Prelude Cello Suite BWV 1007 for Guitar (PDF)
Prelude Cello Suite BWV 1007 for Guitar (PDF)
Couldn't load pickup availability
Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1, BWV 1007 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). PDF sheet music arranged for classical guitar. Comes with both a notation edition with left hand fingering and a separate tab edition. Level: Intermediate (Grade 7). This is a PDF download.
Please note: A new version of this score will be released in 2025. All past purchases will receive the updated score for free.
This iconic Prelude is part of a larger suite of dances that make up BWV 1007. The prelude works very well on the guitar and is an audience favourite in concerts. It's also a great piece for the signing portion of a wedding. An excellent prelude in it's own right the piece is a nice selection for students and professionals alike.
Free Unfingered Edition (PDF)
Also see other gig and wedding classics:
- Bach: Air ‘On the G String’ for Guitar, Gr.4, Baroque, Notation or TAB
- Bach: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, Gr.4, Baroque, Notation or TAB
- Schubert: Ave Maria, Gr.4, Romantic, Notation or TAB
- Pachelbel’s Canon in D, Gr. 5, Baroque, Free Notation or TAB
Share

This was one of my first encounters with Bach. I have admired this piece immensely on the cello. What a joy to be able to play it on the guitar.
Thanks for the feedback, happy practicing!
As an intermediateish guitarist coming to the Bach cello suites for the first time, I had recently started on this Prelude from BWV 1007 using the well-thought-of transcription by Valter Despalj. However, that edition doesn't contain quite enough guidance for players at my level - I still need more input, for example suggested right-hand fingering and the use of legato. Coming across the Werner edition, I found most of what I needed right there, but without excess.
I also found Bradford's video lesson on the Prelude, which includes a general approach to Bach and to the cello suites (a vast topic miraculously fitted into twenty minutes) hugely helpful as a way in, including developing an eye for implied counterpoint and learning to recognise the smallest units of melodic shape As he suggests, learning and living with these suites is a lifetime's undertaking.
As with all Werner editions, the score is beautifully clear and easy to read and Bradford includes just the right amount of information for an informed performance - while encouraging the player to take their own decisions on a sound basis. I trust Bradford and have used a number of his other sheet music publications.
So, when you have the time (!), please go on and publish editions of other movements of this cello suite - and from the other five. (Maybe even, eventually, a complete set, along with written notes on the basic points for approaching them as suggested in the lesson... just an idea. It would be a very helpful entry into these Suites for newcomers to them - and not only.)
Thanks so much for the very thoughtful feedback. Great to hear it has been helpful.