Brief History of the Lute
as told by Craig of Farrington            

The ancient Middle Eastern culture, famous for its love of art and scientific technology, was home to some of our world's earliest musical instrument makers.   The Book of Psalms, that most poetic chapter of The Holy Bible, makes mention of "the lute" several times, although the stringed instrument referred to there was much different from the ones we recognize by that name today. 

"It is good ... to declare thy steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute ... "
Psalms 92: 1-3

Materials ancient people utilized in making musical instruments were gleaned from natural sources.  Lute-like instruments might have been formed stretching animal skins over rib bones, or shells of tortoises may have served as the body.  (Drums and modern banjos are still constructed using skins, and many instruments of today, notably the hurdy-gurdy, string bass and lute, still often use strings made of animal gut.)

The first stringed instrument made totally of wood was called the ud ... in Arabic, the word ud literally means "wood."  Today's ud, the classical instrument of Persia, has twelve strings, doubled in six courses, and while the ud has gone through many changes through the centuries, it is undoubtedly a direct ancestor of our modern guitar.

Several stories are told about the origin of the word lute.  One of those tales is based on the fact that the Arabian word for the is Al. 

[Modern astronomers continue to refer to many celestial bodies using their original Arabic names; the Middle East was once a thriving center for astronomical research.  Some notable star names, for example, are Altair (The Eagle), Aldebaran (The Follower), and Algol (The Ghoul) ... but I digress ... ]

It has been said that, when the instrument was first introduced to the English monarch by an Arabian merchant, the man was asked, "What is it?"  His answer:  "Al Ud."  The monarch heard the response as "a Lute"

... and the name stuck.

Another story suggests that since the Arabian world was long dominated by the French (whose words for "the" also incorporate the letter:  le, la, les) it was they who added a letter "L" to the beginning of the word "ud" ... calling it l'ud (which in French translates, "the lute.") 

The English language has adopted several words cognate with lute.  One who makes guitar-like instruments, for example, is called a luthier.  A person who plays the lute is called a lutenist. 

The lutenist (in the manner of the guitarist) controls each string's pitch by placing his finger between frets, which divide the fingerboard into half-step intervals along the neck of the instrument.  Unlike the modern guitar, whose frets are metal and imbedded into the fingerboard, the frets of lutes are made of gut and are tied on.  Uds have no frets, but lines are often painted on their necks for reference purposes, as well as for decoration. 

Uds and lutes are similar in shape.  Both sport pear-shaped bodies with flat faces and with rounded backs constructed of interlocking wooden slats.  Both have string-compartments which take a sharp angle back toward the player, likely for the purpose of making them more sturdy. 

Both uds and lutes sport fancifully-carved covers over their center holes; these are called rosettes.  Uds have three rosettes, usually made of ivory, or more recently, of plastic.  (Refer to the picture of The Ud above.)   Lutes, on the other hand, generally have only one rosette.  Modern guitars, for the most part, have adopted an open hole in the center with no rosette, though there are exceptions to that rule.

Other instruments related to the lute and guitar include:

The Cittern, pictured below with a recorder, has nine strings in five courses, connecting it with the lute.

The Vihuela, pictured below, has tied-on gut frets in the manner of the lute, and was popular in the same era.