SKU: A0.1115979

An easy piano arrangement of Bach's 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.' The inner voices have been removed, whilst still retaining the melody and a simplified bassline. About the arranger: I have been playing and teaching piano for over 20 years, and hold a degree in music from Oxford University. I'm on a mission to make piano accessible to everyone who wants to enjoy the beauty of playing.

SKU: A0.1234273

I offer an arrangement of Bach’s all-time favourite Jesus, Joy of Man’s Desiring for solo acoustic or classical guitar. I have arranged the piece in 4/4 time in a folk-fingerpicking style giving it something of an American folk-country character, perhaps verging on a gospel. The arrangement follows the original as faithfully as possible with the melody and choral sections interwoven. 

I think the piece survives the time-change operation beautifully, retaining the joyful and praiseful character of Bach’s original. The piece is a joy to play and to listen to.

The arrangement is accessible to intermediate to advanced students of acoustic or classical guitar. Any student of guitar who has mastered the basics of thumb-index-middle fingerpicking  (thumb, thumb, index, middle, thumb, index) will have fun with the piece.

I give extensive left hand fingering accompanied by tabs as a guide to the intermediate students of guitar. Right hand fingering is given for the first playing of the repetitive passages and in passages where it might be difficult for the performer to find appropriate  fingering. Otherwise I expect the fingering to be more or less self-evident, leaving it to the individual taste and style of the interpreting guitarist.

I have set the tempo to Presto for the arrangement to keep close to lively nature of the original, but the arrangement can also be played much slower, somewhere around Metronome 130. This results in a shift in mood towards a ragtime blues, verging on a spiritual. This great music is a never-ending source of inspiration.

The piece is a nice follow-up to my folk-fingerpicking arrangements for Freight Train and The Entertainer.