Dutch Dance by Hans Neusidler

The Dutch Dance by Hans Neusidler comes to us from the Renaissance period of music. Though many know him as German, his roots begin in Slovakia. After marrying, he immigrated to Germany. Also, the lute gave Neusidler his method of musical expression (a few years later he would have undoubtedly chosen the guitar!).

Publications and Origination of Dutch Dance

Neusidler had prominence in Germany as a lutenist. Along with Hans Judenkunig and Hans Gerle, he excelled at his craft. All told, he published eight books of lute music. This piece comes from one of these books. I tried to locate the one this one has been arranged from but, alas, I failed after my eyes glossed over the lute tablature. Someone smarter than me (or with more time) will need to search it.

About The Piece

Dutch Dance falls in the Royal Conservatory level of Preparatory. As with many lute arrangements, it is in cut time. Therefore, counting causes younger/beginning students some difficulty. All in all, it mainly focuses on alternating the index and middle fingers. Also, one must learn to play a bass note with the fingers simultaneously on beat 1 of each measure. For those not used to reading sharps, then this piece will give some practice due to the key of A major (three sharps).

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Chadwick Becks

I have two degrees in guitar performance and was privileged to study under Aaron Shearer, Tom Kikta, David Skantar, Ken Karsh, Tim Bedner, and currently Christopher Berg. Outside my editorial work on this blog, I teach full-time across many genres including classical, jazz, blues, rock, funk, and metal.