Moveable (movable) generic chord shapes for ukulele

This will be probably my most anachronistic post – charts of generic chord shapes suitable for the music of the mid 20th century. They are not exactly Renaissance, I know, but I wanted to publish them somewhere.

If you're interested:

• download pdf here. (Link updated 9 Aug 2020 to direct to Google Drive.)

The cover

"Why do we need yet another chord table? " I hear you cry. "Aren't there enough out there already?"

Well, I hadn't found any laid out in the way I preferred, and they didn't always have the chords I wanted.

It all started when I was working my way through Glen Rose’s excellent Jazzy Ukulele Work Books. For the first time I had some understanding of extended chords and chord substitutions, as used by the beboppers and others. But, when I tried to modify or extend his approach, either the available charts were too elementary, or I had to flick through pages of the very useful Hal Leonard Ukulele Chord Finder (which is restricted to rooted chords). Also, it took time to work out each voicing by hand.  I just wanted a few sheets of generic chord shapes that I could glance at and find the most suitable and comfortable fingerings. So, I  decided to  write my own reference charts, and hence this blog.

Overview

 ◦ The chord sheets are organised thus: 

     1. Major chords and extensions. 

     2. Suspended chords. 

     3. Unresolved chords: +5, dim 7, and dominant chords and their extensions and alterations.

     4. Minor chords, extensions and alterations. 

◦ On each sheet, simpler chords are generally shown first, followed by more complex ones.

◦ Each row on a sheet contains various voicings of a type of chord.

◦ Within rows, chord voicings with roots on the fourth string are shown first, followed by those rooted on the third,  second and first strings. If you have a uke with a low fourth string, this can help you develop an interesting bass line.

Voicing chords

◦ Triads (3-note chords) have 1 note duplicated an octave apart.

◦ 4-note chords usually have all notes included, but with the occasional omission and duplication.

◦ Chords of 5 notes and more obviously don't fit on a 4-stringed instrument such as the ukulele, so we have to omit one or more notes. Usually the 5th is the first to go as it provides less information than the 3rd which discriminates between major and minor keys. Following Glen Rose, some voicings are shown without their root notes, which can make them easier to play, especially the 9th and 13th chords which often require an awkward stretch. This means, for example, that a 9th chord without a root is equivalent to a 7th chord of some kind formed on the third above the root: e.g. CM9 (C E G B D) becomes Em7, and C9 (C E G B♭ D) becomes Em7♭5, and Cm9 becomes EbM7. There are plenty more aliases to search out. Happy hunting. 

How to use the charts

Decide where on the fingerboard (string and fret) the chord root lies.

Look at the charts to find a chord voicing where the root note lies on that string. Root notes are shown by a red square ■ in rooted chords, and by an open red diamond ◇ in chords where the root is not voiced. Other notes are shown by blue dots ● .

In general, it seems a good idea when accompanying a lead to select adjacent voicings, which don't involve big jumps up and down the finger board. When playing choral melodies (with the tune on the 1st or 2nd string), however, that may be just what you want to do.  These charts should help with either application.

I hope you have fun using the charts! If you find any errors I'd like to hear from you.

Thanks to "LimuHead" on the Ukulele Underground Forum who spotted a mistake in m6-chord no 2, which I have corrected. [20 Jan 2019]

PS I have just noticed that Spencer Gay has published a very neat one-page chord shape summary at the end of his Ukulele Melody Song Book, available here. It is attributed to ukuke.co.uk, which seems to have disappeared.

Carcassi: Andante in B♭

And now to move forward by more than two centuries to the Romantic period.

Matteo Carcassi (1792 – 1853) was an acclaimed Florentine guitarist and composer, who lived and performed in France, Germany and England.

Matteo Carcassi

I adapted this piece this from Alonso Medio's: Spanish Guitar Tutor, p 41 (Pub: Clifford Essex). The tutor describes it as “a fine study for the development of a cantabile legato melody width a subordinated accompaniment”. I haven’t shown the legatos in the score, as they are all the same, being 7 beats long and separated by a 1-beat rest.

The Andante is characterised by gradual harmonic movement between chords using suspensions. I have inserted the chord names to illustrate this.

The piece was relatively easy to reduce to 4 strings, as that is where most of the original sits. Many of Carcassi's pieces make much use of the bass strings, but I shall browse his oeuvre to see if there are any more suitable for adapting.

Available to download in the following formats:

• pdf
• TablEdit

Bacheler: 'To plead my faith': new arrangement for ukulele

Renaissance guitar player.
The renaissance guitar was tuned in the same intervals as the low-G tenor ukulele,
but was double strung, apart often from the 1st course.
The scale length was 5 – 10 cm longer than on the tenor.
Note the thumb-under right-hand technique.
As far as I can tell she's fingering the chord of G major (2 4 5 4).

Published in a blog by Michael Fink here

The wonderful galliards on To plead my faith written by Bacheler himself and by John Dowland [which I posted recently here and here] are only loosely loosely based on the melody, and the structures vary. So, I thought: "what would they have done if they had ukuleles, and wanted to represent the whole song?". (For "ukulele" you can read "Renaissance guitar".)

This simple arrangement for low-G ukulele is an attempt to answer the question. As I wrote it, it became clear that one reason they modified the range of the upper voice is that it goes up to the 10th fret, which on the lute is not feasible for chordal work as the frets are glued to the soundboard and used just for the occasional note on the top few strings.

The uke arrangement includes the whole song and preserves the melody as the upper voice. It draws in part from the accompaniment written by Bacheler, but much is original (whilst attempting consistent with the musical practice of the period). It also incorporates some ideas and motifs from Bacheler’s and Dowland’s galliards.

The first expositions of the four strains are fairly plain and built on block chords, whilst the repetitions are rather more lively. For a simple playing piece, just repeat the first statements and ignore the divisions (fancy repetitions). For a strumming piece you could fill in the chords of the chordal treatments, and spank your plank.

Anyway, you can download the arrangement files using the links below and see what you think:

• pdf file
• TablEdit file

Devereux & Bacheler: To plead my faith (song and ukulele accompaniment)

My previous posts dealt with two galliards (by Bacheler and Dowland) based on this song, so I thought it might be a good idea to examine the original in more detail.

It is in four sections, each consisting of repeated 8-bar strains. Fortunately the lute accompaniment  still exists, and is not too challenging, so I have transcribed it for ukulele.

Robert Devereux in a portrait by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger
Image from Wikipedia

Robert Devereux (1565 – 1601), second Earl of Essex, was a distant relation of Elizabeth I, a brave soldier and a poet. He became a favourite of the queen, but lost his head on a charge of treason.

Daniel Bacheler (1572 – 1619) was a lutenist and composer, who at one time worked for Devereux, and later held office in the court of the wife of James I / VI. His style of playing was at the time considered complex and difficult, but this accompaniment isn't too hard.

The piece was published in Robert Dowland's A musicall banquet. I can't find a facsimile online, but you can see a transcription here.

I have provided links to the arrangement below. There is also a MIDI file of the melody – played on an oboe, which is the least horrible synthesised melody instrument on my computer.

Links:

• pdf file
• TablEdit file
• MIDI file of melody

P.S. As the galliards by Bacheler and Dowland diverged so far from the original air, I am making a plain and simple arrangement for ukulele, sticking to the melody. I will post it in a few days.

How to be kept informed of new posts

Temporary note

24/10/18

Lots of this

None of this
Images from Wikipedia

A correspondent asked me how to subscribe to this blog, and I thought what a good idea it was. So, I've had a go at adding a "Follow by email" option (right-hand column, below the "Contact me" option).

I post on average less than once a week, so it won't overload your inbox.

I don't know if it will work, so if you try to use it and it doesn't work, please send me a short note.

Many thanks!

John Dowland: Galliard on a galliard by Daniel Bacheler (P 28)

Well, if you thought that Bacheler's original galliard in my previous post was difficult, this one made on it is really testing!

Dowland wrote this galliard presumably as a compliment to his younger contemporary. It is described in the MS (British Library Add. 38539) as “A gallyard upon the gallyard before”, which was entitled “A gallyard by Mr Dan: Bacheler” and which, in turn, was based on Bacheler’s own song “To plead my faith”.

The subscription (end title) of Bacheler's original galliard.

The subscription of Dowland's version.
Note the penultimate note, which assumes a fourth diapaison course!
Facsimilies of British Library Ms Add. 38539 from Sarge Gerbodes website here.

I would have found making the arrangement well-nigh impossible if I had not relied completely on the transcription by Poulton & Lam. How any lute player managed to play the piece from the lute tabs, especially in manuscript, beggars belief. I am full of awe.

Dowland’s first bar is very similar to Bacheler’s, and then deviates more and more. As in the original, there are three strains, each with a variation, but Dowland has lengthened the first two from 8 to 9 bars.

The whole piece is full of invention, and surprisingly playful. In her biography of Dowland, Diana Poulton writes: “The repeat of the second strain is of exceptional interest” because bars 33 and 34 (the repeat of bars 24 and 25) are “not a division at all, but a free variation, since at this point he completely destroys the original harmonic framework”. These bars in particular have a wonderful galloping feel.

If you fancy a challenge, you can download the arrangements in various formats using the links below. Incidentally, I had given up posting Midi files as I thought it was a bit patronising, but this piece is so challenging in the timekeeping, I thought I'd include one this time.

• pdf
• TablEdit
• Midi

Daniel Bacheler: Galliard to 'To plead my faith'

Daniel Bacheler (1572 – 1619) was about 9 years younger than John Dowland, but as regards status more successful, in being appointed to the court of Queen Elizabeth I, and gaining a coat of arms. He was apparently admired by Dowland, who wrote an arrangement (P 28) of this piece, which I intend to arrange for ukulele soon.

The galliard is adapted for ukulele from a tablature transcription of the lute original (BL Add MS 38539 p 15v/1) by Sarge Gerbode here. I subsequently referred to a transcription for guitar by Eric Crouch here.

Daniel Bacheler (on horseback) from an engraving by Thomas Lant 
of the funeral procession of Sir Philip Sidney in 1586.
I don't think you'd recognise him in a police line-up without the horse.

Image taken from Wikipedia.

According to Diana Poulton, this piece is based on Bacheler’s own song melody “To plead my faith”, but apart from the first four bars (and their repeat) it deviates widely. There are three themes of eight bars, each followed by a variation.

Much of the activity in the lute original is thankfully on the top four strings, but as usual I have tried to fit in some bass notes. The durations shown are as in the original, but it may not be possible to maintain them on the ukulele as they have to be fingered, whereas on the lute they are often on open strings.

The piece is quite syncopated and, to make the timing clearer where a note crosses the beat, I have notated with ligatures rather than dots. In some places, especially where there are three voices, it would be a good idea to take the timing from the notation as the tabs are stretched to the limit.

The first two lines of the galliard from the Sturt Lute Book (British Library).
The grace symbols are clearly visible.
Timing is indicated by the (now conventional) note symbols, but in short-hand form.
Full facsimile on Sarge Gerbode's website here.

The image above shows that the original is decorated with indications of graces (#, × and +). I have omitted them as: (1) there seems no clear consensus of what they mean, and (2) I find the piece difficult enough already. As players of the day seem to have been rather like jazz musicians in their ability to improvise, I think it’s consistent for to us to add mordents, slurs and so on to the longer notes as we see fit (or are able to perform). Or, you might want to download Gerbode's transcript and work out for yourself what is feasible; if you do, let me know.

As with much music of this period, the voices are integral to the piece, and I have found it unrealistic to simplify for performance by, say, just playing the top voice. So ... it's not easy to play, but I have enjoyed trying. Perhaps I'll have a go at making a simple arrangement of the original song.

You can download the galliard in the following formats:

• pdf
• TablEdit

... and also the words and music of the song:

• pdf
• TablEdit

John Johnson: The Old Medley (Brogyntyn)

After the previous short piece by Johnson, here is a longer one, also from the Brogyntyn Lute Book. I considered adapting a transcription by Sarge Gerbode of another version of this piece from the Marsh Lute Book in Dublin, but it is so full of fast divisions I feel it is out of the scope of this amateur blog.

The first 3 lines from Johnson's The Old Medley. 
Facsimile from https://www.library.wales/discover/digital-gallery/manuscripts/early-modern-period/brogyntyn-lute-book/
It's a nice clean MS, carefully written, with only one small error that I can detect.

On the whole, it's quite an easy piece, with a few tricky bits. The harmonies are mostly quite simple, with some quick chord changes and patches of syncopation to cope with.

There are eight themes, each followed by an often minor variation. These are indicated in Roman numerals by I, I’, II, II’ and so on. The first three themes are set in in common time annd are 8 bars long; the fourth fits most comfortably into 3/4 and is 4 bars long; and the rest are in 6/8 time and 4 bars long. This ukulele version has been set at 4 bars per line, to make the structure clearer.
The themes are presumably arrangements of old songs and dances, whose identities remain unknown to me.

The abundance of block chords in this 4-string version give a possibly misleading impression that they would have been strummed, but checking the lute originals shows most chords include unplayed internal strings; but, there's no reason that we can't strum them (anachronistically) in the fashion of Gaspar Sanz et al. if we want to.

In chords such as E and F which do not have a root note available on a lower string, I have often added B and A respectively on the 4th string, mainly where a fuller chord is indicated in the MS.
To help in interpretation, I have tried to identify voices by stem direction, but this was not always possible.

Available to download in the following formats:

• pdf
• TablEdit

John Johnson: Galliard (Brogyntyn Lute Book p. 17/2)

Now, here's a nice little galliard in three parts, with some slightly unexpected harmonies. As with all pieces set in D (or Dm), one runs out of root notes in the chords, so I have used 5ths in places.

The galliard in the Brogyntyn Lute Book.

It's one of a number of pieces by Johnson (c. 1545 – 1594), copied out very neatly in the Brogyntyn Lute Book. You can see facsimilies of the original in the National Library of Wales here.

John Johnson was a lutenist and composer and was at the court of Queen Elizabeth I. You can read his biography here

Available for download in the following formats:

• pdf
• TablEdit

Anon: Seven variations on Walsingham (Holmes Nn.6.36 20v, 21r)

The second of two versions of Walsingham in the Mathew Holmes Lute Book Nn.6.36 20v, 21r/1 in the Cambridge University Library, and the last (for now, at least) of my ukulele arrangements, which were advertised here.

The first 3 lines of the clear original MS.
Note that Holmes, the compiler, had bought a 5-line music manuscript book, and had to rule in an extra line.

The preceding version of Walsingham in the book (uke arrangement here) is a bit of a dog’s breakfast, so I was pleasantly surprised by this piece. There is the usual problem with tunes in D or Dm on the ukulele, as you tend to run out of low notes, but I've done what I can.

This piece diverges more from the original air than do most arrangements of Walsingham – even at the beginning it has some unexpected harmonies. It is both interesting and not too challenging (if you keep to 60 bpm).

It is more tuneful than most, and quite contrapuntal in places. Where I have heard hints of the campanella effect, I have scored accordingly. Even the, apparently obligatory, variation with semi-quaver divisions has a clear melody and articulation, and is not merely a stream of scale fragments. You will gather that I like it. I hope you do.

Available to download in the following formats:

• pdf
• TablEdit

Dowland: Walsingham (P 67)

As explained in an earlier post, this is one of a series of adaptations for ukulele of late 16th century arrangements of As I went to Walsingham for the lute.

I have had the luxury of following Poulton and Lam’s transcription (and reconstruction) of Holmes’ MS Dd.9.33 67v–68r, rather than using the MS, which is is rather confusing.

Holmes’ MS Dd.9.33, p. 68r, bottom three lines. (Cambridge University Library.)
You can see the state of the MS. All hail to Poulton & Lam for making their transcription.

There are seven variations, of 12 bars each.

The first two variations keep quite closely to the melody, but later ones include loads of divisions (mostly in the form of scale fragments) which seem very workaday to my ears, with none of the unexpected twists and catchy repeated motifs of Dowland at his best.

Variation 5 is weird, with (in the transcription) four bars in 3/4 time with triplets, four bars in 9/8, and the final four in straight 3/4 with a totally different feeling and quite out of place. (I have tweaked bar 51 to tidy things a little, but it’s a bodge of a bodge job.)

Poulton, in her biography of Dowland, describes this setting of Walsingham as “far less satisfactory than the one in galliard form (P31)”. [You can see a transcription of P31 for ukulele here.] The MS is the only copy, so she says one can’t ascribe to blame to Dowland performing below par, or to Holmes using a corrupted source. Also, I believe that Holmes was quite old and becoming unwell at the time he wrote the MS. Poulton also describes extending the song from 8 to 12 bars as destroying the “beautiful balance” of the original.

It looks to me like a case of cut-and-paste, with some of the pastings in the wrong order.

Even so, it sounds pretty good when Nigel North plays it on the lute.

Still curious? You can download the arrangements in the following formats:

• pdf
• TablEdit

Marchant: Variations on Walsingham (Holmes Dd.9.33 26v)

I enjoyed Marchant’s short galliard on page 29 of this volume (Dd.9.33) of the Holmes Lute Book, so I had high hopes of this piece.

The first two variations of a much longer piece.

The first two variations are quite enjoyable, but then we get further and further into divisions of increasing difficulty – and, to me, lack of interest. I have therefore ended my arrangement at 32 bars, although there are another 2.5 pages to go.

You can download the arrangement in the following formats:

• pdf
• TablEdit

Marchant: Galliard on Walsingham (Holmes Dd.2.11 29/2)

Yet another lute arrangement of Walsingham (see here for an introduction) and the first of three by John Marchant. This one is in the first Matthew Holmes Lute Book (Dd.2.11) in Cambridge University Library.

Facsimile of John Marchant: Galliard on Walsingham in Matthew Holmes Lute Book Dd.2.11 29/2

A clean legible MS with no infelicities.

Incidentally, if you are interested in Holmes' calligraphy, most of the letters used in the MS tabs are clear here. The notes on the first string from bar 1 are:  d f h f  | d d d | d f h i f h  | d c d f h | d | c d f h | and so on. The first a is in bar 5 string 4. The first b is in bar 9, string 4, beat 3. The first e is in bar 1, string 4, beat 3. The i looks to me rather like a fancy y, so that is how I recognise it. The c looks more like an r, and the f often tends towards the German ß or Greek β. The d is always in the Greek-ish form ∂, like a partial differential. Often a note is written on rather than between the lines, but it's normally easy enough to work out what is meant.

There are three variations, of 8, 8 and 10 bars; the longer final one seems to have been a popular device. It starts in the relative major (C), but the 2nd and 3rd variations are in Am. As is to be expected, all three end on the major. Because of the chordal construction, I have felt free to suggest modern chord symbols, but have not indicated passing tones.

It feels quite vigorous and martial to me, and I think that I have managed to pick out the voices, which are much easier to spot in the lute version. You may, of course, disagree with my analysis, which is more obvious in the notation than in the tabs.

Good fun to play, particularly the third variation, where the repeated motifs remind me of Dowland’s work.

Available to download in the following formats:

• pdf
• TablEdit

The Composer

“John Marchant (fl 1588–1611). English composer or composers. A ‘John Marchant’ was admitted Gentleman in Ordinary of the Chapel Royal on 14 April 1593, but is not mentioned in chapel records thereafter. A letter endorsed 8 December 1611 from William Frost to Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, states that ‘Mr Marchant is latelie deceased who taught the princes [Elizabeth] to play uppon the virginalles’.” (Grove Music Online. )

A John Markant, mentioned in Diane Poulton’s biography of John Dowland, was responsible for liturgical music, and could be the same man.

Anon: Six variations on Walsingham (Holmes Nn.6.36 19r)

Another in the series of transcriptions of lute versions of As I went to Walsingham: see introductory post here. Apologies for the strange title: the code refers to the first of two sets of variations in the 4th Matthew Holmes Lute Book (MS Nn.6.36) in Cambridge University Library.

Bars 41 – 51 of this Anonymous piece in the 4th Matthew Holmes Lute Book.
The full image can be seen at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-NN-00006-00036/39

I find this piece difficult to get to terms with. How much is due to the anonymous composer, and how much to copying mistakes by an ageing Mathew Holmes, I am not qualified to judge. As explained below, I have done some recasting, which may or may not be appropriate.

After a fairly orthodox first variation, the work becomes quite jumpy: sequences of 1 to 3 bars concluded by a bar with a single block chord.

You will detect my lack of enthusiasm, but I've spent a day on the transcription, so I thought I'd give the piece an airing, albeit as an example of an oddity (or of my ignorance).

Notes on transcriptions

Since bar 21 has only 2 beats scored, I have shortened the single chord in bar 20 to one beat, and concatenated the two bars. In bar 20 perhaps Holmes’ time mark ꜏ (note 3 beats long) was a misprint for ꜓(1 beat). This assumption makes the score look more symmetrical.
Similarly, I have joined bars 29 and 30.
Bar 48 in the original has 5 beats, so I have split it into 2 bars.
It’s all a bit of a mess, and I am not wholly convinced by my tinkerings. Please regard this as a first attempt, which I include in the interests of completeness. I will have to think about it some more.

Downloads

Available to download in the following formats:

• pdf
• TablEdit

Collard: Variations on Walsingham

Another post on the many late Tudor variations on Walsingham, as advertised and described here.

According to Diana Poulton, Edward Collard (fl c1595–1599) was an

English lutenist and composer. He was appointed one of the musicians for the lute, in place of John Johnson, on 4 June 1598, four years after Johnson's death. He appears to have received no salary until a warrant was issued on 7 June 1599 for 15 months' payment. No further entries appear in the Audit Office Declared Accounts, but whether Collard died or retired is not known. 

The top 3 lines of Collard's Variations on Walsingham.
The full image can me seen at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DD-00002-00011/188

 This piece takes our now familiar air, and presents it in 8 variations: six of 8 bars, and the final two of 12 bars - well, that's how it sounds to me. It is as well to start to play it at a slow speed, as later variations, especially the last two, become increasingly challenging (for me, impossible). (I have set the midi version to 60 bpm.) Even in the earlier (easier) variations there are some fine and unexpected harmonies, and the piece as a whole is rhythmic and lively.

Transcription notes.

Bars 9 (top right in the image above) and 67 have partly disappeared over the centuries, so I have had a go at reconstructing them. A number of bars begin with the chord of F (on the ukulele), with a low root, which would be on our 5th string if we had one, so I have substituted a low A to maintain the rhythmic pattern of a held low note under higher lines. A number of bars, e.g. bar 3, can be played from a 3 barré on the lute, but because our tuning is slightly different on the 3rd string, we have to be a bit more nimble.


Downloads.

You can download this arrangement in the following formats:

• pdf
• TablEdit
• Midi 

Dowland: A galliard on Walsingham (P 31)

And now a version of Walsingham by the greatest of the Elizabethan composers for the lute, John Dowland.  It has been arranged for the ukulele (in A minor) after Poulton D, Lam B, Eds. 1995. The collected lute music of John Dowland, Edn 3. Faber Music, London. There is a post about the song As I went to Walsingham and the arrangements of it by various of his contemporaries here.

Facsimile of the piece in one of Matthew Holmes' Lute Books.
This is a very clear image, and comparing it with the published transcriptions helped me to understand the calligraphy.

There are 3 variations. The first keeps fairly closely to the melody, whilst the second and third deviate considerably. Indeed, since the second ends on the dominant chord (E major), numbers 2 & 3 could be regarded as parts of one variation.

Even in strain 1 the melody is sometimes buried in the lower voices. Variation 3 contains a number of descending scale fragments, as was Dowland’s wont. The “Solus cum sola” motif appears in bar 15.

Available for download in the following formats:

pdf
TablEdit

Anon (Wickhambrook): As I went to Walsingham

And now a version of Walsingham arranged for ukulele in Am. (The previous 3 postings have been in  Gm: see this introductory post.) It is based on a transcription by Sarge Gerbode from the Wickhambrook Lute Book (1592), f 17. (US-NH Ma.21.W.632), “ a large folio-sized manuscript compiled in the 1590s, perhaps to collect and preserve lute music by John Johnson, who died in 1594, and whose works predominate in this source”, according to an account by The Lute Society. There is full information on the book here.

There are 3 variations, the first keeping closely to the melody. The second and third are tuneful and enjoyable to play. I hope that you agree.

The following features seem quite Dowlandian to me: the scales in bars 13  – 14; the motif in bar 17, and its repeat an octave lower in bar 18; and the ascending scale in the upper voice in bars 20 – 23, with its  acccompanying motifs in the lower voices. Possibly, though, these are just common features of late 1500s music.

Available to download in the following formats:

pdf
Download

Cutting: Walsingham variations

Francis Cutting (c 1550 – 1595/6) was one of the many excellent lutenists and composers who flourished in the late 1500s. He was not associated with court, and may have had independent means. You can read a brief biography of him here. His variations on Greensleves are incorporated in an earlier post here.

The first three lines of Cutting's Walsingham on a rather dog-eared page from the Matthew Holmes Lute Book. The full MS can be seen here. All respect to the transcribers.

The popular air As I went to Walsingham was the subject of many 16th century lute arrangements, as described in an earlier post here.

There are 7 variations, most of which stick keep closely to the melody. Variation 4 is a set of divisions in traditional format that feel like a sort of exercise in left-hand fingering, the kind of music that if you do make a mistake it may well not be important so long as you are in scale and keep the rhythm going.

Bars 33 – 40 (variation 5) are in syncopated triplet format: I have notated them in 9/8 time.

I am perplexed by the last note in bar 50. It is shown as an ‘i’ in the lute transcription, and looking at the facsimile of the original there is a squiggle which does seem to mean ‘i’ (= fret 8 = F5 or f’’ on the ukulele). Dowland did this too, with an unexpected note high in the 1st string in his Farwell (P3), bar 30, last note. Come to think of it, Bix Beiderbecke used to do a similar thing in the 1920s.

The phrases in bar 40 are reminiscent of Dowland’s Go from my window (P64), bar 47.

You can hear Cutting’s piece, complete with the funny note, very nicely played on lute here.

Available to download in the following formats. The melody is appended to help in interpretation of the variations.

pdf
TablEdit

Holborne: Walsingham

Anthony Holborne (c 1545 – 1602) was a prolific and respected composer of, according to one of his titles: Pavans, Galliards, Almains, and other short Aeirs both grave, and light, in five parts, for Viols, Violins or other Musicall Winde Instruments. You can read his biography here.

Facsimile of the original, showing the compressed format used by Holmes in the days when paper was an expensive commodity. You can see the whole page here.

A short piece of 12 bars. The original Walsingham air (see blog page for more info) is of 8 bars. The first four bars of Holborne’s version follow the melody quite closely, the second four rather less so, and the final four are a variation on the second four.

A number of harmonies are unexpected (to me, at least). Although the piece is set approximately in G minor, the Gm chord occurs only twice, and the piece starts in the relative major (Bb). There is a strange transition (in bars 7 and 11) from Bb via D (possibly, or B) to C. All in all, an intriguing little piece, which is not that easy to get to grips with. As it wanders so far off-piste so soon, I wonder if it is merely a segment of a longer composition.

I know it's anachronistic, but here is an approximate chord sequence:
Bb /  A   | Bb  C  D   | Eb   Bb   Am   | Bb /   /  |
F  /  Dm  | Gm  /  /   | Bb ?D  C  G D  | G  /  Eb  |

F  /  Dm  | Gm  /  /   | Bb ?D  C  G D  | G  /  /   ||

Available to download as 
pdf
TablEdit

John Johnson: Variations on Walsingham

A facsimile of the first three lines from a Matthew Holmes Lute Book published by the Cambridge University Digital Library here: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-DD-00002-00011/188.

John Johnson (c. 1545 – 1594) was a lutenist and composer in the court of Elizabeth I. He was the father of Robert (1583 – 1663) who followed the same trade and may have been the author of some lute pieces attributed to John Dowland.

This is perhaps the simplest setting of “Walsingham” (see blog page on the song for more info) that I have found so far: good fun to play and a good one to start with. It has six variations of 8 bars, and a seventh and final one of 12 bars. The earlier variations keep quite closely to the melody (appended), and the 5th and 6th are particularly jaunty.

I couldn’t find a trancription easily, so I had to try to make one myself from the published facsimile, which you can see above. It is unfortunate that although Matthew Holmes wrote text in a version of the chancery hand, his music setting is in what looks to my inexperienced eye as the secretary hand, and written quickly. Also, mice had eaten some of the first two bars, so I had to rely on my imagination in places. One good thing is that the composer did not make too much use of the lower strings, which we lack on the ukulele. Apologies for any errors or infelicities.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

You can download a pdf file of the transcription for ukulele here... and the TablEdit file here.

As I went to Walsingham: introduction and index to arrangements for lute by various composers

A few days ago I was transcribing John Dowland's lute piece A galliard on Walsingham and found that a number of his contemporaries had also arranged this piece for lute. This blog page will serve as an introduction and index to the transcriptions I have subsequently made.

The remains of Walsingham Abbey
(Photo from Visit Norfolk)

The song

The melody, in Am.

As I went to Walsingham was a simple 8-bar ballad referring to a popular pilgrimage site at Walsingham Abbey. The Abbey was destroyed in 1538 during the Reformation, so the song must have been composed well before then.

I have lifted the following brief quotation from Diana Poulton's biography of Dowland:

The pilgrimages undertaken on pretence of religion, were often productive of affairs of gallantry, and led the votaries to no other shrine than that of Venus.

(Bishop Percy, 1765).

It is ostensibly a love song, in the spirit of the above quotation, but may also have had a hidden political meaning for recusant Catholics, who had to be very careful at this time.

The words (cut and pasted from www.canfolkmusic.ca):

As I went to Walsingham, to the shrine with speed,
Met I with a jolly palmer there, in a pilgrim's weed.

"As you came from the holy-land of Walsingham,
Met you not with my true love by the way as you came?"

"How should I know your true love, that have met many a one,
As I came from the holy-land, that have come, that have gone?"

"She is neither white nor brown, but as the heavens fair;
There is none hath a form so divine, on the earth, in the air."

"Such a one did I meet, good sir, with angel-like face,
Who like a queen did appear in her gait, in her grace."

"She hath left me here all alone, all alone and unknown,
Who sometimes lov'd me as her life, and call'd me her own."

"What's the cause she hath left thee alone, and a new way doth take,
That sometime did love thee as her life, and her joy did thee make?"

"I loved her all my youth, but now am old, as you see;
Love liketh not the fallen fruit, nor the withered tree.

“For love is a careless child, and forgets promise past;
He is blind, he is deaf, when he list, and in faith never fast.

“For love is a great delight, and yet a trustless joy;
He is won with a word of despair, and is lost with a toy.

“Such is the love of womankind, or the word abus'd,
Under which many childish desires and conceits are excus'd.

“But love is a durable fire, in the mind ever burning;
Never sick, never dead, never cold, from itself never turning."

(Diana Poulton wrote that the exact text of the song is uncertain, but that there were derived versions by Sir Walter Ralegh, and printed by Thomas Deloney. I have done no further "research" than what you see here.)

You can download a pdf of the air in Gm and Am here... and the TablEdit file is here.

Arrangements for lute

The tune was adapted most famously by William Byrd for keyboard, but as stated above a number of other composers made arrangements, for lute, in the late 1500s. They often adhered closely to the melody at the beginning of their pieces, although notes 2 & 3 of the second and similar bars were frequently buried in the harmonies. They did not keep to the strict Aeolian mode of the melody, but sharpened the 7th of the scale in places, and ended on a chord of the tonic major – the tierce de Picardie. They would also modulate, for example into the relative major and into the tonic major too. They might also increase the length of all variations, or of the the final variation, from 8 to 12 bars.
At the end of each 4-bar line they often just wrote a single chord, which can sound a bit abrupt, and particularly on the ukulele which does sustain as long as the lute. Lute players seemed capable of extensive improvisation, and I imagine that they would play fill-ins wherever appropriate - we could try the same.

I will post the transcriptions over the coming days, and more if I find them. There are five alone in the Mathew Holmes Lute Book Dd.2.11. You can see high quality facsimilies of the Lute Books at the website of the Cambridge University Library. I found more information in English Lute Manuscripts and Scribes 1530-1630: book version of a doctoral dissertation by Julia Craig-McFeely, awarded by Oxford in 1993, available online here. As usual, I am grateful to individuals and organisations who make their work so accessible.


I think that you will find that the pieces are of varying quality and playability, but I will blog all the transcriptions that I make without fear or favour, but with a degree of ignorance. 

Click the active links below to go to the appropriate blog page. The codes for the Holmes MSS refer to the shelf numbers at Cambridge, and to the page numbers:

r = recto (front),
v = verso (back),
/number = item no. on page.

We need these to avoid confusion, with so many pieces having similar names (or no name), and with several versions by some composers.



Arrangements in Gm on the ukulele:

John Johnson (Matthew Holmes Lute Books Dd.2.11 98r)
Francis Cutting (Matthew Holmes Lute Books Dd.2.11 96r)
Francis Cutting (Matthew Holmes Lute Books Dd.5.78.3 50v, 51r/1) [Having just transcribed this piece, without checking first, I find that it is almost identical to the previous version, and there is little point in posting it. Grrrrr!]
Anthony Holborne (Matthew Holmes Lute Books Dd.5.78.3 12r)
Edward Collard  (Matthew Holmes Lute Books Dd.5.78.3 96v, 97r/1)


Arrangements in Am on the ukulele:

Anonymous (from the Wickhambrook Lute Book (1592))
John Dowland (short) (Matthew Holmes Lute Books Dd.2.11 82v/1)
John Dowland (short) (Matthew Holmes Lute Books Dd.5.78.3 37r)
    (I have used the transcription by Poulton and Lamb made from the above two MS versions)
John Dowland (long) (Matthew Holmes Lute Books Dd.9.33 67v, 68r)
John Marchant (short) (Matthew Holmes Lute Books Dd.9.33 21r)
John Marchant (long) (Matthew Holmes Lute Books Dd.9.33 26v – 28r/1)

Arrangements in Dm on the ukulele

Anon (Matthew Holmes Lute Books Nn.6.36 19r)
Anon (Matthew Holmes Lute Books Nn.6.36 20v, 21r/1)

The is a whole book on the subject of Walsingham, should you want to follow it up:
Walsingham in Literature and Culture from the Middle Ages to Modernity.

Dunstaple or Bedyngham: O Rosa Bella

Is the Rosa of the title an actual rose, a rose seen as a symbol of romantic interest,
or the name of a young lady?

On a whim, I thought that I'd have a look at music written earlier in the Renaissance, and the name John Dunstable (or Dunstaple) (c 1390–1453) appeared. He composed mostly liturgical music, not really appropriate for the ukulele, so I chose this song, attributed to him. However, Wikipedia states:

"The popular melody O Rosa Bella, once thought to be by Dunstaple, is now attributed to John Bedyngham (or Bedingham)".

Bedyngham was an approximate contemporary of Dunstaple, and died c. 1460. I can find no images of either composer.

O rosa bella is a plaintive lament, appropriately in a minor key, but as was usual ending on the tonic major, the Picardy third. The first 7 bars seem to be an introduction, followed by the song, which starts in common time and ends in 6/4 time. Some of the words are spread over a lot of notes (melismas), but I have made no attempt to indicate them here.

This arrangement is made from a transcription for 3 voices by Elaine Fine here. In the original – you can find performances in various formats on Youtube – the voices interweave, and the first voice is not always the highest. In the arrangement I have indicated the first voice by upward stems, and the others by downward stems.

I have tried to imagine, possibly anachronistically, that the ukulele is a Renaissance (4-string) guitar, and tried to maintain as much of the original as possible in the idiom of the instrument. The music sounds a little strange to my modern ears, but I am not familiar with the music of the period – which, after all, was my reason for making this arrangement.

You can find the transcriptions here:

• pdf (quick preview)
• pdf (auto download)
• TablEdit
• MIDI

Dowland: Piper's pavan (P8)

At last – back to my genius hero, John Dowland, and one of his most popular pavanes..

The title refers not to a woodwind musician, but to Captain Digory Piper (1559–90). He was a colourful Cornish sailor who was commissioned to harry Spanish shipping, but instead turned pirate and attacked vessels of friendly nations sailing in the English Channel. He was fortunate not to be hanged for piracy. Why Dowland dedicated this piece to him is not clear.

An Elizabethan pirate in full fig, and a dashing figure he cuts.
I can't find an image of Capn Piper, so this one (from elizabethanenglandlife.com) will have to suffice.

The pavane has three strains, of 8½, 8 and 8 bars. In the lute version, the first two strains have divisions (variations) by Dowland, the third a variation by another hand; they are challenging, and I have not transcribed them. 

I have set a stately pace of ♩= 38 bpm, which is near that of Nigel North's recorded lute performance, in which he uses a lot of arpeggiation, and adds ornaments as well. It's up to you to add your own!

If you have played other pieces by Dowland, in this blog or elsewhere, you may well notice something familiar in bars 5, 8, 11 and 24. This is what I have come to think of as the Solus cum sola motif, and I have written briefly about it here. Despite the self-plagiarism, this is an inventive piece, with unexpected turns of harmony and melody, and with some tricky timing. 

Below I summarise the harmonic changes in the ukulele transcription. The harmonies are derived from the lute originals, which are voiced more fully than is possible on a ukulele. My favourite moment is in bar 5: the Solus motif, played on the chord of B major, resolves to Am, and not to the E one might expect; thus the bass moves from B to C.

§a

Am / /  E | Am / E / | A Dm Am / | Am / / / |

B  / Am / | Am / / G | Am Dm F Dm| E  / A / | A / 𝄂

§b

C  / / /  | Bm / E / | Am / G Em | F#m / E / |

G  / / Am | E  / Em B| Em C Em B | E   / / / 𝄂

§c

C  / / G  | G  E A5 / | Am / F  / | C  F / C |

F  / G E  | Am / F  C | G  Am E / | A  / / / 𝄂

You might want to conclude the piece on an extra, full A major chord (the Picardy third).

You can find the transcriptions here:

• pdf (quick preview)
• pdf (auto download)
• TablEdit
• MIDI  (without ornament)

(A corrected version was loaded on 11/04/18)

Sanz: Maricapalos (Marizápalos)

María Inés Calderón, known as 'La Calderona' and 'Marizápalos' (1611 – 1646).
She was a mistress of Philip IV of Spain, and later forced into becoming a nun.
Gaspar Sanz, who was tutor to her son, wrote a saucy romanca (ballad) called Marizapalos,
about a priest's niece, who falls for a young man.
They may not be the same person, but it's reason enough to show her image here.
Taken from Wikipedia.

Here is a nice jaunty little tune, and not too difficult to play if you (temporarily) ignore the ornaments. I chose it because Clive Titmuss in this article identified it as one of Sanz' better pieces. The spelling with a "c" is that on Sanz' original plate, but that with a "z" seems to be the more modern version.

There are seven sections, each divided into two sub-sections of 8 and 10 bars. The piece is mostly in 3/4 time, but each sub-section begins with a bar in 2/4 time, so it is easily spotted.

The whole piece approaches the "lute-style" or, I suppose, "vihuela-style" of writing. Unlike other Sanz pieces, there are no obviously campanella or strummed passages, and no slurs are specified. Even the abecedario N9 chord (A maj on the uke) in bar 80 is not shown with a strum indicator.

After the statement of the melody in §A, §§B, F and G are composed of (almost Renaissance?) divisions (diferencias) in the form of scale segments.

In the transcription I have probably been optimistic in specifying the lengths of some of the fingered notes: I just hold them down for as long as I can (tenuto). This gives a hint of the campanella sound.

The graces have been interpreted following James Tyler's recommendations in A guide to playing the Baroque guitar, summarised here. Incidentally, the trills are generally played as inverted mordents, but if occurring at the end of a section should be prolonged: I have indicated this by an additional "tr" after the mordent. Vibratos, indicated by “vib”, were apparently at this time used as an ornament, and not used throughout a piece as we might nowadays.

You can find the transcriptions here:

• pdf (quick preview)
• pdf (auto download)
• TablEdit
• MIDI