Vincenzo Galileo about glued frets etc.

In the Usenet newsgroup rec.music.early somebody wrote:

"There is very little historical evidence for using the split frets, however. And there is (I think) even less for the small glued-on auxiliary frets that lutenists sometimes use to correct individual notes."

There is one important source, which shows that inequal fret positioning and glued-on auxiliary frets were used in 16th century lutes:

Vincenzo Galilei wrotes about them in his 'Fronimo' in 1584. He is actually very much against the use of them. So there must have been those who used them! Otherwise there would not have been any reason to oppose them thru many, many pages!

Some clips (from the translation of Carol MacClintock, American Institute of Musicology, Hanssler-Verlag, 1985) (starting on page 155):

• Eumatius [the student]: ... Also, how does it happen that you do not use frets that are spaced by unusual inequality of intervals, and some other little frets that take away the sharpness from the major third and tenth, as I have seen used by some universally known, skilful men, from whom I understand that both are exceedingly necessary and useful.
• Fronimo [the teacher]: [Opposes strongly with many words. Explains the reason why they do that:] ... They will respond (if they know) that singing and playing, particularly on the harpsichord and organ, the Tone is divided into two unequal parts and consequently is found as a major and a minor semitone. It is therefore reasonable, even necessary to use it on the Lute also. [After referencing to ancient 'distributions of strings' Fronimo continues his ideas:] ... but the unlearned ... [cannot] play or sing other intervals than those of they have cognizance. Not only that, but they believe there is nothing good apart from their knowledge and conviction. Now you must know that the distribution on the lute is one thing, that on keyboard instrument another, and singing is different from both; that is, the tones and semitones are of different measurements. ... Their variations cause the diversity of the affetti. [Fronimo goes on explaining the use of same frets for different purposes, sometimes you would need major sometimes minor semitones.]
• Fronimo(page 162): ... Now I come to the matter of tastini [little frets], which lately some people seek to introduce in order to remove some of their sharpness from the thirds and major tenths (as they try to persuade those who are more foolish than they). [Then Fronimo refers to Galileo's Dialogo della antica e della moderna musica.] ... the Tones and the major and minor Thirds have the same measure in all places, on the strings and between the frets. [Then he points out that those using the tastini do not know much about theory, they just want to hear 'marvels'.]

Galileo seems to fight for the usability of different keys and different sized instruments?

In my lutes I use unequal fret spacing - depending of the key, and tastini for the first fret of 4th string. So I do have a famous opponent! :-)

Arto Wikla

[Addition in 18th August 2005: All the "Il Fronimo" is on-line in the web! The link!]