{"id":135080,"date":"2023-03-26T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-26T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=135080"},"modified":"2023-05-31T20:01:03","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T03:01:03","slug":"bach-prelude-no-1-in-c-major-flatpicking-guitar-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/bach-prelude-no-1-in-c-major-flatpicking-guitar-study\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPrelude No. 1 in C Major\u201d\u2014Transforming a Bach Keyboard Work into a Flatpicking Guitar Study"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cPrelude No. 1 in C Major\u201d from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1<\/a><\/em> is one of Johann Sebastian Bach\u2019s most famous compositions. This keyboard work fits nicely an octave lower on guitar, in open position, with only a few minor modifications\u2014several of the bass notes need to be played in the original octave, as they would be too low for standard tuning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Bach pieces are commonly adapted for classical and fingerstyle guitar, the same cannot be said when it comes to flatpicking. But as this arrangement shows, \u201cPrelude No. 1 in C major\u201d works quite well as a picking etude. I find it\u2019s best played with consistent down-up picking throughout, for a fluid and relaxed feel. This results in a challenging upstroke on the sixth and 14th notes of each measure, but the piece is meant to be taken at a contemplative pace, and with a little practice the upstroke will come naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the fretting hand, while many of the measures are based around common open chord shapes like C and G7, some of the passages can be tricky. For this reason, I\u2019ve provided occasional fingering suggestions in the notation. Work through these portions slowly and repeat each measure until you feel confident with the chord shapes. Also, check out the accompanying video for more thoughts on the left-hand approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The magic from this piece comes from letting the notes ring out to reveal lush harmonies and overtones, so you\u2019ll want to hold each chord shape in the fretting hand whenever possible. This is easier in some places (like measures 1\u20134) than in others (the monster F#dim7\/G chord in bar 28). In some measures there are repeated notes on the same string (bar 6), and in these instances keeping notes ringing on other strings is essential to maintain the sustain found elsewhere in the arrangement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take it slow and enjoy the complex harmonies created by these ringing chords. Not many of Bach\u2019s pieces are adaptable to guitarists who play with a pick, so this one is well worth the time to learn and appreciate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bach's<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Bach's<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Bach's<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
<\/a>\n

This article originally appeared in the March\/April 2023<\/a> issue of Acoustic Guitar<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As this arrangement shows, Bach’s Prelude No. 1 in C Major works quite well as a flatpicking etude.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":135082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"In this guitar lesson, learn to play J.S. Bach's Prelude No. 1 in C major from the Well-Tempered Clavier on guitar as a flatpicking etude. ","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1655,1151],"tags":[1606],"ppma_author":[1589],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/agm-back-prelude-1.mp4.00_07_26_17.Still004.jpg?fit=750%2C422&ssl=1","authors":[{"term_id":1589,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"alan-barnosky","display_name":"Alan Barnosky","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Alan-Barnosky.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Alan-Barnosky.jpg"},"user_url":"https:\/\/www.alanbarnosky.com\/","last_name":"Barnosky","first_name":"Alan","description":"Alan Barnosky is a guitarist based in Durham, NC. He performs solo as a songwriter as well as in bluegrass and folk bands."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135080"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135080"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136475,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135080\/revisions\/136475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135080"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=135080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}