Bach's Bachato is one of 12 string quartet arrangements for intermediate strings included in Richard Young's Comprehensive String Pedagogy & Curriculum. A portion of the proceeds of sales for all CSPC music goes to support free music education at The People's Music School.

One of the most essential techniques for string quartet playing is spiccato. Naturally this is important in orchestra playing as well. But with an ensemble that is comprised of only four string players, one on a part, even the smallest technical flaw is noticeable. Bachato is an ideal etude for every type and speed of spiccato. The “theme” is a beautiful Bach chorale that moves in quarter notes. Each subsequent “variation” consists of the same pitches, but moves in eighth notes, then triplet eighths, and finally sixteenth notes.
 Teachers should start with all four instruments playing the same rhythmic values, tutti. They should explore a wide range of tempo, dynamics, and colors since these variables significantly influence the degree of difficulty. After a reliable and uniform result is achieved, teachers may have each individual instrument play a different rhythmic variation – first alone, then in groups of two, and three. Finally when all four instruments play simultaneously, each playing a different rhythmic variation, the overall result is impressive and fun. This also replicates what one encounters in many theme and variations movements from the standard quartet repertoire.
 -Richard Young

Full program notes are included with the score. There are fingerings and bowings in all the string parts of every one of CSPC's pieces. These "cooked-in" technical solutions target the particular levels of the students. They are not just pragmatic but "musical."

Please note that due to a loss of source files, the PDF files of the music have been generated from scanned copies of printed parts. While every effort has been made to produce high quality parts, the limitations of scanning will result in some degradation of print quality.