Free Online Classical Guitar Lessons from LAGA

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:

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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