J.S. Bach Lute Suite No. 1: Bourree

[WillBuckingham]

I found this piece in a guitar book. I want to play it on my bass but I'm trying to learn a little more about the composition. Does anyone know what kind of instrument this piece was written for (i.e. tuning, etc.) and whether it was originally in the key of E minor (as it appears in this book). I couldn't find any help on the internet.

Thanks,

Will

[labgnat]

Lute suite, was it written for a lute? i've never heard it and dont' know the key

[CROZ]

You might want to try and contact Tber Dave Grossman, he's like a zen master of playing bach stuff on the bass.

Me, I think I'll just stick to the Cello suites. =D

[WillBuckingham]

Originally Posted by labgnat

Lute suite, was it written for a lute? i've never heard it and dont' know the key

Yes it was written for a lute. Thanks for the input . . . I guess . . .

Originally Posted by CROZ

You might want to try and contact Tber Dave Grossman, he's like a zen master of playing bach stuff on the bass.

Me, I think I'll just stick to the Cello suites. =

Thanks. If he doesn't respond here, I'll PM him.

[Dave Grossman]

Originally Posted by CROZ

You might want to try and contact Tber Dave Grossman, he's like a zen master of playing bach stuff on the bass.

Haha. Thanks.

That work:
http://www.jsbach.net/catalog/04010996000.html
Suite in E minor for Solo Lute - BWV 996

was written for the lute. Some of the other "Lute Suites" are thought to be written for lute or keyboard (that is, written for both ... some think that they were written for the lautenwerke aka lute-harpsichord).

I'm pretty sure that the Suite in E minor was for the lute specifically.

I'd recommend working on some of the solo cello works first. The lute suites are more advanced and way more difficult to play on the bass. The Cello Suites can pretty much be played exactly as written.

- Dave

[Matt Till]

Bach sucks.

Nah, just kidding, he's OK... for someone who sucks.

[massaloch]

the first time I heard any of bach's lute music was when one piece was transcribed to harpsichord by Edward Parmentier, who performed it while the late Joseph Spencer of the Wildboar label recorded it - I think the LP (no CD at the time - this was mid-80s I think) was called "Extravagant Harpsichord Music" - basically hardcore showoff virtuoso keyboard music of the time. It, like, totally rocks, dude I fell in love with it, and later found all of what is considered his solo lute music on the Sony label I've since read that some of it is nearly impossible to play on the lute, and while I forget the details, there is some question whether it really suitable for the lute. Here's a place to start that I just googled:

http://www.philiphii.com/articles/bach_lute.html

At home I think I have a few more links about it. PM me and maybe I'll break the law and send you the one track from the suite if you want to hear it.

Mark

[WillBuckingham]

Originally Posted by Dave Grossman

Haha. Thanks.

That work:
http://www.jsbach.net/catalog/04010996000.html
Suite in E minor for Solo Lute - BWV 996

was written for the lute. Some of the other "Lute Suites" are thought to be written for lute or keyboard (some think that they were written for the lautenwerke aka lute-harpsichord).

I'm pretty sure that the Suite in E minor was for the lute specifically.

I'd recommend working on some of the solo cello works first. The lute suites are more advanced and way more difficult to play on the bass. The Cello Suites can pretty much be played exactly as written.

- Dave

Thanks Dave. I've worked through the first Cello suite. I'm halfway through transposing the Bourree for lute into D minor. I think it'll work really well on my EADGC 5-string. I'll post a copy with some fingering suggestions when I'm done.

I was mainly wondering if it was transcribed to E minor for guitar. But I guess this is the original key?


Thanks Matt, for your eloquent and inspirational post.

[Matt Till]

I do what I can, I like to help the kids.

gR13G rUlZZ BaC|h!!!!!111onez

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

What??? It wasn't written for Jethro Tull???

[Dave Grossman]

Originally Posted by WillBuckingham

Thanks Dave. I've worked through the first Cello suite. I'm halfway through transposing the Bourree for lute into D minor. I think it'll work really well on my EADGC 5-string. I'll post a copy with some fingering suggestions when I'm done.

I was mainly wondering if it was transcribed to E minor for guitar. But I guess this is the original key?

Yes, that one was originally in E minor. I think that a few of the others are often transposed for guitar.

The thing I remember about the Bourree on guitar was that the opening had a decending bass figure on the low E string and an ascending figure on the high E. I always figured that it would be near impossible to play on bass.

I've worked on the Prelude Fugue and Allegro on my bass. It's mostly playable with some octave transpositions on the bass notes. When I'm done with the solo violin and solo cello works, I'm planning on working on the Lute works but probably with overdubs on most of the pieces.

- Dave

[WillBuckingham]

Originally Posted by Dave Grossman

Yes, that one was originally in E minor. I think that a few of the others are often transposed for guitar.

The thing I remember about the Bourree on guitar was that the opening had a decending bass figure on the low E string and an ascending figure on the high E. I always figured that it would be near impossible to play on bass.

I've worked on the Prelude Fugue and Allegro on my bass. It's mostly playable with some octave transpositions on the bass notes. When I'm done with the solo violin and solo cello works, I'm planning on working on the Lute works but probably with overdubs on most of the pieces.

- Dave

Yeah. So in D minor that line is just d, e, f in the soprano (on my C string), and f, e, d in the bass. If you use the E octave harmonic and the open D string it's an easy reach. After that almost all the would-be awkward reaches are open strings or easily struck octave harmonics in the bass.

I've stumbled through the whole piece and it's definitely quite playable in d minor. It was also playable in E minor, but would not have worked as well.

How's the fuge by the way? I've never heard this piece, but a fuge on bass would be great!