Figure 14. Pencil markings for fret placement. Figure 15. Frets in place with small piece <strong>of</strong> fret-gut taped under 4th course (tastini).
Once <strong>the</strong> frets are placed, one can tune using <strong>the</strong> familiar method <strong>of</strong> tuning unisons between <strong>the</strong> 5th fret <strong>of</strong> one particular course to <strong>the</strong> next higher open course (except between courses 3 and 4 which use <strong>the</strong> 4th fret for <strong>the</strong> pure major 3rd). Consonances can be checked with octaves between an open course and <strong>the</strong> 7th fret <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> next higher course. Also, octaves can be checked between <strong>the</strong> 2nd fret <strong>of</strong> courses 6, 5, and 4, and <strong>the</strong> open courses 3, 2, and 1 respectively. In fact, this tuning method is exactly what Ganassi recommends, though his errors regarding <strong>the</strong> placement <strong>of</strong> frets V and VII (pythagorean ra<strong>the</strong>r than tempered 4ths and 5ths) would have completely fouled up <strong>the</strong> process 23 . Conclusions The debate over whe<strong>the</strong>r to tune by geometry or by ear goes back at least as far as Zarlino. For better or worse, tuning instructions based solely on “hearing” are subject to all kinds <strong>of</strong> inaccuracies and misunderstanding, as can be seen in <strong>the</strong> deeply flawed, but <strong>of</strong>t cited, method <strong>of</strong> Robert Dowland (1610) 24 . On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, <strong>the</strong> ear is <strong>the</strong> final judge and <strong>the</strong> geometrical models must lend <strong>the</strong>mselves to <strong>the</strong> sounding result ra<strong>the</strong>r than <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r way around. With careful calculation and appropriate choice <strong>of</strong> disposition, <strong>the</strong>re is no reason why a true 1/4 meantone fretting scheme cannot be effectively implemented on lutes, viols, and <strong>the</strong>orbos. Often, performers opt for <strong>the</strong> 1/6 comma temperament to avoid readjustment <strong>of</strong> frets for different modes, but as Milan shows us in El Maestro, adjustment <strong>of</strong> frets for different pieces was indeed done at <strong>the</strong> time. It seems that <strong>the</strong> choice <strong>of</strong> 1/6 comma is <strong>of</strong>ten made to give one <strong>the</strong> sense that <strong>the</strong> finer distinction between “enharmonic equivalents” may allow one to freely fret an A-flat when a G-sharp is called for, but I would assert that whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> difference is 1/5th <strong>of</strong> a semitone, or 1/9th <strong>of</strong> a semitone is irrelevant: <strong>the</strong>y’re both out <strong>of</strong> tune. If one is playing in F minor for example, one must fret <strong>the</strong> instrument to that disposition, and not just use a “s<strong>of</strong>ter” version <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> meantone temperament in order to rationalize <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> a 1/6th comma G-sharp as an A-flat. Unfortunately, most fretting guides from <strong>the</strong> sixteenth-century (as well as modern ones) neglect to consider <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> disposition <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> meantone cycle. Even experts such as Mark Lindley and Eugen Dombois give little or no information on how to adjust <strong>the</strong> fretting scheme to handle tonalities o<strong>the</strong>r than <strong>the</strong> so-called “standard” disposition <strong>of</strong> E-flat to G-sharp. While Lindley 23 Lindley, Mark. Lutes, Viols and Temperaments. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. p. 95. 24 ibid. p. 83+89.
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