Bwv 999 Prelude In D Minor Guitar Tabs by Johann Sebastian Bach

E-|---Song:-Prelude-in-D-minor-(BWV999)------------|
A-|---Author:-JSBach-------------------------------|
D-|---Transcription-by:Christian Liang-------------|
G-|---E-Mail:christian.liang@gmail.com-------------|
B-|---http://www.chrisliang.com--------------------|
E-|---Enjoy!---------------------------------------|

Prelude in D minor by BWV999 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Originally written for the lute in the key of C minor.


[1]
E|-------5-----------------|-------5-----------------|-------6-----------------|
B|-----6---6---6-----------|-----6---6---6-----------|-----8---8---8-----------|
G|---7-------7---7---7---7-|---7-------7---7---7---7-|---7-------7---7---7---7-|
D|-0---------------7-------|-0---------------7-------|-0---------------8---5---|
A|---------------------8---|---------------------8---|-------------------------|
E|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|

L    3 2 1 2 3 2 3 2 3 4 3     3 2 1 2 3 2 3 2 3 4 3     2 4 1 4 2 4 2 3 2 1 2
R  p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i

[4]

E|-------6-----------------|-------3-----------------|-------3-----------------|
B|-----8---8---8-----------|-----5---5---5-----2---2-|-----5---5---5-----2---2-|
G|---7-------7---7---7---7-|---6-------6---6-3---0---|---6-------6---6-3---0---|
D|-0---------------8---5---|-0-----------------------|-0-----------------------|
A|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
E|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|

R    2 4 1 4 2 4 2 3 2 1 2      3 2 1 2 3 2 3 3 2  2      3 2 1 2 3 2 3 3 2  2
L  p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i

[7]

E|-------1-----------------|-------1-----------------|-------1-----------------|
B|-----3---3---3-----------|-----3---3---3-----------|-----3---3---3-----------|
G|---2-------2---2---2---2-|---2-------2---2---2---2-|---2-------2---2---2---2-|
D|-0---------------3---0---|-----------------3---0---|-----------------3---0---|
A|-------------------------|-3-----------------------|-1-----------------------|
E|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|

L    2 4 1 4 2 4 2 3 2   2   3 2 4 1 4 2 4 2 3 2   2   1 2 4 1 4 2 4 2 3 2   2
R  p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i

[10]
     I..................
E|-------1-----------------|-------1-----------------|-------1-----------------|
B|-----3---3---3-----------|-----3---3---3-----------|-----3---3---3-----0---0-|
G|---2-------2---2---2---2-|---4-------4---4---4---4-|---4-------4---4-1-------|
D|-----------------3---0---|-----------------3---0---|---------------------2---|
A|-0-----------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
E|-------------------------|-4-----------------------|-4-----------------------|

R    2 4 1 4 2 4 2 3 2   2   3 4 2 1 2 4 2 4 2 4   4   3 4 2 1 2 4 2 4 1   3
L  p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i

[13]                                                   *I..............

E|-------0-----------------|-------0-----------------|-------5-----------------|
B|-----1---1---1-----------|-----1---1---1-----------|-----5---5---5-----1---1-|
G|---4-------4---4---4---4-|---2-------2---2---2---2-|---5-------5---5-2-------|
D|-----------------2-------|-------------------------|---------------------3---|
A|-0-------------------3---|-0---------------3---0---|-------------------------|
E|-------------------------|-------------------------|-1-----------------------|

L    4 1   1 4 1 4 2 4 3 4     2 1   1 2 1 2 3 2   2   1 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 2 1 3 1
R  p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i

[16]                         II...................     II...................

E|-------5-----------------|-------4-----------------|-------4-----------------|
B|-----6---6---6-----------|-----3---3---3-----------|-----3---3---3-----------|
G|---4-------4---4---4---4-|---4-------4---4---4---4-|---4-------4---4---4---4-|
D|-0---------------0-------|-----------------2-------|-----------------2-------|
A|---------------------2---|---------------------2---|---------------------2---|
E|-------------------------|-0-----------------------|-0-----------------------|

L    2 4 3 4 2 4 2   2 1 2     3 2 4 2 3 2 3 1 3 1 3     3 2 4 2 3 2 3 1 3 1 3
R  p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i

[19]
    V....................     VII....................  VII....................
E|-------5-----------------|-------7-----------------|-------8-----------------|
B|-----5---5---5-----------|-----9---9---9-----------|-----10--10--10----------|
G|---5-------5---5---5---5-|---7-------7---7---7---7-|---9-------9---9---9---9-|
D|-------------------------|---------------------0---|-----------------7-------|
A|-----------------7-------|-----------------8-------|---------------------7---|
E|-0-------------------8---|-0-----------------------|-0-----------------------|

R    1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 4 1     1 4 1 4 1 4 1 2 1   1     3 4 2 4 3 4 3 1 3 1 3
L  p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i


[22] IX...................     VIII.................

E|-------10----------------|-------8-----------------|-------7-----------------|
B|-----9---9---9-----------|-----10--10--10----------|-----6---6---6-----------|
G|---9-------9---9---9---9-|---8-------8---8---8---8-|---7-------7---7---7---7-|
D|-----------------9-------|-------------------------|-----------------6-------|
A|---------------------11--|-----------------12--9---|---------------------7---|
E|-0-----------------------|-0-----------------------|-0-----------------------|

L    1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1     1 3 1 3 1 3 1 4 1 2 1     3 2 1 2 3 2 3 1 3 2 3
R  p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i

[25]
     V......................   III...................    II...................
E|-------5-----------------|-------5-----------------|-------4-----------------|
B|-----7---7---7-----------|-----3---3---3-----------|-----3---3---3-----------|
G|---5-------5---5---5---5-|---4-------4---4---4---4-|---4-------4---4---4---4-|
D|-----------------4-------|-----------------3---0---|-----------------2-------|
A|---------------------6---|-------------------------|---------------------2---|
E|-0-----------------------|-0-----------------------|-0-----------------------|

R    1 4 1 4 1 4 1 1 2 3 2     2 1 3 1 2 1 3 1 2   2     3 2 4 2 3 2 3 1 3 1 3
L  p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i


[28] I....................

E|-------2-----------------|-------1-----------------|-------0-----------------|
B|-----1---1---1-----------|-----0---0---0-----------|-----1---1---1-----------|
G|---2-------2---2---2---2-|---1-------1---1---1---1-|---2-------2---2---2---2-|
D|-----------------1-------|-----------------0-------|-------------------------|
A|---------------------3---|---------------------2---|-----------------3---0---|
E|-0-----------------------|-0-----------------------|-0-----------------------|

L    2 1 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 4 2      1  2   1   1   1 3 1     2 1   1 2 1 2 3 2   2
R  p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i

[31] ** see below for easier alternative

E|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
B|-------3-----------------|-------3-----------------|-------3-----------------|
G|-----4---4---4-----2---2-|-----4---4---4-----1---1-|-----4---4---4-----1---1-|
D|---7-------7---7-3---0---|---6-------6---6-2-------|---6-------6---6-3---0---|
A|-------------------------|---------------------2---|-0-----------------------|
E|-0-----------------------|-0-----------------------|-------------------------|

L    4 2 1 2 4 2 4 3 2   2     4 2 1 2 4 2 4 3 1 2 1     4 2 1 2 4 2 4 3 1   1
R  p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i

[34]
           II............    III...................     VII....................
E|-------------------------|-------4-----------------|-------7-----------------|
B|-------3-2---2-----------|-----3---3---3-----------|-----9---9---9-----------|
G|-----4-----2---2---2---2-|---4-------4---4---4---4-|---7-------7---7---7---7-|
D|---7-------------2-------|-----------------3---0---|---------------------0---|
A|-0-------------------4---|-0-----------------------|-0---------------8-------|
E|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|

R   4 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1     2 1 3 1 2 1 2 1 2   2      1 4 1 4 1 4 1 2 1   1
L  p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i


[37]V.......................

E|-------5-----------------|-------3-----------------|-------1-----------------|
B|-----5---5---5-----------|-----5---5---5-----2---2-|-----3---3---3-----------|
G|---6-------6---6---6---6-|---6-------6---6-3---0---|---2-------2---2---2---2-|
D|-----------------7-------|-------------------------|-----------------3---0---|
A|-0-------------------7---|-0-----------------------|-0-----------------------|
E|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|

L    2 1 1 1 2 1 2 4 2 3 2     3 2 1 2 3 2 3 3 2   2     2 4 1 4 2 4 2 3 2   2
R  p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i

[40]I....................... I.......................

E|-------1-----------------|-------1-----------------|-------------------------|
B|-----3---3---3-----------|-----3---3---3-----------|-------5-------5/6-----9-|
G|---1-------1---1---1---1-|---1-------1---1---1---1-|-----6---6---6-----7-----|
D|-----------------3---0---|-----------------3---0---|---7-------7---------9---|
A|-0-----------------------|-0-----------------------|-0-----------------------|
E|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|

R    1 4 1 4 1 4 1 3 1   1     1 4 1 4 1 4 1 3 1   1     3 2 1 3 3 2 1 1 2 3 4
L  p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m i p i p i   p i m a m i m a   m i a

[43]II....................

E|--5=====================-||
B|--2=====================-||
G|--2=====================-||
D|-------------------------||
A|--0=====================-||
E|-------------------------||

L   4,1,1
R   a,m,i,p

----
Tips
----

* Bar [15]
This one is a toughy and may take some practice. This is actually a double barre
chord with the index holding a full barre and the pinky produces a half barre.
When you double barre, make sure you press down hard on the top bass string
(index) and the 3 treble strings (pinky). If you find this bar difficult,
try to experiment with thumb position on the back of the neck during barre delivery.


   *I..............
E|-------5-----------------|
B|-----5---5---5-----1---1-|
G|---5-------5---5-2-------|
D|---------------------3---|
A|-------------------------|
E|-1-----------------------|

L  1 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 2 1 3 1
R  p i m a m i m i p i p i

** Alternative bars Bar[31]-Bar[34]
If you have large hands with wide finger "wing span" coverage, your right hand
will be playing (pima-mimi-pipi) throughout the whole prelude. For smaller hands,
Bar[31]-Bar[34] will be a problem. But there's hope! Try playing Bar[31]-Bar[34]
with the following measures. Please note that although the alternative bars are
much easier to play-open strings and less finger stretches-it does not maintain
the integrity of the right hand pattern. A new unique right hand pattern is
required exclusively for these 4 bars (pimi-mimi-pipi). So the challenge is to
keep in time when switching the 2 plucking patterns back and forth.


[31]
E|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
B|-----0-3-0---0-----------|-----0-3-0---0-----------|-----0-3-0---0-----------|
G|---2-------2---2---2---2-|---1-------1---1---1---1-|---1-------1---1---1---1-|
D|-----------------3---0---|-----------------2-------|-----------------3---0---|
A|-------------------------|---------------------2---|-0-----------------------|
E|-0-----------------------|-0-----------------------|-------------------------|

L    2   4   2   2 3 2   2     1   4   1   1 3 1 2 1     1   4   1  1  3 1   1
R  p i m i m i m i p i p i   p i m i m i m i p i p i   p i m i m i m i p i p i

[34]
    II...........
E|-------------------------|
B|-----0-3-0---2-----------|
G|---2-------2---2---2---2-|
D|-----------------2-------|
A|-0-------------------4---|
E|-------------------------|

R    2   4   1 1 1 1 1 3 1
L  p i m i m i m i p i p i

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