5 ms·

I came to Bach only recently, I bought a classical guitar a couple of years ago and just over the last eight months or so I've been really getting into baroque

I came to Bach only recently, I bought a classical guitar a couple of years ago and just over the last eight months or so I've been really getting into baroque music. I don't know why I didn't appreciate it before, I guess I just never gave Bach a chance, but it's some of the most amazing stuff I've ever heard. The counterpoint that makes it feel like the music is spiralling around you is just otherworldly.

random_moonwalk 3y ago
A gift: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OosoIH6osS0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OosoIH6osS0
- mathieuh 3y ago
  I love 998. The bass-line in the allegro especially is so punchy, especially coming after the fugue. Always a pleasure to listen to David Russell. My favourite of his is his arrangement of Handel's passacaglia from HWV 432: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b3D0t1DiEg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b3D0t1DiEg If it's baroque don't fix it.
2pie 3y ago
I'd be interested in resources you could share for baroque guitar playing. I play guitar and I love baroque music, but I didn't mix these two hobbys so far. I can read music, but I am a bit slow.
- mathieuh 3y ago
  I'm completely self-taught, so while I am teaching myself to read music I'm learning baroque music through tab. It's just too frustrating for me to try reading complicated standard notation at the moment. My main resources for baroque tabs would be: - classtab.org - classclef.com Of the two I would say classtab is the more accurate. For example, here's the tab for the prelude from 998: https://www.classtab.org/bach_js_bwv0998_lute_suite_in_eb_1_prelude.txt https://www.classtab.org/bach_js_bwv0998_lute_suite_in_eb_1_... Scroll down to the drop-D one, that's the one I play. With baroque music I find legato is so incredibly important so really concentrate on fingerings that let the notes ring out. There may frequently be an easier fingering to grab but which means you have to stop the bass note too early, so it takes a bit of experimentation to figure it out. It's very difficult but incredibly rewarding when you manage to produce the counterpoint yourself, I'm smiling to myself the whole time while playing.
  - talonx 3y ago
    Not to sound dogmatic but I would suggest learning notation also at some point so that you can read the original sheet music. It will open up an entire world of what the composer wanted to express apart from just the notes.
    - mathieuh 3y ago
      Yeah I am learning standard notation and I do look at the standard notation for pieces to look at the instructions from the composer. I mean, I can read music but and I could figure out how to play baroque music from standard notation, I would just be glacially slow. I'm still working my way through Sor etudes so I learn the fretboard.
      - talonx 3y ago
        I used to play classical guitar - not anymore. I fondly remember the Sor studies.
- xetplan 3y ago
  You could look into the actual baroque guitar too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_guitar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_guitar For modern guitar, there are many transcriptions of Bach and Silvius Leopold Weiss lute music.
xetplan 3y ago
The problem with Bach is the 1100 pieces he has. It took me so long to hear things I really loved. For me, it is his lute music that really shows his genius. Part of the problem with the classical masters is we speak as if we love all their work the same. I love Pink Floyd too but that doesn't mean I think all Pink Floyd albums are equal.
- aldanor 3y ago
  I think it's like like saying the problem with rock music is all those thousands of rock bands out there. After a while, you know what you like or dislike and what pieces to listen to that you might subjectively enjoy.

random_moonwalk 3y ago

A gift: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OosoIH6osS0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OosoIH6osS0

mathieuh 3y ago
I love 998. The bass-line in the allegro especially is so punchy, especially coming after the fugue. Always a pleasure to listen to David Russell. My favourite of his is his arrangement of Handel's passacaglia from HWV 432: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b3D0t1DiEg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b3D0t1DiEg If it's baroque don't fix it.

2pie 3y ago

I'd be interested in resources you could share for baroque guitar playing. I play guitar and I love baroque music, but I didn't mix these two hobbys so far. I can read music, but I am a bit slow.

mathieuh 3y ago
I'm completely self-taught, so while I am teaching myself to read music I'm learning baroque music through tab. It's just too frustrating for me to try reading complicated standard notation at the moment. My main resources for baroque tabs would be: - classtab.org - classclef.com Of the two I would say classtab is the more accurate. For example, here's the tab for the prelude from 998: https://www.classtab.org/bach_js_bwv0998_lute_suite_in_eb_1_prelude.txt https://www.classtab.org/bach_js_bwv0998_lute_suite_in_eb_1_... Scroll down to the drop-D one, that's the one I play. With baroque music I find legato is so incredibly important so really concentrate on fingerings that let the notes ring out. There may frequently be an easier fingering to grab but which means you have to stop the bass note too early, so it takes a bit of experimentation to figure it out. It's very difficult but incredibly rewarding when you manage to produce the counterpoint yourself, I'm smiling to myself the whole time while playing.
- talonx 3y ago
  Not to sound dogmatic but I would suggest learning notation also at some point so that you can read the original sheet music. It will open up an entire world of what the composer wanted to express apart from just the notes.
  - mathieuh 3y ago
    Yeah I am learning standard notation and I do look at the standard notation for pieces to look at the instructions from the composer. I mean, I can read music but and I could figure out how to play baroque music from standard notation, I would just be glacially slow. I'm still working my way through Sor etudes so I learn the fretboard.
    - talonx 3y ago
      I used to play classical guitar - not anymore. I fondly remember the Sor studies.
xetplan 3y ago
You could look into the actual baroque guitar too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_guitar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_guitar For modern guitar, there are many transcriptions of Bach and Silvius Leopold Weiss lute music.

xetplan 3y ago

The problem with Bach is the 1100 pieces he has. It took me so long to hear things I really loved. For me, it is his lute music that really shows his genius. Part of the problem with the classical masters is we speak as if we love all their work the same. I love Pink Floyd too but that doesn't mean I think all Pink Floyd albums are equal.

aldanor 3y ago
I think it's like like saying the problem with rock music is all those thousands of rock bands out there. After a while, you know what you like or dislike and what pieces to listen to that you might subjectively enjoy.