— Sub-category

Lute

The Renaissance lute is a plucked, fretted string instrument built around a deep, ribbed pear-shaped body and a neck that ends in a sharply angled pegbox — a design lineage tracing back to the Arabic oud, carried into medieval Europe and refined across the 15th to 17th centuries into the instrument recognized today as the lute proper.

Construction follows a set of conventions distinct from its Middle Eastern ancestor. The bowl is built from narrow, bent wood staves (rib construction) — maple or mahogany among the common body woods — closed by a thin spruce soundboard carrying a carved, latticed sound-hole rosette (the “rose”). Gut frets are tied around the neck rather than fixed, allowing period-accurate adjustment, and strings run in courses — paired strings tuned in unison, with the topmost course (the chanterelle) traditionally left single for melodic clarity.

Lute Sizes and the Renaissance Consort

Lutes were built in a family of sizes tuned to different registers, so a Renaissance consort could cover a full vocal range much like a string quartet does today. From smallest/highest to largest/lowest: descant/treble (roughly 44-52 cm string length), alto (roughly 55-60 cm), tenor (roughly 64-72 cm), bass (roughly 74-78 cm), and great bass (roughly 88-95 cm). Course count shifted with period too — 5-course lutes (a single chanterelle plus four double courses) were standard through the mid-to-late 15th century, before 6- and 7-course instruments became the norm in the century that followed.

Tapadum’s Lute Collection

Every lute in this collection is built at Tapadum’s own workshop — hand-carved rib bodies, spruce soundboards, tied gut frets, and a carved rosette on each instrument, finished and individually inspected in-house before listing. Body wood varies by model (maple, mahogany, and other tonewoods depending on the build), each offering a distinct weight and tonal color while sharing the same rib-and-rose construction discipline.

Who Plays a Renaissance Lute Today?

Early music ensembles, historically-informed performance (HIP) practitioners, lute song accompanists, and collectors of Renaissance and medieval instruments make up the core audience. The lute suits solo repertoire — dance forms, fantasias, lute song accompaniment — as well as consort playing alongside recorders, viols, and other period instruments, and works equally well as a display piece for collectors of early instruments.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Renaissance lute?

A Renaissance lute is a plucked, fretted string instrument with a deep, ribbed pear-shaped body and an angled pegbox, played across Europe from roughly the 15th to 17th centuries. It descends from the Middle Eastern oud, but developed its own tied gut frets, carved sound-hole rose, and paired-string courses over several generations of European lutemaking.

What is the difference between a lute and an oud?

The lute and the oud share a common ancestor, but a lute has tied gut frets around its neck and a sharply angled pegbox, while the oud is fretless with a straighter pegbox. Lutes also use a carved lattice rosette over the sound hole, a feature the oud typically lacks.

How many courses does a Renaissance lute have?

Course count varied by period. Five-course lutes, with a single top string and four double courses, were standard through the mid-to-late 15th century. Six- and seven-course instruments became common afterward as lute music grew more polyphonic.

What size lute should I choose?

Lute size follows the Renaissance consort range: descant/treble for the highest voice, alto for a mid-high register, tenor for the standard solo voice, and bass or great bass for the lowest parts. Solo players most often start with an alto or tenor-range instrument.

What wood is a lute body made from?

Lute bodies are built from narrow, bent wood staves (rib construction), commonly maple, mahogany, or other close-grained tonewoods, paired with a spruce or similar softwood soundboard. The choice of body wood affects the instrument's weight and tonal color.