Lute Making

The history of lute making in the UK dates back to the late medieval and Renaissance periods, when the lute became a favoured instrument among musicians and the aristocracy.

During the Tudor and Stuart eras, the lute was central to court and consort music. English luthiers, both influenced by and often descendent of Italian and German makers, crafted high-quality lutes using native and imported woods such as spruce, maple, and yew. Notable English luthiers included John and Thomas White, John Rose, Jacob Rayman, Mr Geoffrey, Melchoir de Fombroker, Michael Rauche, Laurie Kell, and Peter Brough, who supplied instruments to noble patrons.

With the rise of keyboard instruments, the guitar, and the violin family in the 18th century, the lute’s popularity declined. By the 19th century, they had largely disappeared from Britain, though some folk traditions maintained early plucked string instruments such as the English guitar or cittern.

Interest in historical performance practice led to a revival of lute making in the 20th century, with figures like Arnold Dolmetsch pioneering research and the reconstruction of early instruments.

Lute making is a meticulous craft that involves a variety of woodworking and finishing techniques. Here are some key techniques used in constructing a lute:

Wood Selection and Preparation

• Choosing woods for their unique acoustical properties (e.g., Alpine spruce for the soundboard, maple or rosewood for the bowl).
• Quarter-sawing wood for stability and optimal grain orientation.
• Seasoning, storing, and drying wood properly to prevent warping.

Soundboard Construction

• Thicknessing: The soundboard is planed to a precise thinness (usually between 1.5mm and 2.5mm) to allow optimum vibration.
• Bracing: The soundboard is braced with spruce bars to stiffen it and resist string tension. This system has to be carefully trimmed and tuned to allow the board to vibrate effectively.
• Rosette Carving: Intricate rosettes are carved directly into the soundboard, rather than inserted.

Bowl Construction

• Stave Bending: Thin ribs (staves) are bent over heat or steam and assembled to form the deep, rounded body.
• Block Construction: The bowl is attached to a solid endblock, keeping it structurally stable.
• Glueing Techniques: Traditional hide glue is used for its strength, acoustical response, and reversibility.

Neck and Pegbox Construction

• Scarf Joint: Used to attach the neck to the bowl seamlessly.
• Pegbox: The pegbox is angled back in the case of most lutes, or in-line with the neck in the case of theorbos or some baroque lutes.
• Hand-turned and carved Pegs: Wooden tuning pegs are shaped and tapered to fit snugly into the peg holes.

Fingerboard and Fretting

• Tied Gut Frets: lutes use gut frets tied around the neck for adjustability and tone.

Bridge and String Spacing

• The bridge is lightweight and glued directly to the soundboard with a butt joint. It is shaped very carefully to set the string action and spacing, alter the tone, and tie off the strings. It is also often styled for aesthetic appeal.
• The nut is made of bone for acoustical reasons and is finely shaped to ensure correct string spacing and height, reduce friction, and facilitate ease of tuning and string longevity.

Finishing and Decoration

• Natural Oil Finishes: Traditionally, light weight finishes such as linseed oil or vernice bianca are used for the soundboard to aid acoustic response. The bowl is almost always varnished with a pine resin linseed oil varnish as on violins.
• Inlay Work: Some lutes feature decorative purfling, lines, arabesques, or exotic materials such as mother-of-pearl inlays.

There are many variations of the lute and lute family instruments. This list is not exhaustive.

Medieval & Renaissance Lutes

• Medieval Lute – A lute with four or five courses (pairs of strings), played from the 13th to 15th centuries.
• Gittern – A close and more primitive relative of the lute and an instrument very common in the medieval period. The bowl is lute-shaped but carved from solid.
• Renaissance Lute – The classic six-course lute of the 16th century, gradually expanding to ten courses by the early 17th century.

Baroque & Theorboed Lutes

• Chitarrone & Theorbo –Theorbos are characterised by the tuning which is re-entrant (the top two courses tuned down an octave), but also for usually having long bass strings. They were popular for continuo music, but also for solo use in both the late renaissance and Baroque eras. The term “chitarrone” refers to the earliest forms of renaissance theorbo.
• Baroque Lute – Typically has 11 to 13 courses used in the 17th and 18th centuries for solo music and accompaniment. The basses may be short, or on an extension as with the theorbo.
• Archlute – A hybrid between the theorbo and the regular lute where the basses are extended on a long neck, allowing both solo and continuo playing.

Modern Lutes & Variants

• Modern Lute – Contemporary luthiers in the UK build lutes based on historical designs for period performance and personal enjoyment.
• Mandore – A small, lute-like instrument, a predecessor to the modern mandolin.
• Mandolino – The baroque forerunner of the Neapolitan mandolin and modern mandolin.
• Neapolitan mandolin – A very popular instrument in the 18^th and 19^th centuries tuned in fifths like the violin and with a bowl like a lute.
• Lute-Guitar – A 19th–20th-century hybrid combining the lute body with a guitar-style neck and tuning.

• Case making
• Restoration and repair
• Stringing and tuning

Training and Recruitment Issues

• There are no formal training programs for lute making in the UK, leaving aspiring makers without clear pathways into the craft.
• Most experienced lute makers work independently or in small workshops, making it difficult to take on and train apprentices.
• A lack of structured mentorship means traditional skills and knowledge are at risk of being lost over time.

Market Issues

• The market for lutes is highly concentrated in London, making it harder for makers in other parts of the UK to access buyers.
• Lutes are perceived as expensive due to the absence of affordable, entry-level UK-made instruments, limiting accessibility for beginners.
• While imported, lower-cost lutes are available, they are often of inferior quality and do not match the craftsmanship of UK-made instruments, creating an uneven market perception.

Supply Chain Issues

• The high cost of cases is becoming a significant barrier, making lute production more expensive and less viable.
• There is a shortage of case makers, further complicating access to essential protective storage for lutes.
• High-quality timber is increasingly difficult to source, with some traditional species now endangered.
• Native woods, which could offer a sustainable alternative, remain particularly hard to obtain. This is exacerbated by a decline in the number of individuals with the skills and knowledge required to obtain and process suitable native trees and woods from source.

Skills Issues

• There has been a decline in the variety of instruments being made, limiting the diversity of available lutes.
• High-level craftsmanship skills are fading as fewer makers specialize in the intricate techniques required for top-tier instruments.

Ageing Workforce and Lack of New Makers

• The majority of skilled lute makers in the UK are at or beyond retirement age, with few younger artisans entering the field.
• Despite a growing interest in playing the lute among younger musicians, this has not translated into a new generation of makers, putting the long-term sustainability of the craft at risk.

• Lute Society
• The Fellowship of Makers and Researchers of Historical Instruments – FOMRHI
• Galpin Society

There are no accredited courses specifically in lute making but there are some related courses in luthiery (violin family and guitars) that will give some transferrable skills:

• West Dean College – Foundation Degree & BA in Musical Instruments
• Newark College – BA (Hons) Musical Instrument Craft (Violin Making and Repair)

Leading lute maker, David Van Edwards runs evening classes and summer schools in lute making, as well as publishing a series of instructional videos.

• Martin Bowers
• Bruce Brook
• Adrian Dodd and Lawrence Dodd
• Jo Dusepo
• David van Edwards
• Luke Emmet
• Stephen Haddock
• Sandi Harris
• Martin Haycock
• Klaus Jacobsen
• Tony Johnson
• Marcos Kaiser Mori
• Michael Lowe
• David Luff
• James Luff
• James Marriage
• L. Milek
• Malcolm Prior
• Arthur Robb
• P J (George) Stevens
• Oliver Wadsworth

• The Lute Society Resources Online Portal – The Lute Society offers a wealth of information, including online resources, discussion forums, books, DVDs, plans, and details about colleges and classes dedicated to lute building.
• Robert Lundberg, Historical Lute Construction – offers detailed instructions on lute construction, accompanied by over 600 step-by-step photographs and numerous diagrams.
• Andrew Atkinson, Building a Renaissance Lute Using Original Methods – a project report that explores the process of constructing a Renaissance lute using traditional techniques. Initially presented as a series of lectures for the Lute Society, it provides valuable insights into historical lute-making practices.
• Roger H. Siminoff, The Luthier’s Handbook – provides insights into building acoustic stringed instruments, discussing tone production and material selection, which are applicable to lute construction

Our thanks go to our 2025 reviewers:

• Lawrence Dodd
• Adrian Dodd
• David Van Edwards

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