Nine Galliards

The nine dances included in this publication are named after each of the nine Greek muses. All nine pieces are in the form of a galliard, which is a dance form involving four hopping steps and one high leap which permitted athletic gentlemen to show off for their partners. The galliard rhythm takes place over a pattern of 12 beats with accents on beats 4, 6, and 8. In this edition, the galliard is presented in 3/4 time as that is what is notated in the original lute tablature, so the full galliard rhythm can be said to occur over 4 measures. These galliards may be played in F# or standard tuning.