quinterne

[billkilpatrick]

"pluckedturkeys" (?!) has posted this lovely selection of tunes to youtube from the skene mandore manuscript:



he (i assume "plucked" is a he) is using a plectrum and the instrument sounds remarkably like a charango.

in looking for more information on the mandore, i see that its predecessor was an instrument called a quinterne - a "french and old english name for the cittern" - further info with photo available here:

http://www.banjomandolinguitar.org/mandolin_hist1.htm

does anyone know if the "quint" in quinterne refers to tuning in 5ths?

[Graham McDonald]

The pic you linked to is the only surviving intact quintern or gittern (and of course many other spellings) in a church in Germany built around 1450, though another was retrieved a couple of years ago from a cesspit in Poland! I don't think anyone really knows the tunings used, but a couple of sources suggest a tuning in 5ths and 4ths - GDgd or GCgc or similar. A couple of useful articles here and here

cheers