WEEK 3: Heavenly Harmonies of J.S.Bach!

Introducing “Carmina”, my new Hauser model guitar!!!

Carmina just arrived yesterday, and she sounds incredible! So awesome to play. You may hear some occasional string buzz. I’m still working that out.

I am presenting my progress on 5 pieces, 3 of which are what I call “Consumer” pieces - everyone’s favorites. They are Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, Minuet in G and Bouree in Em. There is much more to the "Jesu" piece. This is the first half - what I have so far. 

The last two pieces are the two minuets from the Bach cello suite #1. These pieces are my own arrangements, and each one is like two different songs from a performance perspective. How I arranged them was to play the repeats in a different position. One would be lower on the neck, more open notes and brighter tone, the other is higher on the neck using lower strings and going for a more mellow cello-like tone.

What I also observed from cello performances of these two minuets is that they are often played together - almost as one - and then repeating the first minuet (without its repeats) after the second. I have done this in this performance.

I went for a concert-like performance with all of these songs. I just played each one once - one right after the other, like you would do in a concert. That’s what I love about this community - it’s great practice to put this stuff out there for people in a safe space.

What I found difficult -

• I wasn’t nervous, but it’s amazing how it seems all my training just disappears when I’m recording or playing live.
• Fingering higher on the neck leaves fewer - or no - open strings. Open strings give you a chance to reposition your hand without losing any sustain. That also creates more opportunity for string squeaking.
• Always right-hand fingering.
• Trying to play how Bach's music may have been played - without consecutive notes ringing out over each other, especially major and minor seconds. For example, the last cadence of the first repeat of Minuet in G goes from a G to an F# back to a G. If you play the G on the open 3rd string it's very difficult to stop that from ringing out while you play the F# on the 4th string. What I have done is played the first G on the 4th string as well, but that makes for a more difficult reach. 
• Not rolling the chords in Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. 

What I found easy -

• Only continuing to play these songs as they are so amazing!