Can this be done?

[Jazzyteach65]

I am not ridiculing or celebrating this guy, I just want to know if what he is playing can be achieved by one fretting hand on one guitar.

YouTube Video

[billkath]

Sure. He's tapping with the other hand, like rock guitarists do.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Originally Posted by Jazzyteach65

I just want to know if what he is playing can be achieved by one fretting hand on one guitar.

The freeze frame there looks like a big stretch for one hand!

[Jazzyteach65]

Originally Posted by billkath

Sure. He's tapping with the other hand, like rock guitarists do.

Are you sure? Because he is using piano harmony and shapes, and any of us who have studied clasical piano can tell you that those wide, four-part voicings with the third or fifth in the bass two octaves down while playing a counterpunctal melody two octaves higher would be VERY hard to do with one hand playing polyphonically.

My question is could someone like John Williams play the same exact notes this guy is playing note-for-note with one fretting hand only?

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

I can't say for that piece, but most of the time, there's a lot of arranging going on to get Bach's keyboard music onto one fretboard.

[fumblefingers]

its easy - no. it would have to be rearranged for the guitar.

what he is doing clearly requires two fretboards. just watch.

[billkath]

I'm sure it's possible with one guitar,-I mean on just one fretboard-though. I've seen somewhere on the net a young Japanese guitarist do it-using tapping hammer-on technique.

[randalljazz]

Goldberg Variations by Jozsef Eötvös at jsbach.org

YouTube - Bach - Goldberg Variations BWV 988 - 1/7

[bako]

Start here. Here lie the facts.

Nice version in Randall's post. He takes the melody down an octave and avoids the 7+ fret stretch problem.

Anyone know what the Ossia measures represent? An alternate version, an editors suggestion?

[fumblefingers]

Christopher Parkening is known for great Bach interpretations on the classical guitar. (For non-classical guitarists they call them "transcriptions" because they have to be re-arranged for the limitations of the guitar/guitar playing, where keyboard and polyphonic music are concerned)

But if you want to hear the most astounding playing of classical keyboard music on the guitar then you need to hear Paul Galbraith and his ground-breaking recordings. He plays an 8 string, which eliminates many of the 6 string limitations. I'm not knocking the other guy above, but, Galbraith's work is a far cry from tapping on an electric.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym9I0goSZ1c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykShe...eature=related


http://www.amazon.com/Galbraith-Plays-Performer-Joseph-Composer/dp/B00000IPTW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1291480863&sr=8-5


YouTube - Paul Galbraith - Bajo La Palmera - Albeniz (high definition)


Paul Galbraith