<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Capo, wippen, virginal </TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> Thanks to Fred Sturm for his comments on the capo tasto.  I was planning to respond, but he beat me to it.  “Tastro” is not an Italian word, according to my Italian wife, who is a native speaker.  Wippen derives from the German noun wippen, meaning to rock or move up and down.  A virginal is a spinet which has never been played. -- Edward E. Swenson Ithaca College School of Music </BODY> </HTML>