Improvising Bach, Book 1 presents a breakthrough approach to counterpoint on the guitar - one that classical players never expect, and electric players have never been offered. Instead of spending years learning one piece after another, this book teaches the actual developmental path Bach may have used to build his improvisational and contrapuntal mastery.
You begin with simple, playable drills: one‑against‑one counterpoint, then two‑against‑one, three‑against‑one, and eventually four‑against‑one. But unlike traditional theory books, these are not abstract rules or written assignments. They are hands‑on musical behaviors practiced directly on the guitar, using intervallic cells, voice‑leading gravity, pedal‑point structures, and rotational patterns that generate authentic Baroque motion under your fingers.
As the chapters progress, the skills compound. By the end of the book, you can:
- improvise in an advanced Baroque style
- build independent voices that move with clarity and purpose
- use pedal point as a structural engine for invention
- develop phrases from tiny cells the way Bach did
- create contrary‑motion lines that sound composed
- modulate using Bach‑like rotational engines
- take a simple melody and transform it into full, multi‑voice counterpoint
This is the first guitar method that shows how a player can move from basic drills to
high‑level contrapuntal improvisation in a single, coherent progression.
And for those who need it, the book also provides a complete foundation in
classical guitar technique and reading, starting from the very beginning. You learn how to read music, how to use the right hand correctly, and how to apply those skills immediately to counterpoint and improvisation - not years later.
Whether you are a classical guitarist seeking a faster, more direct path into counterpoint, or an electric guitarist discovering Baroque improvisation for the first time, this book gives you something rare: a
practical, playable, improvisation‑driven method that takes you from the first steps of counterpoint all the way to advanced Baroque fluency.
This is not a shortcut. It is the
origin point and the destination of contrapuntal mastery - rebuilt for the guitar.
All the exercises are in notation and tab, and provide a source for advance reading too.
