John Dowland - Flow, my Tears

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superjam144

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John Dowland, (born 1562/63, Westminster, London, England—died January 21, 1626, London), English composer, virtuoso lutenist, and skilled singer, one of the most famous musicians of his time.

This sound is inspiring, and peaceful to me. THIS is the sound that intrigues me so much. Just thought I would share.

I do know it is in a minor key, but more exploration is needed to know more about it. The lute has a different tuning and it is hard to find tabs in standard for these classics.
 
WingedWords

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The UK Lute Society has a useful booklet on playing from lute tab on the guitar and quite possibly the US society does too.

But whether you play from standard notation, lute tab or guitar tab (there's possibly guitar tab for Dowland, but I don't know) Dowland isn't easy. Very rewarding though and very high on my list of favourite composers.
 
superjam144

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WingedWords said:
The UK Lute Society has a useful booklet on playing from lute tab on the guitar and quite possibly the US society does too.

But whether you play from standard notation, lute tab or guitar tab (there's possibly guitar tab for Dowland, but I don't know) Dowland isn't easy. Very rewarding though and very high on my list of favourite composers.
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I found the chord progression, although I would like to hit the melody notes as well, maybe I can figure it out from the shapes.

Chordify is a life saver. Although I do not pay for it, it seems extremely accurate.

https://chordify.net/chords/andreas-scholl-sings-flow-my-tears-by-john-dowland-newffl10

f#m d c# f#m a bm c# f#m e c# d c# bm c# f#

The progression seems simple but what I've noticed is that when he goes from c# to d for instance, one half step up, just sounds cool. This style of music keeps you on your toes for sure.. I am endlessly fascinated with the rhythms and progressions of that time period. As said before, same notes, same chords, same scales, but it sounds SO different because of the way they were trained and taught, and creatively made music.

You don't hear stuff like this today, everything is so damn simplified. I can't think outside of the box because I'm stuck in the same circle of 5th progressions that I learned as a kid from chili pepper songs I guess. Maybe I'm overthinking it.

When the singer hits those beautiful melody notes... It's almost like a high gain clean boosted sustained note riding over the progression that gives it it's shape and structure... Without that melody, the progression is nothing but earth and stone. It takes flight with the singer belting it out. Holding those notes like an endless sustaining from the heart note on an electric guitar!
 
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superjam144

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WingedWords said:
That sounds a good place to start.

No help with this particular piece, but I just remembered this nice collection of music from the medieval and renaissance periods edited by John Renbourn with tab. The last piece in it is Dowland's Lacrimae Antiquae.

https://www.melbay.com/Products/953...f-medieval--renaissance-music-for-guitar.aspx
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I own it! I was heavily disappointed with it as he uses different tunings for every single piece!!! I'm sure it is amazing though... I am more interested in developing in standard tuning though because I lack the theory and sight reading skills necessary to really use alternate tunings effectively.

I am finding that LESS IS MORE with this type of music. The lute leaves so much breathing room, and it seems to just facilitate a deep passionate song.
 
superjam144

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MisterZ said:
Get yourself Frederick Noad's "Renaissance Guitar". It's a standard for good reason. Hell, several of the things I used to audition for conservatory came out of that book.
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Does it include tab notation? I couldn't tell and so didn't buy it.
 
WingedWords

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superjam144 said:
I own it! I was heavily disappointed with it as he uses different tunings for every single piece!!!
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Ah, that's true, I'd forgotten about the alternate tunings. Many lute transcriptions for guitar drop the G string to F# to stay close to lute tuning and using standard notation I can just about deal with that, but much as I love Renbourn, that book is on my "one day maybe" pile.
 
WingedWords

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superjam144 said:
Does it include tab notation? I couldn't tell and so didn't buy it.
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One of my favourite books too. No tab, but Noad generally gives a lot of fingering help which makes standard notation pretty straightforward to read.

If it's any encouragement, I was quite tab dependent until I fell for Dowland and the English lutenists and took up classical guitar about 20 years ago using Noad's Solo Guitar tutor and then a teacher and got over my mental block about the dots. It can be done! But I'm still a way off playing much Dowland. Love trying though.
 
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