String instrument, seen with Ridolfo the troubadour during Knightmare Series 6. Typically for a lute, Ridolfo's appeared to be made of wood, and to have a decorative grille over the soundhole. The instrument was widespread in Ridolfo's home country of Italy by the 14th century, although Ridolfo's preferred playing technique of plucking it with the fingers was not commonly adopted until the late 15th century.
The debut of Ridolfo and his lute was in Quest 1 of Series 6. In exchange for some Dungeon news, Ridolfo played his lute to raise the door at the end of Level 1 for dungeoneer Matt: the door was musical, and Ridolfo knew the 'right key' to open it. In the quest of Team 6 of Series 6, the lute appeared as a Level 2 clue object (see picture): Ridolfo had parted with it after being converted by Hordriss to a fisherman, although dungeoneer Sophia returned the instrument (which she initially mistook for a guitar) to its owner.
Ridolfo never played more than three or four chords at a time on his lute, although even this added much to Adrian Neil's portrayal of the Venetian troubadour.

SEE ALSO: Panpipes

[Earlier version: 2006-08-30 21:06:39]

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The lute is a stringed musical instrument which plays in the treble clef and was developed during the mediaeval period, later spreading throughout Renaissance England, most likely from continental Europe.

Similar in appearance to a guitar (in fact, some teams named it as such), the lute's fingering arrangement is more similar to that of a mandolin (which, in turn, takes its from a violin, although it's harder to sing while playing one of those). It is traditionally depicted as being carried by bards, troubadours, or minstrels.

Ridolfo usually conveyed news around the Dungeon by singing songs while he played his lute; on occasion, he lost it and it appeared in a clue room. We never actually saw him play a complete song on it, but he did strum it a few times. Maybe he didn't actually know how to play it. It's a safe assumption, however, that he did.

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