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SKU: A0.1340077
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. Arranged by Richard Hirsch. Baroque,Classical,Instructional,Standards. Individual part. 4 pages. Richard Hirsch #925741. Published by Richard Hirsch (A0.1340077).I offer the famous Bourrée from Bach’s First Suite for Lute in E minor notated for solo acoustic guitar. The notation is accompanied by tablature and extensive left and right hand fingering as an aid to the student. The fingering aims to be as economical and as ergonomic as possible. If played according to the tablature and left hand fingering, the left hand flows smoothly from one position to another over the fretboard. This is especially important in the second part of the piece where Bach takes us on a tour of the harmonic space related to the key of E minor.
The piece is a good introduction to the full potential of the fretboard as there are many alternative left hand fingerings, among which I have chosen those I feel fit together and enable flow best. Notice especially how the little finger plays an important role in guiding the left hand from one position to another. The fingering for the right hand is also good for the practice of alternating the index and middle fingers in the melody while the thumb plays the bases.
This piece has become part of the standard repertoire for classical guitar, but is also a piece that sounds equally good on a steel string acoustic guitar. The steel strings make the piece sound like it is being played on a harpsichord. I first heard the piece as a boy of 15 back in 1960 in a recording by Chet Atkins playing on a steel string electric guitar!
The piece has been transcribed from the original score for Lute and notated for guitar by many guitarists over the years. I hope my version contributes to its continued popularity, making the piece even more accessible and relevant to intermediate students of acoustic guitar.
I have chosen a tempo of 130bpm for the notation which I think gives the piece a lively but not overly stressed quickness appropriate for a courtly dance.
A flamenco guitarist by trade, the final E diad reminded me of passages that are typically found in the flamenco palo of Soleares which is played in the Phrygian mode. I found myself spontaneously wanting to end the piece with an arpeggio flourish typically found in Soleares played on a reduced E minor chord, consisting of E and B tones, at the seventh position. While consulting previous recordings of the piece in order to determine the proper tempo, I came across a recording of a live performance of the piece by Julian Bream from 1957, where he ends the performance with the exact same arpeggio flourish! There is perhaps something in the music that is consistent with this ending as perhaps the E minor key of the Baroque era was not as strictly defined and distinguished from the older modal keys as it is today.
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