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I recently ran across a piece of Bach sheet music that was in standard notation and had implied chord symbols above the staff line. It was posted on an Amazon review and I can't locate it. Anybody ever hear of such a thing?
Strikes me as good way to better understand the music of Bach.
I've been on the look out for a book of "easier" Bach compositions in standard notation. Could be only parts of the the entire composition like an etude. Really just looking for something to improve sight reading and play some nice sounding Bach without getting too involved.
Anybody know of such a book?
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02-21-2023 11:34 AM
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It's not that difficult to figure out the implied chords if you take into account the key, the bass line, movement in the middle voices and the melody of course.
You can do that for orchestral classical music as well. The chords and the progressions are retrofitted so in some cases slightly different interpretations possible.
I just did a quick search, this book seems to be what you're looking for. It also indicates the chord symbols above the staff (if you click on "Look Inside" you can see sample pages):
Amazon.com
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Thanks but TAB is a deal breaker
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Unfortunately most guitar oriented books come with both standard notation and tabs. I find it very easy to just ignore tabs and look at the standard notation.
Originally Posted by alltunes
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Yeah but TAB takes up too much space and is often printed too small or faintly for me to read easily.. Dots are so much easier plus I was looking to improve reading skills also. I am not looking for a guitar orientated book per se. I play mandolin also.
I guess I'm looking for the best of Bach or a Bach sampler with a single staff (no bass clef)
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Not exactly Bach but this looks interesting:
https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Shapes-E...ks%2C81&sr=1-2
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If you want some relatively straightforward Bach lines to sight-read, the IMSLP site has the Cello Suites arranged for violin by Werner Icking, this puts them into treble clef and they fall into the guitar range. The cello suites are largely single-note lines, so a bit easier than some Bach stuff.
Or course there are no chord symbols, can’t help you with that.
Look for the Werner Icking arrangement for violin here (in Arrangements and Transcriptions):
6 Cello Suites, BWV 1007-1012 (Bach, Johann Sebastian) - IMSLP: Free Sheet Music PDF Download
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ah thanks that reminded me that forum member Rob MacKillop has this which I just ordered
Amazon.com
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Ah yes, that should fit the bill nicely.
There’s also a Bach solo flute sonata (BWV 1013) which can probably be sight-read on guitar.
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Studying this in the inventions probably taught me more about music that any other single source. It's truly the nuts and bolts of music.
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Hi alltunes
Perhaps the book that you remember seeing was Adrian Ingram's Jazz Bach For Fingerstyle Guitar?
It's in standard notation and has chord names above the stave on several of the pieces:
www.amazon.com/Jazz-Fingerstyle-Guitar-Adrian-Ingram-ebook/dp/B07TGF9RL8/ref=sr_1_1?crid=KN1X6RMZ7YG1&keywords=ingram+Jazz+ Bach+For+Fingerstyle+Guitar&qid=1677021146&s=books &sprefix=ingram+jazz+bach+for+fingerstyle+guitar%2 Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C153&sr=1-1
All the best
Mick W
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Look on Musescore if standard notation is what you are after. Loads of stuff on there.
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Dang MacKillop is like a publishing wunderkind. 26 titles? I better get crackin'! Originally Posted by alltunes
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Have you seen this?:
www.amazon.com/Bach-Fake-Book-Books/dp/160378179X
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Bach for Flute in treble clef:
Browse Tunes - Free Flute Sheet Music | flutetunes.com
The Bach English Suite no2 BWV 807 at slow tempo is easier, even with my lack of ability.
https://www.flutetunes.com/tunes/bac...2-bourrees.pdf
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Also, the world's fav Bach Cello suite No 1 BWV1007, in the original key G Major:
https://www.flutetunes.com/tunes/bac...o1-prelude.pdf
It has the low C, so great for 7 string guitars with a low B string or A string.
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Hi.
I realize I am late to this thread but just wanted to say something anyway.
Bach is contrapuntal music; lines against lines using the rules of this form of music which came before harmonic music..
Firstly, if If you already know the chords employed in harmonic music you should be able to see where they lie when seeing contrapuntal music..An example would be seeing D# in bass, and an A and F# above it as being B7 without the root B.. Or F in bass and at same time or measure an Ab and a C as being F minor.. Having chord symbols above contrapuntal music will not improve your reading ability of contrapuntal music and in fact may even slow it down by both reading the lines and gazing at the symbol at the same time... In other words the symbols are just that; symbols of exactly vertical chords when most the time these chords happen by their notes coming before or after one another, not at the very same vertical time.. We read classical guitar note for note, not chord by chord as say in a 'rhythm guitar' chart in a big band. Or put even another way; It's not of any value in classical music to be able to name or even notice what chords may be being sounded..They are merely the convergence of notes in lines of notes which happen to form a familiar looking/sounding chord or harmony...
In classical guitar, piano, xylophone, harpsichord and other chordal instruments we read the notes with little to no concern when they do form harmony or a harmonic progression. We just read the notes the composer puts before us..Chord symbols above where that happens helps little in improving reading of classical guitar music..Last edited by MarkInLA; 03-08-2023 at 07:08 PM.
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Guy B,
I don't normally respond to a 'like' that I get..But since you ARE the OP of the thread, I consider it an honor to be getting a 'like' from you..
It shows you understood me and do take what I say as bearing some importance in relation to your thread's aim...
Thanks much,
M
PS. If it's that you play a jazz guitar with a pick but wish to play classical on it, if you don't already know, there is a Berklee College of Mus. book by William Levitt "Classical Studies for Pick Style Guitar" on eBay..contrapuntal pieces with a plectrum.Last edited by MarkInLA; 03-09-2023 at 08:33 PM.
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If you want to understand Bach’s harmony I would recommend looking into figured bass
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So was Bach's second wife, Anna Magdalena! Originally Posted by alltunes
He wrote a notebook of songs which also had
some by other composers she liked. Look for
Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, of 1725.
It's still a popular first Bach book for students.
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I did not say anything. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
But I am watching you...
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Haha :-) Originally Posted by Jonah
Well it is to be fair a system of notation that Bach himself used to teach harmony. It is not the whole story but it’s a lot easier to use for this purpose than chord symbols. With symbols it feels like you are pushing square pegs into round holes.
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Yes, chord symbols can be absolutely misleading and make simple turnarounds look more complex than they are, of course. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
But focusing on general bass only can also lead to missing overall picture.
In practicing figured bass it is important from an early stage to distinguish in figures major harmonic structures immidiately: sequences (repeated idea), modulations (change), cadences (conclusion) etc. Classifying it as semantic tools...
Not just thinking from bass to bass...
By the way overcomplicated chord symbols also lead to 'chord to chord' thinking.
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I recently made harmonic structure analysis for a friend who studies harmony - it was a piece of Weiss.Well it is to be fair a system of notation that Bach himself used to teach harmony. It is not the whole story but it’s a lot easier to use for this purpose than chord symbols. With symbols it feels like you are pushing square pegs into round holes.
I did both general bass and numeric harmonic structure.
I should say that numeric system like (I - VII6 - I6 - V6 - I etc) gives very good feeling of a form as a harmony-based structure immidiately. But I noticed that if a student is not very creative or experienced you should really show him a few different examples of some turnaround and sequences at a time - to show him how it can be realized in real texture with real melody.
How the same pattern can be expressed quite differently in the real music (though it keeps generally the same function and character).
Because otherwise it brings in very schematic approach (he plays chords only)
With general bass you have more possibilities to define voice-leading and melodic voices which is also important in my opinion. But general bass obscures a bit the overall harmonic movements (again only experience helps to learn to see it through figures).
I came to an idea that it makes sense to use both actually in teaching process (at least of early music)- they complement each other very well.
And another idea again and again... one should really play a lot of music... when I showed him the same turnarounds in a dozen of different scores from Bach, Vivaldi, Corelli, Weiss, Handel... and all the same but different and all playing a role in the form-making and creative process. It was like an enlightenment. He understood what it was all really for.
that it is not a brick, a pattern, a puzzle - that it is a part of lively expressive language - you can speak with it, paint with it, express ideas with it.
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