Silvanig,
Phew! Quite an effort to work out all these combinations ... !
It occurs to mind that alto players could borrow from theorbo players the idea of having just TWO alto guitars, but with different tunings, viz., one suited to sharp keys, the other to flat keys.Tuning in G is flat key friendly, tuning in E or A is sharp key friendly. Although I do not play much baroque lute music, I tend to use a 10s in E when the key is in C, Am, or contains sharps. Using a 10s with standard basses at D, C, B', A', mostly requires only the 8th to be sharpened, but does have the problem that the low G and F have to be fretted.
I think it would be worthwhile examining the advantages and disadvantages of tuning in E or A. Theorbo players used a tuning in A. One obvious advantage is that the 7th string is G, the 8th string is F, so, these are potentially available as open strings. The transposing keys for tuning in A are the same as for the standard requinto in A. Alternatively, one could tune in E, but from the 5th string down use Carulli decacorde tuning, viz., G, F, E, D, C, B' for an 11s instrument.
James.

§12 and §13 have been refined and joined.
The result is the new
§12 DERIVATION OF THE TUNING OF AN ALTO ARRANGEMENT.

Silvanig,

On previous pages of this thread I read your updated document which was obviously last edited today December 14.
I did not follow all of the text in detail but I read it thoroughly enough to find the new §12 quite interesting.
I got the thought that this could be interesting also to Göran Söllscher, our alto guitar guru. He is currently professor at Malmö Musikhögskola and has the email address This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Perhaps you would like to put the text into a document and send it to him? He may remember my name after the publication of the book Altgitarren online here at altoguitar.com, so you could try to mention me as a reference if you think that would be an advantage. Or you could just mention that your document has been published on altoguitar.com.

Best regards,
Sten

All of this looks like way too much thinking for me. I certainly won't be playing volumes of Weiss' pieces to make this an issue at all. Select some pieces you want to learn, discern what new key will work best, and play them. Sometimes down a minor 3rd works fine for the alto, but not always. Sometimes the new key is awkward on the guitar and it will be better to adjust up or down a tad. For example, original key of E major down to C# major is not good. Adjust to C major for a better fit. Honestly, I don't see the need for such a cerebral dissertation for this subject.

Sten,
Thank you for your kind response.

Maybe this theory of scordatura is even interesting for Göran Söllscher.
But, frankly, as the paper is publicly accessible, I don't want anybody to feel induced to commenting on it by personally addressing him.

Dear Silvanig,

Your in depth paper on this interesting subject is much appreciated. May I ask if it is available in its entirety as a Word or Text document anywhere? I would like to have a good read of it but find following the separate threads a little cumbersome. Please excuse me if I am missing the obvious as to where to locate it but I am relatively new to the forum.

Once again many thanks, a great effort.

Peter Mony, Sydney, Australia. email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it