in awe and those that draw you in, like a seductress. The piano pushes, as does electric guitar. The classical guitar draws in. But the lute is the ultimate intimate instrument. Thanks for the close-up of both hands. Very instructive. Note: Most of Dowland's works were tabbed for six courses, making them very playable on guitar (tuned EADF#BE).

[sameo51]

for sure for sure, I still watch it all the time

[Lantrix]

Same. I keep coming back to this rendition. Fantastic

[jpiano1]

beautifull music:

love your'resurection of this gem.

i enjoy this video over and over again

tnanks sooooooooooooooooooo much

j

[lutemusic]

Played from the heart and such quick right hand technique, and beautiful rhymn. Many thanks.

[patrickhufschmid]

i want to start playing the lute!!!!!!!!

[thoyo]

haha, songs from the kitchen ;) ... i love it!!

p.s. i love your feel for rhythm in the quick melodic runs!

[keto6789]

plus you CAN improvise on the lute ... you don't know what you're talkin about

[keto6789]

I play classical guitar and you can improvise. You can play anything you want on classic guitar. Have you heard leo brouwer pieces?

[lord0fshred]

i think you guys complaining about things should be quiet and learn to respect every form of instrument and those who play them. just listen to the song and stop arguing :]

[PieroMancuso]

This is so incredibly brilliant. The most enlightening part is our player in the raw, playing in a relaxed setting. This captures the essence of the lute, as being an everyday instrument and something that you would hear at dinner. I would most welcome you at my table. Thank you.

[laaardmaaan]

omg! i love the sound of the lute, makes me wana learn classical guitar

[godsloved3]

Seriously i agree with Vanquard5150. Everyone and their freakin brother plays guitar and just destroy it. Like guitar should be left to the classical guitar (and some rock) but Lutes sound WAAAY better. They just are so duhduhlahduh all fast and cool. i want to learn haha good job

[crackspider7]

Guitarists can do something a luteplayer wont ever be able to do: improvise! every bloody lute player plays dowland. Hendrix, van Halen and many other guitarists reinvented the guitar. the Guitar is more than an intrument: it unites the world. except classic guitarists. they are worse than lute players.

[Bektvel]

and how many guitarists just play bad covers of Hendrix and Van Halen? Every instrument has their standard songs nearly all players will learn and there is nothing to stop someone improvising and writing their own compositions for the lute.

[AlainNaigeon]

fast *and* cool, that's it, and that's awfully wonderfull ! I know only one other instrument sharing this feature : cornetto - alias cornet à bouquin (French) - alias zinck (German).

Unfortunately not much has been posted on youtube.

[eldadmi]

Incredible!!! Beautiful Lute and

devine sounds ! Thanx!

[Vanquard5150]

wow and i tought that playing the guitar was cool

i like the sound of a lute even more especially after seeing this

[luteplayer80]

Thanks:)

[Mod74]

From the sound of the strings I'm guessing they're Aquilla Nylgut?

Do you need 10 courses to play Dowland?

Thanks, I love checking in on this video from time to time!

[sameo51]

I believe this is an 8 course, but I could be wrong.

[Mod74]

It does look like an 8 course to me but I was wondering if Dowland played a 10 course or if he composed mostly just for the 8 course?

[luteplayer80]

Lute tablatures that can be reasonably attributed to John Dowland feature lute stringings ranging from 6 to 9 courses. This lute I'm using is 8 coursed. By the way, I'm selling it. Those who may be interested, can contact me in private. :)

[delgadokrak]

Nice green kitchen, and nice contrast with your shirt :)

[ziogoku]

very nice!!!

[eirinikos]

Sounds really good. I'm a classic guitar player.. I was watching your right hand. It looks like you don't do any kind of rest strokes. It also looks like you're swinging your finger back and forth across the string to play faster passages.. is that an illusion or are you really doing that?

[luteplayer80]

That's really like that, this kind of technique comes from the plectrum lute players used to play lute with before renaissance era. The plectrum disappeared, but the technique still resemble like holding a plectrum and "shaking" the wrist up and down.. and yes, no rest strokes! :)

[eltontheprince]

I love Dowland. Very well done. I didn't even know anyone played lute anymore. I thought that it was a lost art, but I guess I'm wrong.

[etjallin]

I got the impression that sometimes the music wasn't keeping track of its pace, especially in the fast parts. Please listen to Julian Bream's version and you know what I mean, or use a metronome, or play it slower. For the rest: very OK! (The best musicians are always in the audience:)

[fifi181]

Hey, you've 12,023 views for this now! Well done, but can I cope with your ego?!! Still watching and learning. Fifi.

[luteplayer80]

Is it you alone viewing this video 12,203 times, maybe? :) thx anyway :)))))))))

[amexbassist]

You have a very fine taste in music. Are lutes tuned in fourths or fifths?

[luteplayer80]

Renaissance lute tuning (you have several kinds of lutes and tunings) is : g' d' a f c G F D from treble to bass :)

[PieroMancuso]

Well played mate. I am a classical guitar player just starting to play lute and I must admit my admiration in your technic and playing. Thank you for sharing and perhaps I can bug you for you some technic tips in the future ;)

[sameo51]

Are lutes significantly different from guitars? I've been playing a guitar for awhile now, and was looking into mandolins but this looks much more to my styling :)

[luteplayer80]

Welcome my friend, being both a guitar player and a lutenist myself, I can assure you that lute is ABSOLUTELY different from guitar! :)

[TheLostMedici]

Fantastic - thanks for sharing this one.

[GianniStunato]

si, Sono d'accordo! BRAVO!!

[fifi181]

This is still my favourite. Still practising, and still miles behind you. Fifi.

[luteplayer80]

Thanx. Let's keep in touch... :)

[DOPOJAM70]

People like you, make me wnat to live! Thanks for playing that awesome instrument!

[luteplayer80]

Thank you for your kindness, welcome :)

[SubtleString]

Thank you. You go in my favourites :)

[fifi181]

Hi,

Are you going to watch Scotland v Italia on Saturday? May the best team win!

Still loving your playing

Fiona

[19scoop55]

I think I've seen all the lute videos this ones got to be the best I love it

[shotgunbob909]

Dude totaly awesome its a good change from the singers that sound like they jammed the microphone in their throat

[luteplayer80]

:) thank you man!

[juampy69]

Man, I congratulate on the way you play. It's pure art watching you play in your kitchen. There is no place for good songs . Any place is fitting for them. ¿Who cares where you are playing if the way to do it is right? Greetings from Spain.

[pabloguzman85]

aaah!! excelente!!muy buen trabajo!...amigo, conoces al luthier luciano faria??

[luteplayer80]

Thanks, no, I don't know him :(

[huuing]

You put all the other guys on youtube to shame! Wonderful playing, keep up the great work and post more when time allows.

[fifi181]

I love this piece, and your rendition of it is great. Could you let me know where I could obtain the lute sheet music for the piece. Thank you.

[Lantrix]

I looked it up online and found a copy in the Varietie of Lute Lessons de Robert Dowland. Try this:

tinyurl d o t c o m slash 5dnjx5

[Philly1967]

Bellissimo brano suonato con molta forza e passione....Bravissimo!

[BFGUITAR]

Amazing!!!!!!!

You are a great lute player. You really have got the sound and passion for the music... not to mention the technique. Keep the music alive!

[jsguitar]

Excellant!

[oeppevnvpeb]

you should hear my songs from the toilet.

[SxxVIII]

Jawdropping.

[luteplayer80]

Multo Obrigado :)

[FinisAfricaeFrance]

Magnifica l'energia ritmica. Bravo, un bella versione.

[myungfree]

More songs from the kitchen!!!!!! \o/

[rburmester]

Very nice! Please more "songs from the kitchen"!

[theorboalex]

Chapeau! Any chance to see you performing in public? Best, Theorboalex

[GianlucaVideo]

AHO ! Da paura ! Che tipo sto John Smith ! Irresistibile ! Ma te lo immagini a suonare il liuto in una barchetta in mezzo a un lago, con un ombrellino e il cappello ! !

A quando gli altri estratti da "Songs from the kitchen" ? ?

[Luthval]

Hello,

Glad to see your fingers getting on the lute again !

Nice play.

Waiting for more.

;-) friendly,

Val

[luteplayer80]

Dear Val, I hope you watched this clip until the very end :)