Editing Lute (section)

{{short description|Plucked string musical instrument}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}{{Other uses}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2016}}
{{Infobox instrument
|name= Lute
|names=
|image= Lute (by Princess Ruto, 2013-02-11).jpg
|image_size =200
|caption= Renaissance lute in 2013
|background= string
|classification= [[String instrument]] ([[Plucked string instrument|plucked]])
|hornbostel_sachs= [[List of musical instruments by Hornbostel–Sachs number: 32|321]]
|hornbostel_sachs_desc= Composite [[chordophone]]
|developed= {{nowrap|
* [[Classical antiquity]] (early lutes)
* [[Middle Ages]] (modern lutes)
}}
|range=
|related= {{collapsible list|
* [[Angélique (instrument)|Angélique]]
* [[Archlute]]
* [[Barbat (lute)]]
* [[Chitarra Italiana]]
* [[Guitar]]
* [[Mandocello]]
* [[Mandola]]
* [[Mandolin]]
* [[Mandolute]]
* [[Oud]]
* [[Pipa]]
* [[Setar]]
* [[Taar]]
* [[Theorbo]]
* [[Torban]]
}}
|musicians = {{collapsible list|
* [[Barbad]]
* [[Xavier Díaz-Latorre]]
* [[Johann Georg Hamann]]
* [[Lutz Kirchhof]]
* [[Christopher Wilke]]
* [[Hopkinson Smith]]
* [[Jozef van Wissem]]
* [[Eduardo Eguez]]
}}
|builders = {{collapsible list|
* [[Andrew Rutherford (lutenist)|Andrew Rutherford]]
* [[Cezar Mateus]]
}}
|composers =
|articles =
|sound sample= 
}}

A '''lute ''' ({{IPAc-en|lj|uː|t}}<ref>Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. lute</ref> or {{IPAc-en|l|uː|t}}) is any plucked [[string instrument]] with a [[neck (music)|neck]] and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either [[fret]]ted or unfretted.

More specifically, the term "lute" commonly refers to an instrument from the [[Family (musical instruments)|family]] of [[History of lute-family instruments|European lutes]] which were themselves influenced by [[India|Indian]] short-necked lutes in [[Gandhara]] which became the predecessor of the [[Islamic music|Islamic]], the Sino-Japanese and the [[Early music|European]] lute families.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Curt Sachs |url=https://archive.org/details/the_history_of_musical_instruments_curt_sachs |title=The History of Musical Instruments - Curt Sachs |date=1940}}</ref> The term also refers generally to any necked string instrument having the strings running in a plane parallel to the [[Sound board (music)|sound table]] (in the [[Hornbostel–Sachs]] system).

The strings are attached to pegs or posts at the end of the neck, which have some type of turning mechanism to enable the player to tighten the tension on the string or loosen the tension before playing (which respectively raise or lower the [[Pitch (music)|pitch]] of a string), so that each string is tuned to a specific pitch (or [[Musical note|note]]). The lute is plucked or strummed with one hand while the other hand "frets" (presses down) the strings on the neck's [[fingerboard]]. By pressing the strings on different places of the fingerboard, the player can shorten or lengthen the part of the string that is [[Oscillation|vibrating]], thus producing higher or lower pitches (notes).

The European lute and the modern Near-Eastern ''[[oud]]'' descend from a common ancestor via diverging evolutionary paths. The lute is used in a great variety of instrumental music from the [[Middle Ages|Medieval]] to the late [[Baroque]] eras and was the most important instrument for [[secular music]] in the [[Renaissance]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Grout|first1=Donald Jay|title=A History Of Western Music|date=1962|publisher=J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, London|pages=202|chapter=Chapter 7: New Currents In The Sixteenth Century|quote=By far the most popular household solo instrument of the Renaissance was the lute|isbn=0393937119}}</ref> During the [[Baroque music]] era, the lute was used as one of the instruments that played the ''[[basso continuo]]'' [[accompaniment]] parts. It is also an accompanying instrument in vocal works. The lute player either improvises ("realizes") a chordal accompaniment based on the [[figured bass]] part, or plays a written-out accompaniment (both [[music notation]] and [[tablature]] ("tab") are used for lute). As a small instrument, the lute produces a relatively quiet sound. The player of a lute is called a ''lutenist'', ''lutanist'' or ''lutist'', and a maker of lutes (or any similar string instrument, or [[violin family]] instruments) is referred to as a ''[[luthier]]''.