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Order of Difficulty in Bach Suites

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Steve Bosell

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Jul 15, 2010, 2:57:40 PM7/15/10
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Has anyone ordered the Bach Lute, Violin and Cello suites in order of
difficulty for guitar?

Dicerous

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Jul 15, 2010, 3:12:44 PM7/15/10
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On Jul 15, 11:57 am, Steve Bosell <lute...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Has anyone ordered the Bach Lute, Violin and Cello suites in order of
> difficulty for guitar?

They're all equally difficult and should be approached with that
reverence. The beginning, intermediate, difficult pigeon-holing
doesn't work for major works.

thomas

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Jul 15, 2010, 4:26:04 PM7/15/10
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On Jul 15, 1:57 pm, Steve Bosell <lute...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Has anyone ordered the Bach Lute, Violin and Cello suites in order of
> difficulty for guitar?

The cellos seem a lot easier to me, but then I'm hardly an expert.
Check out Prof. Yate's version with all the nice campanella fingerings.

Steve Bosell

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Jul 15, 2010, 4:59:24 PM7/15/10
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Thanks, I'm not an expert either, but I've been playing the 1st and
3rd cello suites for a while. I was wondering how the other suites
compare in terms of difficulty. I also have the Duarte (1st and 3rd)
and the Yates editions.

thomas

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Jul 15, 2010, 5:09:56 PM7/15/10
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Some of the violin/lute suite stuff is immensely difficult, but not
all of it. You can go through and find individual sections that are
playable without a virtuoso technique.

Dicerous

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Jul 15, 2010, 5:22:36 PM7/15/10
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Bach is the perfect *carrot* to get one moving ahead in music. Get
with a decent teacher and learn all of the great notions that Bach's
dots provide. The real question is *how committed are you*?! If
you're just a part timer, or consider the guitar a *light instrument*
then you'll most likely fail. Instead, concentrate and commit
yourself to success.

daveA

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Jul 16, 2010, 11:03:50 AM7/16/10
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On Jul 15, 2:57 pm, Steve Bosell <lute...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Has anyone ordered the Bach Lute, Violin and Cello suites in order of
> difficulty for guitar?

The cello suites seem to be intended to be in order of difficulty for
cello.
You'll have to research other collections of suites to see if there is
any
such quality elsewhere. Of course any intended order of difficulty
within a single suite is
not to be found, and difficulty on the cello and on the guitar are not
necessarily
closely related. Arranging Bach's works playable on guitar in order of
difficulty has never been done, but no doubt it will be attempted.
Regards, daveA

Douglas Seth

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Jul 16, 2010, 11:17:37 AM7/16/10
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On Jul 16, 11:03 am, daveA <d...@openguitar.com> wrote:
> On Jul 15, 2:57 pm, Steve Bosell <lute...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Has anyone ordered the Bach Lute, Violin and Cello suites in order of
> > difficulty for guitar?
>
> The cello suites seem to be intended to be in order of difficulty for
> cello.

They were. The sixth being the most difficult, believed to be written
for a 5 string cello (Dicerous-no iron clad guarantee!).

> You'll have to research other collections of suites to see if there is
> any
> such quality elsewhere. Of course any intended order of difficulty
> within a single suite is
> not to be found, and difficulty on the cello and on the guitar are not
> necessarily
> closely related. Arranging Bach's works playable on guitar in order of
> difficulty has never been done, but no doubt it will be attempted.
> Regards, daveA

Virtually all Bach is very complex music. The arrangements of the
lute, violin, and cello suites are relatively difficult both
technically and musically , however, there are plenty of simple
arrangements of some of Bach's piano works for guitar. Playing Bach
is well worth the effort and will make you a better musician.

>--D--< (ode to Steve F)

bill folk

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Jul 19, 2010, 2:25:00 AM7/19/10
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On Jul 15, 11:57 am, Steve Bosell <lute...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Has anyone ordered the Bach Lute, Violin and Cello suites in order of
> difficulty for guitar?

In order of difficulty (ascending):
1008
996
1007
1009
995
1012
997/1011
1010
1006
1002 and 1004 - equal difficulty.

Hope this helps.

Douglas Seth

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Jul 19, 2010, 8:11:25 AM7/19/10
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Hi Bill,
How did you compile this list? Is it your opinion or did you get it
from someone else. Very neat and succinct, however, I am not sure I
agree with with it completely. For the cello suites especially, it
would depend on the arrangement you are using. The key the suite is
arranged in would largely determine its difficulty.

Doug

bill folk

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Jul 19, 2010, 6:27:43 PM7/19/10
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Hi Doug,
I have worked on all of some of the suites, and some of all of the
suites, and this list is my opinion, based on my experiences with the
movements which I have studied. But really, I just kind of pulled this
list out of, um, thin air, to stimulate discussion. I think they are
all hard, and trying to list them in this way is a futile exercise,
but the OP wanted a list, and for his sins I gave him one.
On a related note, which of these suites would you recommend for
someone who would like to learn their first complete suite? I started
with 996, but I don't think I would recommend that one.

Bill

Douglas Seth

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Jul 19, 2010, 8:23:07 PM7/19/10
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> Bill- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Hi Bill,
I would probably recommend Cello Suite No. 1 arranged in C major.
Pretty Straight forward for Bach.

Dicerous

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Jul 19, 2010, 8:25:16 PM7/19/10
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My teachers always made me transcribe from a recording. You should
try it too Bill!

bill folk

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Jul 20, 2010, 12:11:22 AM7/20/10
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Sounds like a good plan. I like the 1007 Prelude in A - I wonder if
the whole suite will work in that key.

I'm enjoying this set - http://www.amazon.com/Bachs-Cello-Suites-Analyses-Explorations/dp/0253218969
- anyone else looked this over? It would be nice there was something
similar for the Lute Suites.

Alex Brown

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Oct 28, 2021, 4:30:02 AM10/28/21
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