Bach Air - Easy Piano Arrangement

Johann Sebastian Bach: Air from Orchestra Suite No. 3

PDF Sheet music, piano solo
Simple Solutions piano arrangement by Henrik Kilhamn

Approximate Grade: 3
Scale 1 - 8: Beginner - Advanced

Key: D major, same as original

I have been playing a piano arrangement of this timeless classic by Bach, originally for string orchestra, for many years as part of my classical background music repertoire. However, that arrangement requires moving between very wide chords to catch all the voices, and I realized I should be able to reduce it for Simple Solutions. Since Bach’s counterpoint is flawless you actually get most of the way there with only the bass and top voice, and in a few spots I found some clever tricks to add in some of the other voices to create the illusion of polyphony, even though the right hand almost never plays more than one note at a time!

This arrangement is included in Simple Solutions Volume 4 - An Orchestral Orchard (Intermediate ~ Grade 4-5)

Also, check out:
Simple Solutions Volume 1 (Elementary ~ Grade 3)
Simple Solutions Volume 2 (Intermediate ~ Grade 5)
Simple Solutions Volume 3: Nights & Dreams (Intermediate ~ Grade 5)

ABOUT SIMPLE SOLUTIONS

The Simple Solutions series came from the idea that even not-professionally trained pianists should be able to enjoy the feeling of playing great music from the piano repertoire with their own hands. This is possible with some clever rearranging of the musical material: reducing the range of independent voices and jumps while preserving core ideas of melody and rhythm. In this easier setting, you will instead have enough time on your hands (literally!) to bring the music to life and care about those aspect that often otherwise come second: phrasing, articulation, dynamics, and balance. This will help you develop your over-all musicality, which will be of great value in all other pieces as well.

In the end, if you feel ready for a challenge and want to go forward with proper piano studies that requires years of practice – you can always move on to more advanced arrangements or original piano compositions. They will always be there. In the meantime, these arrangements will bring you close to the same enjoyment as the full versions, because all musical ideas are carefully conserved.

They are just a little bit easier.