Hi all,

A few months ago, some of you ask about Stephan Schmidt tuning. Two
years ago he gave me some clarifications about his tuning for the
Bach's works for lute.

Stephan Schmidt plays Bach lute works in original keys.
The top 6 strings are tuned normally (E-A-d-g-b-e).

The 7th & 8th strings are tuned in the bass register to cover low B,
low A and low G.

The 9th and 10th are tuned to appropriate notes according to the
contrapuntal nature of Bach's work music.


BWV 996 in e minor:
7th String- low B (an octave below 5th string 2nd fret)
8th String- low A (an octave below 5th A string)
9th String- low D
10th String- G (back up in pitch).


BWV 995 in g minor:
7th String- low A (an octave below 5th A string);
8th String- low G (an octave below 6th string 3rd fret)
9th String- low D
10th String- G (back up in pitch)


BWV 1006a in E major:
7th String- low B (an octave below 5th string 2nd fret)
8th String- low A (an octave below 5th A string)
9th String- low C# (an octave below 5th string 4th fret)
10th String- F# (back up in pitch)


He frets a lot 7th string, sometimes 8th and rarely 9th. He easily
gets rid of unwanted sympathetic harmony with these tunings. He
plays very clean but he retunes frequently.

Best regards

Albert