English Dance

Continuing our foray into Medieval music we started last issue, this month we'll look at a dance tune from the same 14^th Century Italian manuscript now in the British Museum, an estampie usually called "English Dance."

I have drawn on several sources for my transcription of this as well as an excellent recording by the Studio der Frühen Musik ("Musik der Spielleute" Telefunken Das Alte Werke LP 6.41928) under the direction of the late, great Thomas Binkley. I would like to acknowledge assistance from Dr. Chris Smith of Texas Tech University and Al Cofrin of the medieval group Istanpitta in Houston, TX.

Medieval music sources are generally somewhat ambiguous. The melodies are written in relative rhythm with no precise indication of meter. One source I checked has this tune written in triple meter but I prefer duple meter as it sounds more natural to me. I've also put in it the mando friendly key of D from that of C or F in the other versions.

We'll stick with the same altered tuning (or scordatura) that we used for "Lamento di Tristano" in my April column. First, drop both of your E strings down one whole step to D an octave above your D strings, then tune ONE of your G strings down to a D an octave below the D string, then tune the other G string up to A once octave below your A string. This gives you DADAD and it will make your mando sound HUGE. I like this tuning for a lot of drone-based tunes. It's not very flexible for chords but we are not concerned with chords for this kind of tune. We'll use the two lowest pairs of strings for open drone notes, letting them ring out under the melody notes we are picking on the two highest pairs. Note: Since the two strings in your lowest course are now tuned to different notes, I've used what looks like 5 course tablature in order to notate both notes in that lowest pair. You can ignore that and play both strings in the pair at once as usual.

For a picking pattern I suggest this for the pattern of eighth note on the beat, two sixteenth notes on the backbeat:

This will help you maintain a nice rhythm, clipping along through the tune with down strokes on the accented notes and using upstrokes only for the second, unaccented 1/16^th note in each group of two.

Try and keep the drone ringing below the melody notes without overpowering them (I've only written out a few places where you can do this-you'll no doubt find many more). You may need to strike the open drone notes on the two lowest courses more often than I've indicated if your mandolin's sustain is such that the notes fade too quickly. Try to keep the melody out in front of the drone and as legato as possible.

Feel free to repeat the parts as little or as often as you like, and you can even try changing their order. The Studio der Früwhen Musik recording omits the 6^th section the first time around and then brings it in as a refrain after the final (10^th) section, alternating it with the 8^th section.

The tempo for "English Dance" can be slow and stately or brisk and driving. I like it at around 120bpm.