Buying a mainland laouto and techniques

Musical instruments Purchase
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Hello! I’m Panos, 23 years old, and I’m a classical guitarist with an instrumental qualification and currently working towards a diploma, as well as a qualification in mandolin. Born and raised in Corfu, I have 13 years of experience (I’ve been playing since I was 10). I hope you’re drinking plenty of water in this hot weather :blush: I have a question: since I also have roots in Epirus, and at the Conservatoire’s traditional instruments department I had the opportunity to study a rhythmic accompanying instrument, which I ultimately didn’t need for my qualification (that’s another story), I’m thinking of learning the mainland laouto, which I’ve always wanted to play. Because of the guitar, I was fascinated by it and liked its sound.

I’d like to start by getting a student instrument that isn’t too expensive. I’m interested in having it simply for friends, for myself, or to accompany small ensembles or my friends on clarinet and so on. As for method books, I’d appreciate it if you could tell me which one is most suitable, mainly for beginners learning by themselves, since at the moment I can’t afford a teacher. In terms of theory, I’m sufficiently well versed in makam and non-equal-temperament music (they were compulsory subjects at the Conservatoire), and I also have a very good knowledge of Byzantine music, both from the Conservatoire and from the Music School, which I graduated from.

I’ll say again that I’m not interested in playing professionally, but simply in pursuing my own passion and enjoyment. Finally, I’d like you to tell me about the main similarities and differences between it and both the classical guitar and the mandolin, and whether these two instruments will help me grasp the spirit and philosophy of the laouto somewhat more quickly. Thank you for your time, and all the best!

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Welcome, Panos!

It’s great that you’re already quite well-versed in both Western and Eastern music; that knowledge will certainly help you. From there on, the laouto has its own world. Above all, you need to focus on the listening side of things (style) and on handling the plectrum.

The mandolin will help you with the fingerboard because of its similar tuning, while the guitar will help with the rhythmic aspect. Of course, the laouto has its own technique; it shouldn’t be played “like a guitar”. Apart from the bent wrist and the way you hold the plectrum, there are various subtle nuances in the rhythm that shape the style of each dance and each region.

I’m not the most suitable person to offer specific advice and guidance, since when I played, I had only just moved away from the guitar-based approach, and I haven’t played for years now. There are, however, some excellent players here who I hope will share their expertise.

As for instructional methods, I remember one by Mystakidis; I bought one of the last copies at an FLK. I assume there are other books as well, and probably videos on YouTube. Since you have some experience with stringed instruments, find the players you like and ask them questions, watch them play live, and for those you can’t see in person, look for live performances on YouTube. If you don’t steal, you don’t learn!

As for buying an instrument, the laouto isn’t one of the cheapest instruments, but you’ll find the odd one in the classified ads. Good luck getting started!

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Hi Panos. In the left hand, the laouto has different demands from both the guitar and the mandolin. It is tuned in fifths, so for scales, even in first position, you need to use everything from the first finger (index finger) to the fourth (little finger), unlike the guitar, where, because it is tuned in fourths, you can easily limit yourself to fingers 1–3 for first-position scales. Its neck is also much longer than the mandolin’s, so although the tuning is similar (fifths), the distances between the frets are much greater; unlike on the mandolin and violin, first-position scales therefore require the fourth finger as well.
As for the right hand, Nikos (Ligka) has covered that. In mainland music, the laouto has a rather different role from that in Crete or the smaller Aegean islands; I would say it is more guitar-like/chordal. I don’t know mainland music very well, so as a guitarist who has worked with Cypriot and island music, I’ll mainly tell you how I perceive the difference in the instrument’s philosophy.

Laouto chords usually contain larger intervals, fourths or fifths; thirds are difficult or impossible, except in cases where you get thirds because of the peculiarities of the tuning, e.g. C on the A string and E at the octave of the D string. It is also easier to play a chord consisting simply of fifths and octaves, e.g. A–E–A, without it being major or minor. With four strings and re-entrant tuning—with the C higher than the G—your bass lines are more limited than on the guitar, unless you disregard the octave, as Zotos does.
I think the most important thing is to listen to how the instrument is played in the music that interests you—through recordings, videos and live performances—and work out for yourself how it differs from and where it resembles guitar playing, etc.
The frets are described as movable in the literature, but in practice the instrument is equal-tempered. If you want to adjust the frets yourself to play microtonal usak, etc., or add more, as on the saz or laouta, you certainly can; some people have tried it, but at least as far as I know, that goes beyond traditional playing. So, theoretically, you don’t need any knowledge of microtonal intervals either, unless you are exploring how the modes relate to the maqams of Turkish theory, or how instruments with microtonal capabilities—violins, clarinets, etc.—are played.

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Not for just any chord.

There’s one fingering shape which, when moved back and forth along the fretboard, gives you all the triads: on the G or C string, any fret; on the next string, the same fret; and on the next one, one fret higher for minor, or two frets higher for major. One string is left over, either the very top or the very bottom one, and you simply don’t hit it with the pick (except with certain chords where the extra open string is part of the chord too).

For example, if you use this fingering at the 5th fret, starting from the G string, you get C+/- and also have the open C. One tone higher, you have D+/-, and the open C doesn’t fit. You can mute it with your thumb or simply not play it. But if you want D7, of course, the 7th is the open C.

At the same position as C+/- but starting from the C string and leaving out the A string, you have F+/-, i.e. a fourth higher. In exactly the same way, moving the D+/- fingering over by one string takes you up another fourth to G+/-.

This way you have all the major and minor chords, using the four-string instrument as two alternating three-string instruments, and you also get a few additional four-note chords. It’s not exactly the most traditional way of playing, but it makes things enormously easier. Yes, it may sound a bit like amateur guitar playing, but once you get used to it (which is easily done in a day), you can even play without knowing what key you’re in, if your ear and experience tell you when to go up a fourth, when to go up a fifth, when to go down a tone from your root, and when you want major or minor. For example, you can listen to old recordings where the pitches are (sometimes) shifted by a semitone, play along, and move around the chords of wildly improbable keys with characteristic ease.

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Hello, Panos

I also graduated from the Corfu Music School a good few years ago. I’d be happy to bring you the Mystakidis method in about a month, when I’m on the island.

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Yes, I’d like that, thank you very much! If you can, send me the price and details by private message so we can arrange it.

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