course

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course. Term used of str. instrs., particularly lute family, guitar, etc., meaning a group of strs. tuned in unison or in the octave and plucked simultaneously so as to give extra loudness. In 16th cent., lutes had double-courses on lower strs. The single str. g′′ is called a course, thus lutes had 11 strs. in 6 courses. Bass-course is single or double str. running alongside fingerboard without crossing the frets and does not vary in pitch.

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