I love classical music, grew up playing classics on the piano, and I was wondering if anyone can recommend a JS Bach book transcribed for beginner/intermediate bass players. I've googled and there are a few things out there; any suggestions as to which ones may be appropriate? :help:

I've been learning on my own since Dec 2005, and I know that's a major no-no, but finances are finances :rolleyes:

get all bach/classical pieces from cello parts, its in bass clef, and thats all you need.

i can't read music anymore :crying: , and haven't pu t the time for re-learning, so here is one i've enjoyed with tab also:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/078662843X/103-5982076-8294261?v=glance&n=283155
(j s bach for bass)
really good for warming up and getting all your fingers going!

I have the Josquin Depres book. While I appreciate the author's tabbing out the songs, some of his fingering choices (especially the avoidance of open strings) is, to me anyway, a little strange.

Thank you very much for the advice! I was wondering about the cello sonatas, and I have seen the Josquin Despres book. I can read music, but the tab comes in very handy as I'm still not entirely familiar with the neck and all the fingering possibilities there :hmm: I'll get Despres and do an online search for free cello sonatas. I can't wait :hyper:

I've been learning on my own since Dec 2005, and I know that's a major no-no, but finances are finances :rolleyes:

Why the heck would that be a no-no? Some kind of classical music tradition?

Some of the most accomplished musicians ever are largely self-taught. It has its limitations - but also its liberations...

MM

I was wondering if anyone can recommend a JS Bach book transcribed for beginner/intermediate bass players.

I've got one in my libary: J.S. Bach / Fifteen 2-Part Inventions for 2 Basses, by Bunny Brunel (Mel Bay Publications - stock # MB9697BBCD), with instructional CD - $22.95.

MM

FWIW, I'm doing Bach Cello Suite No. 1 in G for my senior recital in a couple of weeks.

I'd definatly recommend for the Cello suites, but they're not for the beginner. just remember their music rather than an olymic event - sure they're tough and will stretch you but the point is to make them sound like music, rather than getting though them as fast as possible. There are a couple of mp3's on bassists websites which play the suites lightning fast, but they sound awefull - it the work is in the phrasing, not the tempo.

I'd also agree that you don't need to go for "official bass guitar" versions. If you're ready to take this stuff on then you're past ready to learn/improve to read. Get the regular cello versions for next to nothing, and spend the money you save on a book on reading music (Ron Velosky's Sight Reading for Bass Guitar is great). Even if you end up writing the cello suites for yourself in tab you'll learn more that way, and it'll pay off in the long run.

Ian

I'd definatly recommend for the Cello suites, but they're not for the beginner. just remember their music rather than an olymic event - sure they're tough and will stretch you but the point is to make them sound like music, rather than getting though them as fast as possible. There are a couple of mp3's on bassists websites which play the suites lightning fast, but they sound awefull - it the work is in the phrasing, not the tempo.

I'd also agree that you don't need to go for "official bass guitar" versions. If you're ready to take this stuff on then you're past ready to learn/improve to read. Get the regular cello versions for next to nothing, and spend the money you save on a book on reading music (Ron Velosky's Sight Reading for Bass Guitar is great). Even if you end up writing the cello suites for yourself in tab you'll learn more that way, and it'll pay off in the long run.

Ian

+1 on all that, great advice. There's no sense in just 'doing the notes' Bach wrote some wonderful music, but you really have to work to get it.

As added advice to the Cello Suites. DO get the cello music. There are several editions out for DB arrangements of this music. I spent a good bit of money on one edition which is exactly the same as the cello music, but written in Tenor Clef so that the sound would be a the same octave. You can decide if that is a musically viable thing for you, it might be for DB but I doubt if the time spend to learn Tenor Clef on BG would be worth it.

If you are writing them out, some of them are betterl in other keys to make use of open strings. And it's OK if you change the key or even make arrangements of the Suites. Bach's fame is secure; you won't do him any damage with your bass.

Thank you for the Brunel suggestion; I didn't know about that one.

To Dkerwood, how did you change the cello sonata to make it work for the bass? Good luck in your recital! :)

Happily I can read music and I love Bach, so I wouldn't use his music as scale practice, that would be blasphemous.

My problem is that I'm a beginner and my familiarity with the neck is sketchy at best. The tab comes in handy as a suggestion for fingering etc. I think I'll go ahead and butcher the cello sonata in G which deserves better. I'll have to change it a bit to make it work on a 4 string bass.

I know I'll burn in hell for this, damn damn damn :crying:

Thank you for the Brunel suggestion; I didn't know about that one.

To Dkerwood, how did you change the cello sonata to make it work for the bass? Good luck in your recital! :)

Happily I can read music and I love Bach, so I wouldn't use his music as scale practice, that would be blasphemous.

My problem is that I'm a beginner and my familiarity with the neck is sketchy at best. The tab comes in handy as a suggestion for fingering etc. I think I'll go ahead and butcher the cello sonata in G which deserves better. I'll have to change it a bit to make it work on a 4 string bass.

I know I'll burn in hell for this, damn damn damn :crying:
Well, I'm doing the Cello Suite no. 1 on a 5 string. I'm playing as written, an octave below where it was intended.

There are a few places where I modify a few things - I think it's on the Prelude where there's a series of open Ds and As... I drop the As an octave to accomodate it on my instrument.

I also throw in a few thirds here and there on the chords - after all, playing them as open fifths and octaves is a weakness of the cello, not on my baby... lol... I don't want to presume that Bach would prefer them with the full chord, but I know I do.

Tell you what, though, there's nothing like slamming down to that low C on a 5 string. :D

The biggest challenge I've faced is trying to figure out fingering - since it was written with cello firmly in mind, some of the passages are awkward at best, darn near unplayable at worst. I've had to get creative with harmonics and take full advantage of all five strings to get close.

And this WILL get you more familiar with the neck... by necessity.

Thank you Dkerwood; it's nice to hear that it's OK to change the piece so it accommodates your instrument. Of course you sound like you know what you're doing, and I haven't a clue, but still...thank you :rolleyes:

I hope and pray that Bach has better things to do nowadays than worry about what 4-string bass players perpetrate on his music :hmm: On the other hand I like to imagine that he would have enjoyed the electric bass, 4-12+ strings. An inventive man, by and large.

I just take the guitar/piano cleff and then move it into the bass clef a octave higher it sounds cool!

Thank you Dkerwood; it's nice to hear that it's OK to change the piece so it accommodates your instrument. Of course you sound like you know what you're doing, and I haven't a clue, but still...thank you :rolleyes:

I hope and pray that Bach has better things to do nowadays than worry about what 4-string bass players perpetrate on his music :hmm: On the other hand I like to imagine that he would have enjoyed the electric bass, 4-12+ strings. An inventive man, by and large.
Heck yeah. A few years ago, when I started dinking around with this piece, I transposed it for an alto sax playing friend of mine who needed something for an audition.

Imagine that - a cello suite for alto sax!

Make it work, man. I don't think Bach would get upset if you play his music on something else... I'd think that if he was around today, he'd be writing electric bass suites as well...

I've got one in my libary: J.S. Bach / Fifteen 2-Part Inventions for 2 Basses, by Bunny Brunel (Mel Bay Publications - stock # MB9697BBCD), with instructional CD - $22.95.

MM

not available anymore :(

For really basic reading that still gives you a taste of Bach's genius for bass lines, you can read the bottom voice in the four-part chorales, which are easily available.
You can also read the bottom voice in the two-and three-part inventions, but that takes a bit more reading ability.

Cool! And the great thing is much of this stuff is available online for free :D I got the cello suites for free, anyway, and there's lots more out there.

I like to think that if Bach were around today he'd be writing loud, gorgeous pieces for the electric bass along with other instruments. I think he would have loved electricity!

Cool! And the great thing is much of this stuff is available online for free :D I got the cello suites for free, anyway, and there's lots more out there.

I like to think that if Bach were around today he'd be writing loud, gorgeous pieces for the electric bass along with other instruments. I think he would have loved electricity!
Just imagine what he could do with a Korg Triton... :eek: Or with a Roland endorsement...

I have the Josquin Depres book. While I appreciate the author's tabbing out the songs, some of his fingering choices (especially the avoidance of open strings) is, to me anyway, a little strange.


I also have that book, and was wondering about something...

I play a Ric(20 frets), and I run out of frets in some parts towards the end of the first piece....this may sound stupid, but should I just play those parts down one octave from how it's originally transcribed?

I really enjoy playing from this book!

I got some of the cello suites for free off some site, and was doing well, but then reached the point where I needed a low C, and I wasn't sure how to go about it without moving everything up a dozen frets, which creates awkward fingerings. Nice music, though.

http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/a/item.html?id=34890&item=3145776

great book. You can spend 10 minutes a week or the rest of your life on this one...

I got this one, it's awesome:
http://www.melbay.com/covers/95254BCD.gif

I got some of the cello suites for free off some site, and was doing well, but then reached the point where I needed a low C, and I wasn't sure how to go about it without moving everything up a dozen frets, which creates awkward fingerings. Nice music, though.
Get a 5 string. :D Or just move the C up an octave... no problem, if it's the section I'm thinking of.

I am playing the bach stuff on a 4 string. The low D's C#'s and C's, I am just moving up an octave. If you really wanna be anal about it, you really should be playing ALL of it up an octave anyway...

I am playing the bach stuff on a 4 string. The low D's C#'s and C's, I am just moving up an octave. If you really wanna be anal about it, you really should be playing ALL of it up an octave anyway...
Valid. I actually played around with the idea of playing it all up the octave, but it just didn't feel right. On the bass, it SOUNDS high, even though on the cello is sounds low, and it's the SAME PITCH. Interesting how timbre affects relative pitch.

But yeah, just play then up. Honestly, I have to be careful how I hit that low C or it will really overpower the following D-E-F# phrase... It gets worse, though. I think it's in the second movement (excluding the prelude) that it goes to about the equivalent of a low C barre chord... That's hard to play clean.

Good luck, and feel free to post mp3 samples of your work! I'll try to do the same when I do my recital.

By the way, aside from the prelude, Minuet II is my favorite movement of the Suite. :D

You can also get the piano music to some of the preludes and fugues, and then play the low bass note from those. This will also help your harmony. In music school, one of the first things we had to do was take a Bach bass line and harmonize it "correctly" with 3 other parts according to the rules of the time.

You can also get the piano music to some of the preludes and fugues, and then play the low bass note from those. This will also help your harmony. In music school, one of the first things we had to do was take a Bach bass line and harmonize it "correctly" with 3 other parts according to the rules of the time.

I did that in music school too... "figured bass."
One beautiful thing about Bach, which we bassists can particularly appreciate, is that his bass lines simultaneously support everything AND form coherent, beautiful melodies.
Obviously, he was the all-time master of counterpoint.

I did that in music school too... "figured bass."
One beautiful thing about Bach, which we bassists can particularly appreciate, is that his bass lines simultaneously support everything AND form coherent, beautiful melodies.
Obviously, he was the all-time master of counterpoint.
+1

I've been working on the First Suite in G off and on for several years. Today I transposed the whole thing to the key of A. It makes a difference. I'm doing it on a 4 string, so there are some octave trans. going on.

BTW, for those of you who are getting into this, there are 6 of these things, all different and all very beautiful. Try the Prelude to the 3rd suite for some great arpeggiated chords. Listen to a master cellist play the Sarabande from the 6th Suite for a great musical experience.

But yeah, just play then up. Honestly, I have to be careful how I hit that low C or it will really overpower the following D-E-F# phrase... It gets worse, though. I think it's in the second movement (excluding the prelude) that it goes to about the equivalent of a low C barre chord... That's hard to play clean.
:D

I was wondering about that low C. I'm not even going to worry about the second movement yet! One good thing, the music is so beautiful that it comes through, no matter how I mutilate it.

The Bunny Brunell book is great. Some very nice arrangements. With the CD you can learn a part then pan the other part out of the mix and play along. The cello suites are awesome, but not easy. Try starting with Suite I on the Menuet I and II then the Gigue and the Courante.

I play in a trio where we arrange classical music for two guitars and bass. Here are a couple of Bach pieces we have recorded if you are interested in giving a listen:

http://www.tumenenotz.com/music/rondeau.mp3
http://www.tumenenotz.com/music/bouree.mp3

All the best,
Tim

Sedgdog those are gorgeous arrangements, thank you. I was having a nasty day and the music made the stress go away :) I'm moving along very, very, very, very slowly on the suites :eyebrow: Phrasing is everything, isn't it?

Cool stuff, Sedgdog. Works beautifully for guitars & bass...

Just goes to show that music is far more malleable than most of us realize - even material from JS Bach, the master himself. It's meant to be experimented with, reconceptualized and reworked - not put on a mantle to gather dust, figuratively speaking...

IMHO, we actually pay more respect to Bach by adapting his music to modern times, than by keeping it hermetically sealed against the ages...

MM

The Well Tempered Clavier. Bach allowed for free intrepertation of it. So you don't have play as it's written.

This is true. He transcribed his own works for various instruments often, and I believe he allowed the instrumentalist to embellish the music as he saw fit. He would have loved the electric bass.

Anyhow, I'm starting with the Gigue in Cello Sonata. It's gorgeous and it's easy, compared to the Prelude, which was scaring the hell out of me.

Here's a page where you can listen to Graeme Fyfe on the cello sonatas http://www.free-scores.com/frame-uk.php?url=http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/fyfeholt/bach.htm&CATEGORIE=20&TITRE=Bass+-+My+Bach+Transcriptions+&+Midi

This is true. He transcribed his own works for various instruments often, and I believe he allowed the instrumentalist to embellish the music as he saw fit. He would have loved the electric bass.

Anyhow, I'm starting with the Gigue in Cello Sonata. It's gorgeous and it's easy, compared to the Prelude, which was scaring the hell out of me.

Here's a page where you can listen to Graeme Fyfe on the cello sonatas http://www.free-scores.com/frame-uk.php?url=http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/fyfeholt/bach.htm&CATEGORIE=20&TITRE=Bass+-+My+Bach+Transcriptions+&+Midi
Lol... the Prelude is the one you know!

The prelude is my favorite, and minuet II is my second. Don't much care for the Gigue yet...

Prelude is my favorite, too. It's just that at the rate I was going it would have taken me 30 years to get it sounding half-way right. The Gigue is easy...Menuet 1 and 2 afterwards. I'm moving backwards toward the Prelude!

Baby steps :rolleyes:

Dkerwood, are you doing the entire sonata for your senior recital? I was wondering about the Fyfe version of the sonata--it struck me as very cold and fast.

Prelude is my favorite, too. It's just that at the rate I was going it would have taken me 30 years to get it sounding half-way right. The Gigue is easy...Menuet 1 and 2 afterwards. I'm moving backwards toward the Prelude!

Baby steps :rolleyes:

Dkerwood, are you doing the entire sonata for your senior recital? I was wondering about the Fyfe version of the sonata--it struck me as very cold and fast.
I'm doing the entire suite, yes, assuming that it's all ready in a week and a half. It's about 85% right now. :D

I know nothing about a Fyfe version, but I do agree that a lot of people play it too fast and without emotion.

A wonderful book is "Casals on Interpretation." It's about the great Pablo Casals' teachings. He was all about reading between the lines of the music, using theory and harmony to figure out what the notes actually tell you about how they want to be played. It's heavy on Bach, but the ideas can be applied to all music. It's truly inspiring. You can probably find it cheap on amazon.

People have marvelled for centuries about how durable Bach's music is. It works no matter what you do to it. His chamber music is amazing on electric guitars. One of my favorte groups is the Jacques Loussier Trio ... they do jazz interpretations of a full range of Bach's work. Amazing musicians. I love their stuff.

Gah! I have dress rehearsal for my recital today, and the piece isn't quite ready!!! Ah, for just another week!

The Well Tempered Clavier. Bach allowed for free intrepertation of it. So you don't have play as it's written.
True.

But then... you can play any music any way you want too. Of course if you're wanting to be accepted by other musicians and/or want to make some money, well then, there might be some 'performance practices' you should keep in mind. But if its just for you..... play anyway you like.

I recall reading an interview with Leonard Bernstein once where he was talking about the concept of warm-ups. He commented that one had to 'warm up your mind' as well as your fingers and then offered that he liked to play the Bach "Two Part Inventions" in as romantic a style as he could.

Easy to practice scales. Not so easy to find ways to practice creativity and originality.

Well, the recital is over. Oy. My fingers were shaking but I finally had it up to the speed I was hearing in my head (mostly) and only made a few errors... mainly when my hand would fall out of position while my eyes were glued to the music and F#s would become Fs and so on...

The first twenty minutes or so was the Cello Suite No. 1 and the back ten minutes I brought out a band with a trumpet, drums, violin and electric violin. We played a version of Birdland that I arranged based heavily on Jaco's version.

Lot of fun. Not something I want to do again soon. :-P

Dkerwood, sounds to me like you aced it, congratulations!! :hyper:

Now if you haven't been visited by Bach's angry ghost, and the ghosts of his twenty irate children and two livid wives, that means it all went really, really, really well :)

Ahem, to get back to this :hiding: I'm continuing with Bach here, and the tone I'm getting, and enjoy getting, is an acoustic, non-muted tone. When I listen to cds of bassists on Bach they have a very electric, muted tone.

Am I doing something seriously wrong? I like the ringing, acoustic tone, but is that not acceptable? Does the fact that I'm getting that tone mean that I'm doing something seriously wrong when I'm practicing in general? I'm pretty much on my own here, as I can't afford lessons.

Help!!! :help:

Btw I'm mutilating Bach on a 1984 Peavey Fury, but that probably doesn't mean much.

Dude, Bach on bass has no rules. Let 'er ring if you feel so inclined. Remember that it may have been written for cello, but the cello has its own limitations that the electric bass does not (ringing chords come to mind).

Do it your way and enjoy!

Ahem, to get back to this :hiding: I'm continuing with Bach here, and the tone I'm getting, and enjoy getting, is an acoustic, non-muted tone. When I listen to cds of bassists on Bach they have a very electric, muted tone.

Am I doing something seriously wrong? I like the ringing, acoustic tone, but is that not acceptable? Does the fact that I'm getting that tone mean that I'm doing something seriously wrong when I'm practicing in general? I'm pretty much on my own here, as I can't afford lessons.

Help!!! :help:

Btw I'm mutilating Bach on a 1984 Peavey Fury, but that probably doesn't mean much.
It's hard to judge your tone without hearing it but the most important thing is that you get a tone that you like. Don't worry too much about what other people are doing or think.

I happen to like non-muted, acoustic tones. Have you heard any of my Bach stuff? (see links below) See the later material.

- Dave

Dave, my playing is nowhere as nice or accurate but that's the tone I'm getting when I hit a right note, which is rare.

Those are beautiful recordings btw. Thank you so much for linking them! Nice to hear that variety is encouraged :hyper:

I found the Brunel book and the De Pres book a few years ago and I practice out of them a lot. I've somehow managed to memorize the high parts for four Inventions already! There are many different interpretations of these pieces. I've got a Glenn Gould version of the Inventions that's very deliberate with lots of trills and rhythmic liberty. Another is a harpsicord recording that's it's even more embellished and ornamentated. Both contain some passages that contradict the Brunel transcriptions, mainly in Invention #1. Again, these are just interpretations of what Bach originally intended.

On a side note: I think De Pres has you avoid the open strings because they usually sound very different from the stopped notes. This seems to be common practice amongst classical guitarists.

Another cool book I found is by Dr. Bob Gallway. It's another Bach book of course, subtitled "Three Duets and Five Solo Pieces Arranged for Bass Guitar" and it's on Hal Leonard. It contains a few of the Inventions from Brunel's book but there are some welcome changes to the arrangement and fingerings in addition to some other quite difficult pieces. It's only $7.95 but it doesn't have any recordings, of course.
Have fun with the Bach!

On your note lengths:
Like the others have said, it's however you feel it should be. It's good to listen to recordings (other than bass) to have a reference point. Glenn Gould chooses to play the Inventions with lengths varying from slightly-detached to full legato. Nothing ever staccato, muted or highly-detached. Unless it's specified, you usually don't want your notes ringing into each other too much. I usually play them ever-so-slightly detached and then use legato when I get to certain sections that really sing. That's pertaining to the high parts, mostly. Again, YMMV. :D

On note lengths - IMHO, most folks play it a little stiff and fast for me. Let Bach sing.

On a side note: I think De Pres has you avoid the open strings because they usually sound very different from the stopped notes. This seems to be common practice amongst classical guitarists.
Rather than simply avoiding open notes, one should also try to find what strings to play all notes on and not just default to the lowest or easiest position. I've spent 12 years tweaking my arrangements of the solo cello and solo violin works and most of that is finding the right positions that make the phrasing work the best. There are also technical issues so this is not always that straight forward. I still find better ways of playing these works.

Also, open notes can work for you sometimes. Especially when that note isn't slurred with its neighbors and serves as a good accent or can be held longer.

- Dave

On a side note: I think De Pres has you avoid the open strings because they usually sound very different from the stopped notes. This seems to be common practice amongst classical guitarists.

I have a transcription of the Cello suite for Viola, and the common practice for certain open string is to play the open string _and_ the stoped one on the string below, it gives more power, and that's the way I play it.

I have a transcription of the Cello suite for Viola, and the common practice for certain open string is to play the open string _and_ the stoped one on the string below, it gives more power, and that's the way I play it.
There are instances where Bach notates this doubling as a unison. Where possible, I play them as a unison with an open string. Sometimes it's not possible to play the unison so in those cases I either play just one of the notes or I play an octave.

- Dave

When Bach wrote all his compositions Im guessing he had his own band that played them. Im also guessing these bands were very larege , did he have the best players in his orchestra ? If anyone knows these answers Id gladly apriciate it. Ive jstu been wondering about this.

Well, since Bach worked in the first half of the 18th century, he was operating in an era before composers had their own "bands" or "orchestras." He worked off of royal commissions, or was employed by churches as the choirmaster and composer of liturgical music. He also composed theoretical works, children's keyboard studies, and so on, for his own amusement or for his own family's use.
Not many people may realize that in his lifetime, he thought of himself as a person who wrote on demand, he rarely traveled outside a small area within his country (Germany), he was unknown outside that area, and he was almost totally forgotten until Felix Mendelssohn started popularizing his music again, decades after he died. Before settling down for a steady paycheck to raise a large family, he was a performing organist (and the greatest virtuoso around) for a while.
(That's fairly accurate, I believe... any Bachologists are welcome to correct me!)

Well, since Bach worked in the first half of the 18th century, he was operating in an era before composers had their own "bands" or "orchestras." He worked off of royal commissions, or was employed by churches as the choirmaster and composer of liturgical music. He also composed theoretical works, children's keyboard studies, and so on, for his own amusement or for his own family's use.
Not many people may realize that in his lifetime, he thought of himself as a person who wrote on demand, he rarely traveled outside a small area within his country (Germany), he was unknown outside that area, and he was almost totally forgotten until Felix Mendelssohn started popularizing his music again, decades after he died. Before settling down for a steady paycheck to raise a large family, he was a performing organist (and the greatest virtuoso around) for a while.
(That's fairly accurate, I believe... any Bachologists are welcome to correct me!)
Interestingly enough, his two sons were FAR more popular composers than he was at the time. Who'd have known that Dad would stand the test of time and the popular sons wouldn't (as much)?

Which two sons were they? He had quite a few iirc.

C.P.E was my favorite, due to the musical content, not just the name.

He had a TON of kids... at least 13, and I saw one website that claimed 20. Less than half of them made it to adulthood, though.

The two famous ones were Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach and Johann Christian Bach.

Ahem, to get back to this :hiding: I'm continuing with Bach here, and the tone I'm getting, and enjoy getting, is an acoustic, non-muted tone. When I listen to cds of bassists on Bach they have a very electric, muted tone.

Am I doing something seriously wrong? I like the ringing, acoustic tone, but is that not acceptable? Does the fact that I'm getting that tone mean that I'm doing something seriously wrong when I'm practicing in general? I'm pretty much on my own here, as I can't afford lessons.

Help!!! :help:

Btw I'm mutilating Bach on a 1984 Peavey Fury, but that probably doesn't mean much.


Dude,

Remember, Bach didn't write music for electrified instruments and he didn't record, for obvious reasons. Those recordings are interpretations.
Do yourself a favor and listen to some of the interpretations that other great musicians have done of Bach's Cello Suites (Pablo Casals is the first to come to mind as a beginning). Ron Carter also has a contemorary recording of the cello suites
(to name a bassist not known for his classical work), but I would check out the ISB (International Society of Bassists - a great double bass society) for some transcriptions and CD's. If you have already taken on this listening and learning experience, then you've done some of the work that a conservatory student would do. Outside of lessons and shedding and getting your hands on the right material (authentic transcriptions and recordings of great performances), you're on the right track. You've inspired me to dust off my transcriptions (now where are those @**# %&##!!! :D )

Good force to you.

Rather than simply avoiding open notes, one should also try to find what strings to play all notes on and not just default to the lowest or easiest position. I've spent 12 years tweaking my arrangements of the solo cello and solo violin works and most of that is finding the right positions that make the phrasing work the best. There are also technical issues so this is not always that straight forward. I still find better ways of playing these works.

Also, open notes can work for you sometimes. Especially when that note isn't slurred with its neighbors and serves as a good accent or can be held longer.

- Dave
I totally agree. If anyone knows, you know! All the notes that are available on the instrument should be taken into account and in doing so, you will eventually explore all the possible combinations of fingerings. Leave no stone unturned! :cool:

I have a transcription of the Cello suite for Viola, and the common practice for certain open string is to play the open string _and_ the stoped one on the string below, it gives more power, and that's the way I play it.
There are instances where Bach notates this doubling as a unison. Where possible, I play them as a unison with an open string. Sometimes it's not possible to play the unison so in those cases I either play just one of the notes or I play an octave.
Great point to touch on. The Inventions don't have much in the way of written unisons but they certainly abound in the solo pieces. Dave, that's a great suggestion for those times when unisons are either impractical or impossible: just play one of the notes or play one up an octave. These pieces weren't written in stone, after all! :D

I generally play the suites in the octave they were intended to be played in.. except for the small bits of the 6th that I can actually do.

I have a 22 fret instrument so high F# is a harmonic as is the high G.

Double/Triple stops are played as a two-handed hammer on.

Suites are here:
http://icking-music-archive.org/scores/bach/cello_suites/vc100712.pdf