Tomaso Albinoni - Adagio in G Minor - Guitar Tab

Journey to Justice Original Soundtrack Recording

2008 11:30

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About Adagio in G Minor

Few pieces test a guitarist's sense of restraint quite like the Adagio in G Minor. At 60 BPM in G minor, the slow pulse means every note you play is exposed, and any hesitation in your fretting hand or uneven tone in your picking will be audible. The work is actually a 20th-century neo-Baroque composition by musicologist Remo Giazotto, though it is widely associated with Tomaso Albinoni. On guitar, the challenge is sustaining the long melodic lines with consistent right-hand pressure while voicing the inner counterpoint cleanly. Fingerstyle arrangements are the most common approach, and keeping the bass notes ringing under the melody demands careful finger placement and clean string separation. The Classical idiom here also asks for a very controlled, even vibrato on held notes rather than any wide expressive bend. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop individual phrases slowed down, especially where the melody climbs over a moving bass, until each voice sounds independent and clear.

• At 60 BPM in G minor, the slow tempo leaves no room to hide inconsistent tone or uneven sustain between notes.
• The piece suits fingerstyle guitar, requiring clean separation between the sustained bass line and the long upper melody.
• Practising with the Practice Toolbar looped and slowed helps isolate the counterpoint passages where two voices must ring simultaneously.