Bach Arioso - Easy Piano Arrangement

Johann Sebastian Bach: Arioso from Cantata BWV 156.

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

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

Key: Easy key G major + Original key F major included

I got to know this piece from a collection of pieces for cello and piano. Originally, it’s written for string ensemble as an instrumental movement of a Cantata, but its adaptation for cello and piano works very well with the pianist taking care of the bass in LH and middle voices in RH. So for a piano solo rendition our RH instead gets to play the beautiful melody, while bass and harmony is centered within an octave for LH. The original is in F major, easy enough to read, but I have also included it in G major here since it is commonly rendered in this key.

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.

The arrangement comes in two versions: both transposed to an easier key signature as well as kept in the original key.

The "Easy Key" transposed version is recommended for the most comfortable Simple Solutions experience. It's much easier to read notes without many sharps or flats, which frees up a lot of attention for all other musical aspects solely at a cost if you have perfect pitch. The version in original key serves the purpose of constituting a proper stepping stone if you wish to continue with the original version / more advanced arrangements in some capacity later on.