This stately Baroque masterpiece creates awe in its listeners for its simple elegance. The air is the second movement in Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068. This arrangement for guitar is in the original key, D major.
The piece derives its popular name “Air on a G String,” from an arrangement for solo violin which transposed the Air to C Major, then scored an octave lower. This enabled the violinist to play the tune on only one string, the G string.
On the classical guitar, the Air for G String is exquisite, expressing the very soul of the guitarist who plays it, communicating feeling without a word.
Spot Practice Clip:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/embed/_jcbUR5WnfQ[/youtube]One of the most difficult fingerings occurs right at the beginning of the piece. Classical guitar left-hand technique gets complex on contrapuntal pieces such as this. On this passage, rotate the hand on your wrist slightly to make it easier to reach the D# on the fifth string with 4 as you hold 1,2,and 3.
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