Ultimate Guide to Classical Guitars and Lutes

The lute has been a part of instrumental music since the Renaissance and Baroque eras. The lute was extremely popular until the 1800’s. Then in the 1900’s the interest of the lute was revived. During this time musicians built lutes similar to the construction of classical guitars. Classical guitars are not guitars named for only classical repertoire. Classical guitars are early guitars of the same eras of the lute and more. The lute and the modern classical guitar hold similarities such as the finger style technique. The classical guitar also spanned across the classical, romantic, and modern periods.

Lute Tablature

• History of Transcriptions: A history of the transcription of lute music from 1679 to present.
• Renaissance Lute Tablature: A basic introduction for beginners on the Renaissance lute.
• Classical Tablature: Download PDF files of different forms of lute tablature.
• Francesco da Milano: Explore a few pieces of tablature from the Italian lutenist Francesco da Milano.
• German Lute Tablature Recognition: This paper in PDF form examines a recognition system for 16th German Lute tablature.
• Tablature Guide: A guide to understanding lute tablature.
• Reading Tablature: An instructional paper providing help on reading lute tablature.

MIDI Files

• Paul Butler: Paul Butler offers sheet music and MIDI files for medieval, Renaissance, and folk music.
• A thru Z: MIDI files of classical guitar and Lute music.
• Classical Guitar: Classical guitar tunes from 103 composers in 2431 MIDI files.
• Classical and Flamenco Guitar MIDI’s: A resource page of classical and flamenco guitar MIDI’s.
• A to Z: Classical guitar music in alphabetical order by composer.
• Jean-Baptiste Lully: Music files of Italian Composer Jean-Baptiste Lully’s arrangements accompanied by a brief synopsis of his works.
• French Tablature: A collection of 3000 French lute tablatures in MIDI and PDF format.
• John Sebastian: Lute works from German composer John Sebastian Bach.

Learn About the Lute

• Lute Song Books: Learn about the English generation of lute composers.
• The Lute: A brief look at the history of the lute.
• An Iconography of the Lute: References for identifying and understanding illustrations of the lute.
• History of the Lute: This author focuses on the basics of the lute for those just learning about the instrument.
• A Crash Course on Lutes: A resource on the essentials of the lute.
• Chinese Pear Lutes: History on the Chinese Pipa pear lute. 
• Long-Necked Lute: Images of the long neck flute on display at the National Music Museum.
• Types of Lutes: Descriptions of lute variations.   
• History and Development: A concise look at the history and development of the lute.
• Buying Your First Lute: A helpful resource for buying your first lute.
• Guide to English Lute: A guide to influential English lute composers.

Learn About the Guitar

• History of the Guitar: A concise history of the guitar going back over 4000 years.
• Acoustic Guitar: A guide to the acoustic guitar.
• Microtonal Guitar: An instructional guide to converting the guitar to a microtonal guitar or a fretless guitar.
• History and Development: A brief look at the history and development of the guitar.
• History of Classical Guitar: A short history on the classical guitar.
• Buying a Classical Guitar: A guide to buying a classical guitar.
• Classical Guitar: History of the classical guitars throughout the eras.
• Jefferson Classical Guitar Society: The society is dedicated to educating the community about the classical guitar.
• Classical Guitar Tablature: Plenty of text files and MIDI files for playing and reading classical guitar tablature.

Lute Lessons

• Taking up the Lute: The Lute Society provides all the information one needs when wanting to play the lute.
• Replace Frets: Changing frets is a necessary part of maintaining a lute. Learn how to change the frets here.
• Lute Beginner Music: A three-month guide for beginner lute lessons.
• The Lute Archive: Sheet music archive for the Renaissance and baroque lute.
• Lute Lessons: Video of easy to intermediate lute lessons.