What Is a Lute? History, Sound & Beginner Buying Guide
If any instrument deserves to be called the guitar of its era, it's the lute. For about two hundred years, peaking from the late 1400s through the early 1600s, the lute was the most popular instrument in Europe. Kings kept lutenists on staff. Composers wrote thousands of pieces for it. Painters put it in the hands of angels.
Then the guitar came along, and the lute faded into the background of concert halls and museum collections. But it never disappeared. Today, a dedicated community of players, builders, and enthusiasts keeps the lute very much alive, and modern instruments like the ones we make have made it more accessible than ever for beginners to try.
This guide explains what a lute is, where it came from, how it works, and what to look for when you're ready to buy one.
What Exactly Is a Lute?
A lute is a plucked string instrument with a rounded, pear-shaped body and a flat soundboard on top. The neck is fretted, like a guitar, but the pegbox at the end of the neck bends sharply backward at an angle, which is one of the lute's most distinctive visual features.
Modern lutes typically have anywhere from six to thirteen courses of strings. A "course" can be a single string or a pair of strings tuned in unison or octaves, so a seven-course lute might have twelve or thirteen actual strings. The extra courses give the instrument more bass range and harmonic depth.
The body is built from thin strips of wood (called staves) bent into a rounded bowl shape. This construction is completely different from a guitar, where the back is made from flat plates. The bowl shape is part of what gives the lute its warm, intimate, slightly delicate sound.
Where Did the Lute Come From?
The lute's origins go back well before medieval Europe. The direct ancestor is the oud, the short-necked plucked instrument that has been central to Middle Eastern, North African, and Central Asian music for at least a thousand years, and probably much longer. The word "lute" actually comes from the Arabic "al-ud," meaning "the wood" or "the stick."
Crusaders and traders brought the oud into Europe during the medieval period, and over the following centuries European builders adapted it for Western music. They added frets, lengthened the neck, and changed the tuning system. By the Renaissance, the lute had evolved into the sophisticated, multi-course instrument that composers like John Dowland and Francesco da Milano were writing masterpieces for.
The Lute Society, based in the UK, has documented this history extensively and is worth visiting if you want to dig into the instrument's evolution.
The lute was so central to European music culture that the word "lutenist" described not just a player, but a professional position. Wealthy households employed lutenists the way they employed cooks or stewards. Samuel Pepys wrote about lute music in his diaries. Shakespeare referenced the instrument repeatedly. It was everywhere.
What ended the lute's dominance was the rise of the guitar and the harpsichord in the 18th century. Both were louder and easier to play in large rooms. The lute, with its quieter, more intimate voice, lost the volume wars. But the music written for it, tens of thousands of pieces spanning two centuries, remained.
How Does a Lute Sound?
Intimate and complex are the two words that come up most often. The lute has a softer, warmer voice than a guitar. It doesn't project across a large room the way an acoustic guitar does. What it does instead is fill a small space with extraordinary harmonic richness.
When a skilled player picks out a Renaissance melody on a good lute, the sound has a presence and warmth that's hard to describe without hearing it. Each note blooms and decays beautifully. The paired courses produce a natural chorus effect that makes even simple melodies sound full.
This is also why the lute rewards close listening. It's an instrument made for intimate settings: a living room, a small concert hall, a recording studio.
We'll be posting lute demos on the Roosebeck YouTube channel, including comparisons between different course configurations so you can hear exactly what we're talking about.
Understanding Lute Courses
The number of courses is one of the first things you'll see when shopping for a lute, and it matters more than you might think.
A six-course lute has the most in common with a guitar. The tuning is similar, the technique is closest to what guitarists already know, and there is plenty of Renaissance repertoire written specifically for it. It's the natural starting point.
A seven-course lute adds one additional bass string. This opens up a wider range of Renaissance and early Baroque music without dramatically increasing complexity.
An eight-course lute gets into more serious early Baroque territory. The additional bass courses let you play pieces by composers like John Dowland, where the bass lines are as important as the melody.
For most beginners, a seven or eight-course instrument is the sweet spot. You get full access to the core Renaissance and Baroque lute repertoire without the added complexity of a thirteen-course theorbo.
Lute vs. Guitar: What's Different in Practice?
This matters if you're a guitarist considering lute for the first time.
The tuning is different. Standard Renaissance lute tuning (G-C-F-A-D-G from lowest to highest, for a six-course) is not the same as guitar. You'll need to relearn chord shapes.
The technique is different. Classical lute playing uses the fingertips of the right hand to pluck, without a pick. The angle of the right hand is different from classical guitar technique. It takes adjustment.
The construction is more delicate. A lute body is built from extremely thin wood strips, and it responds to humidity and temperature changes more dramatically than a guitar. You'll want a quality case.
The sound is quieter. A lute in the same room as an acoustic guitar will be noticeably softer. This is normal and correct. Don't amplify it unless you have a very good reason.
None of this is meant to discourage you. It's just honest preparation so you know what you're getting into.
What to Look for When Buying Your First Lute
We've been making lutes for decades, and here's what actually matters when you're shopping:
Number of courses: Start with a seven or eight-course instrument. It gives you access to most of the core repertoire without unnecessary complexity.
Bowl construction: The back should be built from individual staves, not molded or pressed into shape. Stave-built bowls resonate properly. Molded backs are a shortcut that hurts the sound.
Soundboard wood: Spruce is traditional and correct. Straight grain means better vibration. Look for even, close grain lines across the top.
Frets: Traditional gut frets (actual pieces of gut tied around the neck) are authentic but require adjustment. Many modern lutes use nylon frets, which are more stable. Either is fine for a beginner.
String spacing and action: The strings should sit close enough to the fretboard that pressing them down is comfortable, but not so low that they buzz. A properly set-up lute plays easily. A poorly set-up one is frustrating regardless of the quality of the wood.
Case: Buy one with the instrument. Lutes are not guitars. You can't lean them against a wall.
Budget around $500 and up for a serious beginner lute from a reputable maker. Anything significantly cheaper is almost certainly a decorative piece that won't play or sound right. At the upper end, you'll find instruments that professional early music students use and that will last years.
Browse our lute collection to see current options across different course configurations.
Who Plays Lute Today?
More people than you'd expect. The early music revival of the 20th century brought serious scholarship and performance practice back to Renaissance and Baroque repertoire, and with it came renewed interest in the instruments themselves. University music programs often have lute on the curriculum. Early music festivals run across Europe and North America every year.
But you don't need to be a musicologist to enjoy the lute. Plenty of players just want an instrument with a beautiful sound and centuries of gorgeous music to draw from. The lute's repertoire is enormous, covering everything from dance tunes to complex polyphonic compositions, and most of it is freely available online through organizations like the Lute Society and the Tablature database at www.lutesociety.org.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is lute hard to learn? Harder than mountain dulcimer, easier than classical guitar. If you already play guitar, you have transferable skills in both hands. The new challenges are learning the different tuning, adjusting right-hand technique, and getting comfortable with the paired string courses.
Can a guitarist learn lute? Absolutely. Many lute players come from guitar backgrounds. The technique diverges in specifics but the fundamentals of left-hand fretting and right-hand picking transfer over.
What tuning does a lute use? The most common Renaissance lute tuning for a six-course instrument is G-C-F-A-D-G (lowest to highest). This varies by number of courses and historical period.
Do lutes use picks? Traditionally, no. Lute players pluck with the fingertips of the right hand. Some players use very soft fingertip picks, but bare-finger technique produces the most authentic sound.
How do I keep a lute in good condition? Store it in a case with a humidity pack. Lute bodies are thin and sensitive to humidity changes. Avoid leaving it near heat sources or in a car. Wipe down the strings after playing.
Ready to Explore the Lute?
There is no instrument quite like it. Five hundred years of music, from Renaissance dances to Baroque masterpieces, all written for an instrument you can hold in your lap and play in a quiet room.
The lute rewards patience and careful listening. If you're drawn to early music, to the sound of something genuinely old and genuinely beautiful, it's worth every bit of the learning curve.
Explore our full lute lineup, including seven-course and eight-course instruments built from solid tonewoods with traditional stave-bowl construction.
About the Author The Roosebeck Luthier Team at EnSoul Music Designs, Inc. has designed and hand-crafted thousands of professional-quality mountain dulcimers, Celtic harps, bodhrans, and lutes for decades. We specialize in authentic folk instruments that deliver rich tone, easy playability, and lasting value, trusted by musicians worldwide.