Bach Cello Suite I - Prelude

[Hany Hayek]

I know this has been played and posted a lot here. This is my interpretation, hope you like it. Comments will be very much appreciated.
(there was a clock striking at min 1:53 )

[crisscross]

Nice! I like the fact, that you sometimes use two or three downstrokes in a row. Adds fluency to the prelude.
Only the ending sounds a little sudden. A little Ritardando would prepare the final chord. Mandolin sounds beautiful!

[JeffD]

Very nice. Inspiring me to get back to it.

[stevenmando]

Perfect , a wonderful way to start a day , thank you

[derbex]

Well done, very fluent.

I am trying to get this off on my Octave Mandolin -might be ready to post it by next Christmas

crisscross is right about the mandolin, sounds good even up the neck.

[Hany Hayek]

I have to resurrect this one, as I need to ask about the picking pattern. I was using Munier's way of picking. There is no alternate up and down stokes in my playing. Although in Munier's method there is a whole part where he refers to different picking patterns.
Since then I have changed my way of picking and I am now playing this with just alternate up and down strokes. (haven't made another video yet). It comes easier and more logical to me because of my violin background (I am still a grade 5 violinist according to my teacher ). This piece is coming up a lot lately and I am very interested to hear opinions.
I watched on youtube Caterina Lichtenberg playing it with a very strange (to me) pattern of picking (similar to what I am doing, but also using alternate up and down in some parts), she was using a roman plectrum. I also watched Avi Avital playing this on a mandola, and If I am not mistaking, he was using alternate picking.

[Rob MacKillop]

Well done, Hany. Anyone who can play through this piece on a mandolin is doing well.

As the mandolin is new to me, I'm curious about the concept of picking patterns. I can see the value of them where the composer deliberately uses them, and once you've studied them in depth there must be the temptation to use them in many situations. I suppose the equivalent would be bow technique, taking perhaps two or three strings with a down bow, one string with an up bow. That approach could lead to a danger of imposing a mechanical technique on music that wasn't written with that technique in mind. I'd feel safer, if that's the word, utilising a technique which is tied to the movement of harmony and rhythm.

Most music exists within a hierarchy of (in no particular order) melody, harmony, and rhythm. Different composers at different times and places, favoured one over the others. Put simply and naively, a Romantic composer might favour melody more, while a South American composer might put rhythm at the top of his/her priorities. With Bach, my impression is that harmony came out on top more often than the other two elements. We need a technique that helps articulate harmony.

If we have, say a rising and falling scale passage from C Major:

C D E F G F E D C

and alternate down and up strokes, ensuring that the down stroke is heavier than the up (maybe even striking both strings of a course on the down stroke, but only one string on the up), the down strokes form a C Major chord, C E G, while the up strokes are D and F, which could indicate a D minor chord or, more likely, two notes of a G7 chord, the dominant chord.

But, if we have a full scale of C Major:

C D E F G A B C

our down strokes give us C E G B - a rather jazzy C Maj 7, while out up strokes give a Dm7 chord: D F A C.

Depending on the musical context, this may or may not be appropriate. But it gives us some indication of the complexities involved in having alternate notes being strong and weak.

Now imagine playing the low C (fourth string, fifth fret) with a down stroke rest stroke, followed by the open D with another down stroke: we have two strong notes, which might sound great to our ears, but which gives no indication of the underlying harmony. We might go on to play the E with an up stroke, the F with a down stroke, etc - chaos! We've no idea what the underlying harmony is.

This might be 100% appropriate, however, if that's what the composer wanted - nothing is intrinsically wrong, and context is everything.

These are just ideas that crop up when I study mandolin music. Things were simpler in the Renaissance lute world. The thumb and middle finger, being strong fingers, were reserved for strong beats, the weaker index finger was reserved for weak beats. Simple. But once the ring finger started creeping into use, things got more complicated, and very often more confused.

So, without writing an essay, I'd better end my musings here. Just raising a few ideas, all of which might be old hat to you guys, but which are renewed concerns for me as I study mandolin technique, both from what I see in written Methods and in observed practise.

[Mandolin Cafe]

We strongly support the playing of Bach Cello Suites on mandolin. We've attached this PDF of the music plenty around the Forum but one more time can't hurt.

[jetsedgwick]

Great job.

[JeffD]

Those of you working on the cello suites, and those of you contemplating it - there is a great book I highly recommend.

"The Cello Suites" by Eric Siblin. It is the story of Bach's writing them, and the story of Pablo Casals finding them after they had been lost for 200 years, and the story of a modern person getting into classical music through the Bach Cello Suites. A great summer read.

[Frankdolin]

I'm a little late but... That was verrry nice Hany! I kinda forgot I had this on my to do list. Re-inspired....