The Frog Galliard by Dowland (PDF, Lesson)

The Frog Galliard (Poulton No. 23) by John Dowland (1563-1626). Originally for lute. PDF Sheet music or tab for classical guitar. Includes both a Notation-Only Edition and a Tab Edition. Left hand fingering. The level is Late-Intermediate (Grade 7-8). This is a PDF Download

PDF Sheet Music or Tab

• The Frog Galliard by Dowland from Werner Guitar Editions – My Dedicated Sheet Music Store

Please note: The sheet music is fingered for relative lute tuning (tune the 3rd string down to F sharp), see videos below for lesson info. 

John Dowland was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs and lute compositions. Dowland is one of my favourite composers of the Elizabethan era and this work is an excellent set of variations/divisions on two themes. Here’s the YouTube Lesson Link if you want to watch it there. 

I also found this info on the title via this Naxos album and Nigel North: “Queen Elizabeth’s last official suitor for marriage was the Duc d’Alençon who came to England in 1579 and 1581. He was a small ugly man with a huge nose and a face disfigured by small pox. He was, however, an excellent dancer and Elizabeth decided to call him her Frog. When she finally refused him, he departed for France distraught and deceived. The song Now, oh now I needs must part (from Dowland’s First Booke of Songs or Ayres) is thought to be about the Duke’s departure, and is a version of an early galliard known as the Frog Galliard. In binary form, this galliard has an unusual trochaic rhythm in the first strain, and some of Dowland’s most melodic and inventive divisions.”