Firstly, some FAQs.

• Why have you changed the keys from Bach's originals?

  On a cello the lowest note is a C, but the bass descends to the E eight semitones below this. If we bassists played exactly what Bach wrote, we would be completely wasting the bottom eight notes of our instruments, including the lovely resonance of that low open E! Not only that, but, if we left things alone, Bach's highest notes would be up around fret 24. This would render playing the pieces difficult, if not utterly impossible. (Many basses only have 20 frets!)

• So apart from pitch, and of course the bow, is the cello just the same as the bass then?

  No. On a cello the strings are tuned seven semitones apart rather than our five. The cello is certainly a far harder instrument to play, but in these suites we bassists need to jump about quite a bit more.

• Can cello pieces really be played properly on a bass? Don't they sound a bit strange?

  I admit these Suites sound better on the cello, but they sound pretty good on a bass!
  There are five low Bs in bars 7 & 8 of the Allemande from Suite no. 3, which, given the tempo of the piece, are completely unplayable. I just keep playing Es in their place - it sounds almost indistinguishable. Otherwise every single note of Bach's is playable.

• Why are there two .gif versions of each movement? Which is correct?

  The usual tradition is that music for bass guitar is written an octave higher than it sounds. So low E usually appears on the first ledger line below the stave, whereas the actual sound it makes is the E in the fifth space below the stave.
  Personally I prefer bass scores to be written exactly as they sound. It's not as common, but you do get a less top-heavy score and if, say, you play piano, you might already be used to all these extra ledger lines.
  So both versions are correct, it just depends which you prefer.

• Any chance of including fingering?

  Maybe one day, perhaps using a colour code for the different strings, but I just haven't got round to it yet. Meantime it won't do you any harm to work out your own fingering ...

• Which are the easiest movements to play?

  Probably the Gigue and the Sarabande from Suite no. 1. The Sarabande is very short, and the chordal work isn't too demanding. The two Preludes are by far the toughest movements. Please feel free to E-mail me (Remove NOSPAM from the address) with any questions about playing.

• The .gif files didn't print too well.

  They should print beautifully. If you printed direct from the new window that opened, you can try changing the settings under File > Page Setup. But you may get better results importing the files to your graphics program rather than printing direct from the browser. Set each file to occupy a full A4 portrait page.

Click on the icons		View .gif files		Hear Midi files	Download Mozart (.mz) files
		written as they sound	written an octave higher
Suite no. 1	I Prelude				Whole suite, zipped, 16KB
	II Allemande
	III Courante
	IV Sarabande
	V Menuets
	VI Gigue
Suite no. 3	I Prelude	Page 1 of 2	Page 1 of 2		Whole suite, zipped, 19KB
		Page 2 of 2	Page 2 of 2
	II Allemande
	III Courante
	IV Sarabande
	V Bourées
	VI Gigue

I would like to do a little publicity for the music notation program I used to create these files. Before discovering this software, I used to tediously transpose all the notes in a piece down eight semitones and produce a handwritten score. “Mozart” not only produces professional quality scores, it plays the music, can be used for composing and is free for a 30 day trial period. I liked it so much I bought the full version, which is great value for money. If you download Mozart, you can see and hear my Mozart files in all their glory!

A little humour : Bach every time for me!