The lute is a stringed instrument and basically consists of a large pear-shaped sound box that ends in a long neck divided into movable sections called frets. The speaker on the back is curved, made of thin wooden strips called douies, while the front is covered by a thin wooden lid with a round opening in the center, often decorated with a wooden sculpture called a rodantza. On top of the lid is glued the bridge, a thin piece of hard wood that supports the strings on one end, while on the other end they are supported by the end of the arm, the karavola, where the tuning keys are also located. It has four pairs of metal strings and is played with a pick.
Name: Instruments similar to the Greek laouto are found in Western Europe under the general name lute, while in Greece, depending on the region, it is also known as lagouto or lavouto. Some attribute the origin of the name to the Arabic al oud, meaning wood, while others attribute it to the tuning in la and ut (today’s do) of the two double strings it used to have.
History: The history of the lute family of instruments begins in Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BC. In Greece, the first instrument of this type we encounter is the ancient Greek three-stringed pandoura. The tambouras originated from the pandoura, and a variation of the tamboura that developed around the 17th century is the Greek laouto. The laouto retained the long neck with movable frets that the tambouras had, but the small round sound box was replaced by a pear-shaped one that was much larger in order to increase the volume and intensity of the sound.
There are numerous depictions of the lute in hagiographies, frescoes, miniatures, and folk paintings, as well as references to it in literature, particularly in poetry and song. In the epic of Digenis Akritas, the akritic songs and Byzantine manuscripts, in Kornaros’ Erotokritos, and of course in folk songs, the lute is presented as the musical instrument that, either on its own or accompanying the voice, can express the most subtle and noble human emotions.
Construction: Like all traditional instruments, the lute was and continues to be made in small private workshops, often with a long family tradition, ensuring that the necessary knowledge accompanies the craftsman’s passion. It is a fairly difficult instrument to construct, and its solidity and resistance to warping are paramount due to the very high tension exerted by the strings. The accuracy of its proportions is also very important so that when it is finally strung—that is, when the strings are placed—it can be tuned and played correctly. Space constraints prevent us from discussing its construction in detail, but we can say in general that the type and quality of the wood used to make its various parts, the glue, varnishes, and, of course, the skill of the craftsman plays a major role in sound quality and overall construction. Several days must elapse between the stages of construction so that the materials can settle and any imperfections can be progressively corrected. The handmade nature and difficulty of its construction, as well as the lack of skilled craftsmen, have made the lute not only hard to find but also quite expensive.
Types of lute: The lute is found in variations in different regions of Greece, with minor to significant differences between them. In Crete, the lute is much larger and has a lower tuning to match the lyre, while in Constantinople it is quite small with gut (now nylon) strings and wooden keys. The mainland and island laouto are quite similar and have the same tuning.
Playing style and technical capabilities: The lute is always tuned in fifths: C G D A from top to bottom for the mainland and island styles, G D A E a fourth lower for the Cretan style. Today it is used mainly as an accompanying instrument, providing rhythmic and harmonic support to most melodic instruments such as the clarinet, violin, lyre, etc., and its melodic presence is limited to short melodic responses or musical bridges in the gaps of the main melody, although in the past it was also used as a melodic instrument. The difficulty of the technique and the invasion and prevalence of other more resonant instruments forced the leading lute players to either retire or adapt to an accompanying role. Harmonic accompaniment, which in the past followed the rules of isokratima and allowed consonances in accordance with the modal character of monophonic Byzantine and folk music, today, influenced by European music, it also allows Western-style chords, which, when used excessively, completely alter the character of traditional music.
The lute today: The difficulty of playing and holding the lute, and its high price, gradually led to its replacement by the easy-to-play and inexpensive guitar. “…but the guitar completely alters the musical style of the folk song. With its sweet tone and different technique, it gives it a pseudo-romantic style, characteristics unknown to genuine folk melody and the traditional playing of Greek folk musicians. If the lute requires technical effort to play Western-style chords, the guitar imposes them completely, with the result that our folk songs lose their color and take on the style of Italianate serenades…” says Phoebus Anogeianakis in his monumental work “Greek Folk Musical Instruments.” And what can one say about electric guitars and harmonicas with jazz-rock chords and noisy amplifiers that destroy what little remains…
In order for the altered and distorted form of our traditional music not to become a consciousness and established aesthetic with its frequent promotion, and for us to ultimately lose another piece of culture without a fight, beyond the individual efforts of the various clubs, the state itself must take care of the organized teaching and learning of rare traditional instruments such as the lute, mainly in the provinces, where while there is often the will, there is no corresponding ability.
Sakis Papadimitriou
Philologist, musician, PhD in philosophy at the University of Patras, Head of the Aigio Music Laboratory
words from tradition
