My first attempt at an uncomplicated arrangement.
In all my previous posts I have been at pains to make the fullest possible arrangement, with all the voices that I can manage to include. This does not make for the easiest pieces to play, although ultimately very satisfying, and giving some feel of the original.
I have noticed, however, that other arrangers more skilful than me have made pieces that are much easier to play. As far as I can see they tend to concentrate on a chord-and-melody transcription without too much counterpoint. And, all their notes on a particular time-point (i.e. on the same stem) are of the same indicated duration, even though one would spontaneously hold many of them (especially in the bass) for longer.
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| The first 4 bars of my original (? over-the-top) arrangement of Lachrimae... |
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| ... and this is the way that I have simplified it. |
You will see from the images above that I have:
(1) favoured the song melody, and (but not in this sample) simplified the melodic line where the lute original was ornamented;
(2) removed a lot of the counterpoint, but left in enough notes to emphasise the beat where the melody is syncopated;
(3) used tied rather than dotted notes, which I find helps getting the timing right;
(4) made all the notes on a stem the same duration, and put the stem directions all upwards;
(5) fattened up the chords at the beginning of each bar.
I had to decide whether or not to include the stems in the tab, and I have left them in, because it saves having to read the notation for note duration and the tabs for the fretting at the same time.
To download the pdf of this simple version, click here.
I hope you have fun.
