In the Sicilian wedding song C'a la Luna, featured in The Godfather but also a Louis Prima staple, the musician comes courting with a trumpet in his hand. Metaphorical but Sicilians do love their brass.
I touched my lover's heart with a tenor recorder once. So I don't think we should rule out woodwinds altogether -- though a bassoon seems less likely :-) I bet it could be done with a cello too. As for brass, well, I recall that Chuck Mangione played a pretty sexy flugelhorn. Still, I have to agree, lute and guitar -- and let's not forget the ukulele -- are likelier choices.
This story influences me too. I will think more deeply next time I listen to a minstrel or a guitarist. I'm planning to do portrait sketches in public. Maybe I should have a guitarist sitting next to me, the partner who collects the money.
Ted you are such a scholar, and a piano playing gentleman! I guess I don’t need to ask you why everyone (including me) picks up the guitar around age 12:)
What a fascinating look at those paintings? And giving two dudes all the music patents? Who were they? Amazon and Amazon.com? And where does the bass guitar fit into this?
"... the rest will be purely analog" - indeed!. I learned the guitar at age 18 in 1964 (do the math, folks!) as a result of my infatuation with the British invasion and a compulsion to attract girls. The guitar was horrible (probably $10 from Kresge's) with the strings very high off the fretboard, but I persisted. From a book by some guy called (I think) Nick Manoloff, and some theory was involved, so I got to know what notes were in what chords, transposition, etc. within a year or so, I was in bands, and virtuosity was ... well. .. optional. Think of the words to the Byrds' So You Want to be a Rock n Roll Star. And did it ever attract the girls! So I agree with everything you're saying in the article Ted.
Honest Broker: "I hate to say it, but this may have been the single biggest reason for piano sales in the history of the instrument." (Prepping young women for marriage.)
It was. If one wishes to better understand the truth of this, read Arthur Loesser's "Men, Women, and Pianos, a Social History."
Also consider that pitches may be "bent" on the lute/guitar/violin (stringed instruments), but one cannot do so on a piano. This makes the lute/guitar/violin more like the human voice, with its quavering (vibrato), and subtle possibilities for alteration of that which we humans hear with the greatest acuity: pitch.
And, "in movie music," what is the cliché for uh, romantic scenes? Weeping violins–or a sultry saxophone–not so much the guitar . . . the guitar or lute may win in one-on-one in-person scenes because it carries the possibility of its own accompaniment (harmony). And of course, it could be "da words" that may carry romantic aspirations; pop music anybody?
Guitar is the ultimate portable instrument. Capable of harmony and melody. Very rhythmic. And comfortable in any style of music. Of course, I am biased, as it is my first instrument. But the voice, in my opinion, is the most seductive instrument. Guitar, a close second. 🙂
Guitars and vocals began to overtake traditional instruments in the '50s with Elvis (even as Sinatra was making his best albums with Nelson Riddle, Gordon Jenkins and Billy May), and in '60s the rise of the guitar ramped up with groups like the Beatles and Rolling Stones supported by the rise of a powerful young consumer Soon guitar-strummers began to rule, as country-pop became adults' favorite music with sponsors lined up for TV shows hosted by guitar player-singers like Glen Campbell, John Denver and Buck Owen. Meanwhile, pianos were gradually yielding to "keyboards" with the Rhodes the favorite analog electric "piano" prior to the popularity in the early '80s of the digitally-processed Yamaha DX-7 and, beginning in the '90s, the Kurzweil K-1000 digital piano and its many imitators (Korg, Roland, Yamaha).
As a pianist who jobbed for 45 years, I now find that the acoustic piano is becoming an endangered species--country clubs and organizations that once owned and maintained pianos no longer go to the expense and bother of harboring an acoustic grand or even a spinet--and I no longer have the patience or strength to haul keyboard and amps to the job (I've gone through close to every electric piano brand--from the Wurlitzer to 3 Rhodes (they wear out) to a dozen different digitals). Today, most piano players, piano tuners, piano teachers are singing the blues over the rapidly vanishing pianoforte.
I love guitar--as played by Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, or even early Les Paul--but most young players demonstrate why the instrument was hated by Duke Ellington. They're not challenged to learn standards (jazz or pop) let alone play more than 3 chords or a single chord that's more complicated than a triad. Worse, rap and hip-hop are making it easy for all amateurs to write their own couplets and copyright their own "beats." The music I'm hearing (by accident) at most NBA games is without piano or guitar since melody and harmony are absent. Moreover, one of the sponsors for the games--Modelo--is supporting culture in the 'hood through a visit to an educational center where volunteers teach youngsters how to be "turntablists" and disc jockeys. From my vantage point, we have entered a dark and tuneless age with no sign of relief immediately in sight.
Your thesis is not exactly wrong but too superficial. The lute is associated with many different ideas and traits, not just seduction. The link with seduction is also not new in the 16th century but goes back to the Middle Ages and the Typologies of humankind as children of the different planets. Soldiers are children of Mars, scholars are children of Saturn, and the children of Venus a pleasure loving bon vivants. There are many illustrations of these types, and the children of Venus are shown in a garden, eating and drinking, relaxing in hot tubs, dancing and listening to music of soft instruments like the lute and harp. Usually there are also 4 bare legs sticking out from under a bush.
But this is far from the only association. A related one is the link with low living and immorality: brothels, courtesans, drinking, gambling, gluttony. There are plenty of pictures of those scenes in the 16th and 17th centuries. The lute can also appear in the Dance of Death, in which all the different ranks and occupations of society are subject to be swept away by death's music. In illustrations of the 4 humors the lute can be associated with the phlegmatic humor (possibly because the planet Venus governs the cold and moist properties of water).
Personifications of music, such as the "Allegory of Music" by Laurent de la Hyre in the Metropolitan Museum, can be shown with the lute. The 9 Muses appear with a variety of instruments, including the lute.
Another important genre is the "Vanity" still life, intended to remind the viewer that all the pleasures of life are temporary and fleeting. So there are dusty musical instruments, wilting flowers, rotting fruit, even at times a skull. These remind the viewer that the music is soon stilled, the blossoms lose their beauty, the delicious fruit rots away. It behooves you to repent your sins, make amendment and prepare to die. Lutes and guitars are especially appropriate here, because the sound of a plucked string begins to "decay" and "die away" immediately.
In short, the lute had a great many different associations throughout its history in Europe, as did other instruments. A more comprehensive review of music in art and poetry will demonstrate this.
"You check out guitar George, he knows all the chords
Mind, it's strictly rhythm he doesn't want to make it cry or sing" Mark Knopfler sings before throwing himself into a very tasteful crying and singing lick on his guitar using string bending. No other instrument can do this, a guitar (or lute in earlier times as the post says) is the perfect instrument for seducing or telling a story especially when coupled with a singing voice.
In the Sicilian wedding song C'a la Luna, featured in The Godfather but also a Louis Prima staple, the musician comes courting with a trumpet in his hand. Metaphorical but Sicilians do love their brass.
I touched my lover's heart with a tenor recorder once. So I don't think we should rule out woodwinds altogether -- though a bassoon seems less likely :-) I bet it could be done with a cello too. As for brass, well, I recall that Chuck Mangione played a pretty sexy flugelhorn. Still, I have to agree, lute and guitar -- and let's not forget the ukulele -- are likelier choices.
Being tone deaf, and talentless(they only let me play the triangle in elementary school) I have to rely on my scintillating wit
This story influences me too. I will think more deeply next time I listen to a minstrel or a guitarist. I'm planning to do portrait sketches in public. Maybe I should have a guitarist sitting next to me, the partner who collects the money.
As a lute lover, this was a delightful read! Would love to hear more about the sultriness of the oud, as well
Ted you are such a scholar, and a piano playing gentleman! I guess I don’t need to ask you why everyone (including me) picks up the guitar around age 12:)
Funny you wrote this because Bill and I would discuss this very thing frequently.
What a fascinating look at those paintings? And giving two dudes all the music patents? Who were they? Amazon and Amazon.com? And where does the bass guitar fit into this?
Thanks, Ted. I enjoyed that. You consistently add to my understanding of music.
"... the rest will be purely analog" - indeed!. I learned the guitar at age 18 in 1964 (do the math, folks!) as a result of my infatuation with the British invasion and a compulsion to attract girls. The guitar was horrible (probably $10 from Kresge's) with the strings very high off the fretboard, but I persisted. From a book by some guy called (I think) Nick Manoloff, and some theory was involved, so I got to know what notes were in what chords, transposition, etc. within a year or so, I was in bands, and virtuosity was ... well. .. optional. Think of the words to the Byrds' So You Want to be a Rock n Roll Star. And did it ever attract the girls! So I agree with everything you're saying in the article Ted.
Honest Broker: "I hate to say it, but this may have been the single biggest reason for piano sales in the history of the instrument." (Prepping young women for marriage.)
It was. If one wishes to better understand the truth of this, read Arthur Loesser's "Men, Women, and Pianos, a Social History."
Also consider that pitches may be "bent" on the lute/guitar/violin (stringed instruments), but one cannot do so on a piano. This makes the lute/guitar/violin more like the human voice, with its quavering (vibrato), and subtle possibilities for alteration of that which we humans hear with the greatest acuity: pitch.
And, "in movie music," what is the cliché for uh, romantic scenes? Weeping violins–or a sultry saxophone–not so much the guitar . . . the guitar or lute may win in one-on-one in-person scenes because it carries the possibility of its own accompaniment (harmony). And of course, it could be "da words" that may carry romantic aspirations; pop music anybody?
Guitar is the ultimate portable instrument. Capable of harmony and melody. Very rhythmic. And comfortable in any style of music. Of course, I am biased, as it is my first instrument. But the voice, in my opinion, is the most seductive instrument. Guitar, a close second. 🙂
Guitars and vocals began to overtake traditional instruments in the '50s with Elvis (even as Sinatra was making his best albums with Nelson Riddle, Gordon Jenkins and Billy May), and in '60s the rise of the guitar ramped up with groups like the Beatles and Rolling Stones supported by the rise of a powerful young consumer Soon guitar-strummers began to rule, as country-pop became adults' favorite music with sponsors lined up for TV shows hosted by guitar player-singers like Glen Campbell, John Denver and Buck Owen. Meanwhile, pianos were gradually yielding to "keyboards" with the Rhodes the favorite analog electric "piano" prior to the popularity in the early '80s of the digitally-processed Yamaha DX-7 and, beginning in the '90s, the Kurzweil K-1000 digital piano and its many imitators (Korg, Roland, Yamaha).
As a pianist who jobbed for 45 years, I now find that the acoustic piano is becoming an endangered species--country clubs and organizations that once owned and maintained pianos no longer go to the expense and bother of harboring an acoustic grand or even a spinet--and I no longer have the patience or strength to haul keyboard and amps to the job (I've gone through close to every electric piano brand--from the Wurlitzer to 3 Rhodes (they wear out) to a dozen different digitals). Today, most piano players, piano tuners, piano teachers are singing the blues over the rapidly vanishing pianoforte.
I love guitar--as played by Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, or even early Les Paul--but most young players demonstrate why the instrument was hated by Duke Ellington. They're not challenged to learn standards (jazz or pop) let alone play more than 3 chords or a single chord that's more complicated than a triad. Worse, rap and hip-hop are making it easy for all amateurs to write their own couplets and copyright their own "beats." The music I'm hearing (by accident) at most NBA games is without piano or guitar since melody and harmony are absent. Moreover, one of the sponsors for the games--Modelo--is supporting culture in the 'hood through a visit to an educational center where volunteers teach youngsters how to be "turntablists" and disc jockeys. From my vantage point, we have entered a dark and tuneless age with no sign of relief immediately in sight.
I now mourn all the years I've put into learning the banjo.
Your thesis is not exactly wrong but too superficial. The lute is associated with many different ideas and traits, not just seduction. The link with seduction is also not new in the 16th century but goes back to the Middle Ages and the Typologies of humankind as children of the different planets. Soldiers are children of Mars, scholars are children of Saturn, and the children of Venus a pleasure loving bon vivants. There are many illustrations of these types, and the children of Venus are shown in a garden, eating and drinking, relaxing in hot tubs, dancing and listening to music of soft instruments like the lute and harp. Usually there are also 4 bare legs sticking out from under a bush.
But this is far from the only association. A related one is the link with low living and immorality: brothels, courtesans, drinking, gambling, gluttony. There are plenty of pictures of those scenes in the 16th and 17th centuries. The lute can also appear in the Dance of Death, in which all the different ranks and occupations of society are subject to be swept away by death's music. In illustrations of the 4 humors the lute can be associated with the phlegmatic humor (possibly because the planet Venus governs the cold and moist properties of water).
Personifications of music, such as the "Allegory of Music" by Laurent de la Hyre in the Metropolitan Museum, can be shown with the lute. The 9 Muses appear with a variety of instruments, including the lute.
Another important genre is the "Vanity" still life, intended to remind the viewer that all the pleasures of life are temporary and fleeting. So there are dusty musical instruments, wilting flowers, rotting fruit, even at times a skull. These remind the viewer that the music is soon stilled, the blossoms lose their beauty, the delicious fruit rots away. It behooves you to repent your sins, make amendment and prepare to die. Lutes and guitars are especially appropriate here, because the sound of a plucked string begins to "decay" and "die away" immediately.
In short, the lute had a great many different associations throughout its history in Europe, as did other instruments. A more comprehensive review of music in art and poetry will demonstrate this.
"You check out guitar George, he knows all the chords
Mind, it's strictly rhythm he doesn't want to make it cry or sing" Mark Knopfler sings before throwing himself into a very tasteful crying and singing lick on his guitar using string bending. No other instrument can do this, a guitar (or lute in earlier times as the post says) is the perfect instrument for seducing or telling a story especially when coupled with a singing voice.