Although Johann Sebastian Bach did not write any music for the guitar, transcriptions of his unaccompanied string music and music for lute have long been a part of the guitar repertoire. Despite the respect that this music commands among musicians and audiences debate still exists as to what constitutes an appropriate means of transcribing, interpreting and performing this music on the guitar. It is this debate that prompted this long-awaited edition of Bach's unaccompanied cello suites by scholar and concert guitarists Stanley Yates. This definitive work includes performance scores, comparison scores an an invaluable 40-page guide entitled Arranging, Interpreting, and Performing the Music of J.S. Bach. Furthermore, the author offers comments on his arranging process and suggestions on using this edition including: ornamentation, slurs, fingerings, notation, and implementation of the comparison scores. Written in standard notation in guitar-friendly keys.

Although Johann Sebastian Bach did not write any music for the guitar, transcriptions of his unaccompanied string music and music for lute have long been a part of the guitar repertoire. Despite the respect that this music commands among musicians and audiences, debate still exists as to what constitutes an appropriate means of transcribing, interpreting and performing this music on the guitar. It is this debate that prompted this long-awaited edition of Bach's unaccompanied cello suites by scholar and concert guitarist, Stanley Yates. This definitive work includes performance scores, comparison scores, and an invaluable 40-page guide entitled Arranging, Interpreting, and Performing the Music of J.S. Bach. Furthermore, the author offers comments on his arranging process and suggestions on using this edition including: ornamentation, slurs, fingerings, notation, and implementation of the comparison scores. Written in standard notation in guitar-friendly keys.

(Bass). All six of J.S. Bach's essential suites for unaccompanied cello are arranged here for bass guitar in standard notation and tablature. Includes: Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 * Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008 * Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009 * Suite No. 4 in Eb Major, BWV 1010 * Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011 * Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012.

A much more effective approach to Bach's works for the modern guitarist is to transcribe and perform the solo violin and cello music. Both instruments are essentially monophonic yet Bach, in one of music history's great feats of compositional resourcefulness, created contrapuntal textures through implication in his solo music for these instruments. Given the relatively greater polyphonic capabilities of the guitar, these implications can be made explicit through transcription. In fact, satisfactory transcription can almost be achieved by simple transposition and even the most uninformed reading of such a transcription on the guitar will yield a richer, more fully realized texture than is possible with the original instruments. The process in this case is often one primarily characterized by expansion and clarification; notes are easily added and implied voices clarified in the notation to create textures more in alignment with the polyphonic resources of the guitar.

Bach's masterpieces transcribed for classical guitar.

An essential compendium for any guitarist, this collection includes all of Johann Sebastian Bach's solo cello music, transcribed by Jade Synstelien for solo guitar. It is an exceptional tool for guitarists of any genre or skill level to sharpen their finger picking technique, improve their sight reading, and do so with an elegant, straightforward study book of the most beautiful, mostly monophonic, music ever composed.

Most instrumentalists would agree with the author’s introductory statement, that the six Bach cello suites are “…one of the greatest collections of solo instrumental music ever written.” Many amateur classic guitarists have endeavored to play favorite movements of the suites, and a few professionals have recorded all six in their entirety. The author himself has played them on various plucked-string instruments. Here, for the first time, Rob MacKillop and Mel Bay Publications present the Six Cello Suites of J. S. Bach, transcribed for the plectrum-style acoustic or electric guitarist! According to MacKillop, Bach had an overall didactic plan and each suite increases in emotional depth and difficulty, posing specific problems to the plectrum guitarist or any instrumentalist. For example: Using a pick, how do you play a 2-note interval when there is a string in-between the two notes? MacKillop provides a good deal of fingering in the early suites suggesting solutions to this and other issues, but ultimately encourages readers to make their own decisions through careful analysis and left-hand fingering. If you stay the course and play through all six suites, you will gain a personal understanding not only of the Baroque suite, but also of left-hand digitation, picking direction, and the guitar fretboard. Written in standard notation in guitar-friendly keys for the intermediate to advanced plectrum guitarist, this book is destined to be a part of university curriculums and recitals worldwide. It deserves a place in your music library too.