An analytical treatment on varied guitar transcriptions of Johann Sebastian bach's pieces for solo strings via first cello suite illustration

Guitar transcription of works written by J. S. Bach for solo instruments is a problematic case that brings with it various arguments. There are different opinions about this problem. Guitarists and guitar students are often confused by the ongoing differences in opinion on the subject. Guitarists and guitar-educated students are faced with problems regarding which transcriptions to play, how to choose the right transcriptions, and how to make their own transcriptions. In this thesis, transcriptions and editions were screened using the scanning method. As a result of this screening, three different guitar transcriptions (Richard Wright, Frank Koonce, Manuel Barrueco) were selected and musical analyzes were performed using the comparative method. Selected transcriptions were compared under titles such as chord, polyphony, articulation, ornamentation and texture. It is also surveyed whether the chords in these transcriptions exist in the original piece, and the ones that exist are investigated in the section 'Chord Comparison' to reveal the viewpoint of how they are incorporated in these transcriptions. The concept of polyphony, which has an important place in Bach's music, and the implied polyphony which is the sub-title of this subject, is handled through three selected transcriptions under the section 'Polyphony Comparison'. In this comparison, the perspective on which the polyphones used in transcription are selected has been analyzed in detail. The selection of articulation, which is important for the interpretation of the performer, has been examined under the section 'Articulation Comparison'. The ornamentation problem that guitarists and guitar students can often encounter is another problematic issue that has been studied. The ornaments in the transcriptions are compared with the original piece in the section 'Ornament Comparison' to highlight the differences and why they differ. Lastly, the transcriptions are examined in the section 'Texture Comparison' to emphasize their disparity in musical texture. Aside the three selected transcriptions, a few transcriptions of notable figures in guitar literature, such as John Duarte and Stanley Yates, are also evaluated to improve the extent of the research.