Bach-Gounod, Ave Maria, guitar solo, James Edwards

[RegulationTdog]

what is the open string tuning of the guitar in this song, and is there a cappo used?

[MsBleuOrchid]

A peaceful prayer ... xoxo... > <3

[perfectdisguisetay]

Lovely performance. But smalin, why don't you upload any pieces originally written for the guitar? The three pieces you've uploaded are all arrangements. I'm sure you could find a piece (for instance by Tarrega) that would be suitable for your visualization.

[smalin]

@perfectdisguisetay You've overlooked the video I did of Tarrega's Recuerdos de la Alhambra.

[FalloutFan77]

WTF man just show us on real guitar.

[travisdt]

i havent tried this yet, but i guess to drop the 6th string to D to play this piece

[TempterMan]

@travisdt Yes, the 6th string is in D. I started practicing this piece two days ago and I am playing just the first 10 bars. I found it a bit hard! But I am still trying....

[travisdt]

it is impossible to hit a low D in the sheet

[feltingme]

Thank you so much for sharing this. My library has this book, I got lucky.

[63thekey]

naaaaaaaaa... ill say nothing... beautiful music

[99999999999999994041]

TROP COOL

[famousstarr12]

Beautiful :)

[clayludicrous]

Beautiful!! I love your dedication to your presentations of over a hundred beautiful classics!!! Any chance of doing the "Cavatina" from The Deerhunter"?. I know its not a "Classical" piece, but it's still a beautiful composition! Or maybe I'll try my hand at creating a MAM piece. Lol!! Thank you for sharing your talent and the beautiful pieces you've converted to "Visual Masterpieces" as well as an aural experience of the Classical masterpieces, which ENHANCED the enjoyment of the music.

[joelhhh]

2 dots beside those quarter notes mean you add half plus a half of the half? lol just shooting in the dark there; I have never see that before.

[smalin]

@joelhhh Right; each dot counts for half of the symbol to its left, so 1 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + 1/32 ... like Zeno.

[Thying1]

It is unbelieveable that can play it on one guitar only. I like it.

[jstc07]

beautiful.

where can i get a copy of the score?

many thanks.

james

[smalin]

@jstc07 See the FAQ.

[Presidentjh]

I argue, without hyperbole, that Ave Maria is the most beautiful song ever. It is a song that nearly moves me to tears everytime I hear it, not out of sadness, but it's just such an amazing song.

[TeeJayMarsh]

BRAVO!

[skater69xxx]

it's amazing !

[nikki27ish]

gave me goosebumps

[Sky14657]

wow, never heard that as a guitar solo before, just amazing

[elverdaderosol]

Beautiful!!!

I'm guitarist too, but not as good enogh, please can anybody tell me where can i find a score of Henry Purcel's Queen Mary funeral ?

Thanks for advance!!!

[kjempegeir]

@elverdaderosol

in the grave

[elverdaderosol]

Bad joke.

[kjempegeir]

@elverdaderosol

i will go to my grave rather than admitting it was bad...

[elverdaderosol]

Go then, and enjoy.

I'll be here, in gratefull peace.

Sorry, my english isn't good enough.

Send me some notes about your travel...

JUAR,JUAR.

[darkbluemars]

the melody on the background was enchanting. i really like it

[xoxonicole9727]

soo awesome. its the first time ive heard of ave maria in guitar. its sounds soo nice.!!

[apriliahoyem]

amazing...:) thanks for sharing...

[TheHungryPlatypus]

:) really nice playing congrats to james edwards. I need to learn this and download it!!!!! o.o Makes me feel so strange, like when you see the girl you love lol xP

[sacredplanet1]

Thank you for sharing!!

Having the music sheet running at the same time as the audio makes so much more enjoyable!

5 perfect stars!

[asskickerfoo]

Heard Sally Fletchers harp?

[musicbymax]

und gleich nochmal :D

[cyberk25]

wow amazing guitarist, having two interweaving melodies

[jeedwards9]

Thank you. People don't always understand that a human being actually played the music; on one (no overdubbing of parts) guitar.  Thanks to Stephen for his work in presenting these musical jewels in a different light, and renewing our appreciation of masterpieces.

[fortune32]

not interweaving if you look /listen carefuly. But one on the other.

[xxxx0bleach0xxxx]

absolutely lovely.

[lattelovergirl]

so beautiful and calming...

Smalin, I love your videos!

[musicbrain5]

The melody in this piece reminds me of Handel's "Lascia Ch'io Pianga," an aria from the opera Rinaldo. Beautiful

[cVlman]

smellin' smalin

[quati]

MAGICAL PLAYING! =D

[xxXxKittyKatxxXxx]

amazing <3<3

[mahler151]

What exactly was Gounod's inspiration for taking this Bach work and messing around with it? did he kinda just randomly select this one or... or what?

[java0033]

I think it was an assignment for the paris conservatory everyone had to write a melody over this prelude, his just ended up being really good so it went on to be a composition. This is if my music history memory is serving me correctly

[jeedwards9]

Good question, I'd like to know that too. As far as "messing around with it", I don't think that expression quite does Gounod justice; he wrote a powerful and beautiful melody. However, it's a good question; why indeed?

[mahler151]

Yeah, kind of poor choice on my part. I know little to nothing about Gounod's life, so I'm totally missing something here.

[jamesjddong]

shouldn't 00:42 be in B minor? D major kindof kills it.. anyways great video :)

[smalin]

In the original prelude (Bach's, that is), that chord is a major seventh on the tonic (which corresponds to D in this arrangement) in third inversion (seventh on the bottom). I don't know who changed it to a straight major chord ... maybe James knows ...

[smalin]

I looked at the Gounod song (which I've added as a free PDF to the FAQ), and it has the major seventh; so this is probably something Tárrega did to make it work better on the guitar. You'll notice that there are many other differences between the Gounod version and this one.

[alexander92648]

Was this made with a machine or an actual person playing?

[jeedwards9]

Hi Alexander, unless I'm an android as in "Bladerunner", and don't know it ; I am indeed a human being. :) Mr. Malinowski works his magic with digital technology and a keen creative intellect, but the musical source in this case, is from a recording I made of my solo guitar arrangements of various arias. It is one guitar played by one man, no overdubbing; and nothing from that performance has been altered or manipulated here.

Sincerely,

James

[thatsameoldsong]

Very Beautiful thank you for posting this

[LokiHeart]

love it! <3

truly great works as always!

-LokiHeart

[philateliceun]

wow never heard in in this way. This piece is remarkably similar to Prelude in C by Bach. The end is exactly the same only played in D.

[IAMDACOOOL]

He wrote it to accompany the Prelude.

[AcidHead27]

very unique take on the ave Maria, unlike any way I've heard the piece before, excelent job smalin :)

[cow177]

amazing! i love it

[sensangsun]

smalin what instrument do you play?

[smalin]

piano

[nerfherders123]

beautiful as always

thank you for uploading

[993hello]

i still enjoy your video so much. : )

[jadx99]

nicee!

[lilperch64]

niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiceeeeeeeeee but idk what the pink bar sounds like lol

[badmonkeyballplayer]

You upload this video at the edge of 28?

[smalin]

Sorry, I don't understand the question?

[badmonkeyballplayer]

I mean, do you upload it at nearly 12:00am of 28?

[smalin]

I uploaded it this morning, about 8 am (Pacific time).

[badmonkeyballplayer]

I actually live in hong kong, so the time you upload it, for me is nearly 12:00 am

[URZeroGravity]

Uplode Moar!

[smalin]

I have to make them first ... I'm working as hard as I can ...

[shirschfield]

i love ur videos