Our 7-course Descant Lute is a beautiful short-necked lute. The term, Descant, refers to its size; placing this lute just above the alto lutes. It has 13 nylon strings in 7 courses with a scale length of 19.75″ (500mm). Suggested tuning is G4, D4/D4, A3/A3, F3/F3, C4/C3, G3/G2, F3/F2. The body has a classic bowl back fashioned from lacewood staves. There are eight tied nylon frets on a lacewood neck that features a Sheesham fretboard. The pegbox is beautifully decorated lacewood with Sheesham tuners. The soundboard is made of European spruce with a Sheesham bridge and Sheesham endpin.  The European lute is featured in instrumental music from the early Renaissance to the late Baroque periods. Its early origins are vague, but its common ancestor is the Egyptian oud. There is evidence of the lute in Europe as early as the 12th century, but it really became popular in the 15th century, falling out of use around 1800. The lute enjoyed a revival with the early music movement of the twentieth century and has grown in popularity.