Course Syllabus
In this lesson, Laura Young explains how to choose the best key to perform Bach's music on the guitar, how to craft the best version for yourself to play, and some overarching principles that are valid for all of Bach's music.
Laura Young teaches you how to preserve the improvisatory spirit of the Prelude, and how to allow the music to guide all your dynamic, ornamental, and technical choices.
The most complex of the traditional Baroque Suite dances, the Allemande deserves special attention. In this lesson, Laura Young offers some guidance about the best way to maintain the pulse of the dance while still allowing yourself the necessary freedom to bring out the beauty of the music.
Bach uses two distinct types of Courantes in his Suites: French and Italian courantes. Learn how to play this Italian Courante and what purpose it serves within the larger Suite. Laura explains her phrasing choices and how to use "arrival notes" to make decisions regarding dynamics and tempo fluctuations.
Originally a fast Latin American dance, the Sarabande slowly morphed over the centuries, becoming a quiet and introspective movement by the time this Suite was written. Laura Young explains why the Sarabande is one of Bach's favorite movements, and how to make the most out of it.
These two contrasting movements are mirror images of each other. In this lesson, Laura Young teaches you the best ways to bring out their differences using phrasing, dynamics, and technique.
The traditional closing movement of a Bach Suite, the Gigue, is a fast dance that has its origins in the British Isles. Learn how to make it sound light and effortless despite its technical difficulty by applying Laura Young's unique insights into this movement.
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