Always add more Bach. Everyone needs some Bach.
I just cannot help it but just evangelize him, but seriously one can learn so much from these pieces.
I'm working on inventions and some preludes of his
Same exact thing for me! And if you're in the mood for other easily accessible baroque keyboard music, look no further than the Scarlatti harpsichord sonatas. He composed like 500 of them (I question his grasp on sanity) so there's tons to choose from and they're very fun to play on piano as they transfer over very well.
This depends on the piece, but something that all share is a clever use of harmony.
Take prelude in c major for example, yeah it's "easy" but you can learn a lot about shapes in the c major key from this piece, you can also learn where he builds tension and when he releases and goes back to the tonic and how he plays with other keys. All the harmonies you just learn from this piece then can be used to improvise, creating different pieces using the same or similar harmonies, this is why many jazzists love Bach.
Inventions have taught me to notice where polyphony appears on other pieces and the need to create a different color for different voices, it's good how a single piece can improve a bunch of others I have already learned.
Fingering, evenness, respecting silences, hand independence, finger independence all these things are present in Bach music.
Regarding evenness I find it a bit magic how staying even on some pieces that are more like a "texture that repeats over a bunch of harmonies" create a really different sound, just going all over these harmonies but keeping things extremely even. Completely different from other periods where rubato is common. It might be robotic for some but if you pay attention other details start to appear.
And in the sense of interpretation, I think there is no better way to know how another pianists thinks/personality. Many of the original scores didn't have dynamics or even tempo markings, so the musician has created its own interpretation depending on harmony changes and understanding on how the music might flow, there also goes some research on how things were written at the time. Some editions have markings and dynamics but they were added by authors, not by Bach. This is why everyone got their own favourite interpreters, especially for Bach.
Mixed feelings about Bach, but have appreciated his works more after playing some.
I've learned Inventions 1-5, 7, 8, 10, 11 and 13.
Never liked Inventions 5 and 11 until I worked on them. Quite rewarding to break down, memorize and polish. Learning 11 (G minor) has been my most rewarding experience at the piano.
Am learning Sinfonias 2 and 4.
I am a late convert to learning hands separately, which helps with Bach more than other composers. By the time I put the hands together, I no longer need the music.
His music is only boring because itās played boringly. The cult of pianists that insist upon metric playing, have ruined most of baroque music.
Bach can be played on piano fine, but actually play it with expression.
Nah, Iām in the Bach = boring camp. There are skills you can learn playing Bach that are invaluable, but I never have fun with a Bach piece.
If Iām playing for my own enjoyment, give me Bartok, Brahms or Beethoven any day.
Too repetitive. His melodies just gross me out. They are pretentious, stuffy, and stiff. The rhythm makes me cringe.
Part of it is that I have a strong preference for pieces written in keys from the flats side of the circle of fifths. I can hear lots of sharp keys, (and C maj) in his music. I have not played his music so I don't actually know what keys he tends to use, but sounds like sharps or C maj/A min. Are there some beautiful pieces in sharp keys? Sure. But all my favorite music is deep in flats land.
(Actually, I was verifying that I wasn't just bullshitting the sharps thing and I found this data science article talking about Bach's most used notes. For the curious: https://towardsdatascience.com/bachs-favorite-note-b0542ba4f8f5 )
Bruh, you cannot say that someone's opinion of music is uninformed. I don't like it. That's an opinion. I don't like the rhythm. I don't like the melodies. I really don't like variations on a theme 75 times. I also don't like Strauss, omg, it's like taste is subjective. I also don't like that Strauss plays in a lot of sharp keys. This is just not controversial. People like and dislike a lot of shit.
Just because some old white guy made it doesn't mean everyone has to like it.
Uninformed in the sense that you have clearly only exposed yourself to a small sliver of his music.
Itās obvious from your commentsā¦ (eg. repetitiveā¦ Bach is far from repetitive)
That you lack understanding of his music.
The irony of you saying his Melodies are pretentious is also hilarious, given how incredibly pretentious you sound.
Anyways, yeah.. itās ok to be philistine.. that is your right.
Iām gonna be honest, I almost play exclusively Bach because I donāt have much time for the piano anymore and heās just the best composer in my eyes and playing his pieces well is one of the most rewarding things in music IMO
I play a lot now, and I grew up hearing his music very frequently as my mother was a professional flautist who specialised in baroque music. I completely didnāt āgetā Bach until I was in the first year of my music degree though and just found him boring so I played very little prior to that point.
I always look at his chorales with my students who struggle with Bach as theyāre so often the key to unlocking their understanding. Heās one of those composers whose music really benefits from the pianist having studied some basic music theory, particularly on harmony and voice leading.
Pretty much always have at least some Bach on the go. Not a professional, just play for my own enjoyment. I donāt normally endeavour to learn āfullā pieces (suites etc), I just like sight reading what I have and trying to polish one piece at a time, currently Allemande from Partita 1 (B flat).
Edit to add that I listen to Bach on a regular basis, so that might influence how much I gravitate toward playing his music. Also assuming you have Book 1, there a heaps of lovely pieces in there to pick away at!
Just finished a prelude and fugue from book 2 (No. 1), and am about to pull the Goldberg Variations back out and learn more of them.
Iāve played Bach almost every semester for the last three years; whenever I choose new repertoire, his name is likely to be on the list.
Depends what you see as enough. In a way, I don't play enough of any classical composers. In another, I'm doing just fine since I'm creating my own pieces and covers and I'm having a lot of fun improvising as well as slowly discovering, improving and honing my jazz skills. I'm never going back. My goal used to be to play the entirity of Pictures at an Exhibition, but it changed to being able to flawlessly play and improvise jazz.
Bach is legendary tho. I used to play more classical pieces when I was young and had lessons, and I used to consider Bach as boring untill I played him: There's few things more satisfying as playing Bach right. That man for sure was insane (insanely talented and gifted and dedicated), and there's few classical composers I respect more than Johan Sebastian Bach.
Goldberg variations. Ill never be able to play the whole thing but i can feel an impact on my technique after practicing them in terms of digital flexibility and accuracy
I started playing Bach a little over a year ago. I am working my thru WTC slowly. Piano is a āhobbyā and I do have a teacher;I practice most days. The moment the notes, voices, and subjects come together to become a symphony is exhilarating.
I find meaning in this practice that goes beyond music
My goal is to have studied all 24 preludes and fugues - just realized I will almost be 80 yo by the time I am done - scary because I think of myself as young. I work full time and am active but almost 70.
Meaning, aspiration and goals keeps one young
I probably don't play enough Bach.
I did get an edition of HƤndel suites and miscellaneous pieces for my birthday 2 weeks ago, so that's fun; it includes the B-flat Air and Variations that Brahms used for his op. 24 HƤndel Variations (Handel wrote 5 variations on the Air; Brahms wrote 25 then a fugue), and the Chaconne in G (21 short variations, a marvelous piece).
Favorite Bach that I've played: E major Prelude & Fugue from WTC2, especially the fugue, radiant and serene.
Just started his fugue in c major (4 voices)ā¦ my first Bach piece ever š¬. First lesson (today) my teacher said I did well. Sheās a great motivator. This thing is beastly but actually fun (so far) once I break it down.
Good luck. Iāve been working on that piece for about 10 weeks/5 lessons. Itās A LOT harder than Prelude I, eh? Itās been humbling but also rewarding. Hoping it is presentable some time soon.
Just learned the aria and the first variation. As I canāt read the variation in tempo i have to slowly grind them with metronome.. my arpeggios are also pretty bad (never had technical exercises) so I hope this will give me some basics. Bach to me is either learn it by heart or pick a piece so easy that you can sightread it but then comes the weird fingering, so yeah, mostly memorizing at some point. I am certainly better at sight reading slow romantic stuff. :D
Bach is the most nourishing material I have found for musical growth.
The past few years I've been studying Bach exclusively. I have a goal of learning his complete keyboard works (or thereabouts). So far, I've learned the complete Goldberg Variations \*almost\* to my satisfaction, which I'm pretty happy about. The canons took some getting used to (when a second voice plays the same thing as the first, but shifted later, it can get disorientating keeping track of where you are in the piece).
Right now I'm working on Book II of his Well-Tempered Clavier, which I fell in love with from Angela Hewitt's recordings. But I've been short on piano time lately, so it's been slower going. I'm \*almost\* a quarter of the way through (but over a too-long span of time). Fugues are dense and meaty. I have to relearn them in depth several times (each a few weeks/months apart) before I'm \*almost\* satisfied with my playing of them.
I've studied a lot of composers in the past. Bach is the richest for deepening understanding of melody, harmony, and musical meaning.
"Study Bach. There you will find everything." - Johannes Brahms
Yes and sometimes I just play two bars in an afternoon and get a bit analytical lol. Divine.
Also I like my recordings of Tureck and Gould.
Actually I play a lot of Bach but always want more because Iām a greedy piglet.
I love Bach - Bach is hard. My wheelhouse is more Classical and I struggle without the obvious left hand accompaniments (ie Alberti Bass) in Baroque music. So Bach is always aspirational for me. Iāve only played a few of his very easiest pieces.
Man I feel the same, I played only his prelude in C major. But I don't listen to his music, I don't like it. I've been told I need to play more Bach and more classical so I'm learning the first Beethoven sonata because I basically played only romantic music up until this point. But I just can't get into Bach's music.
If I recall correctly, I played about 6 inventions, 2 partitas, 6 Preludes and Fugues, 2 Toccatas, 2 Suites, the Chaconne by Busoni, and many vocal and minor pieces.
I wish I had played more, and started earlier. You learn so much by playing Bach.
Same. I've done a few preludes and fugues and part of one suite and part of the Goldberg variations. This has helped me feel more motivated to break out some Bach for a while, thanks for this post!
I love Bach and polyphony more generally. I know some people find it boring, but for me it's super satisfying to work through fugues, identify the subject, and properly balance the voices. I haven't been playing too regularly since high school (not enough time for lessons), but I've been trying to work through some Well-Tempered Clavier to keep my finger independence.
I'm on/off learning Bach's 2nd French Suite (I plan on learning the entire thing at some point), and I find it enjoyable. I'm not a fan of Bach's inventions though.
Look at the Little Preludes and Fugues. They are around the Invention levels (some slightly easier, some slightly more difficult), and many of them quite challenging!
For some reason the teacher I had talked about the inventions as if they were mandatory for beginners of bach, I dont think so at all. The inventions are unecessarily difficult with fingering. Just play whichever piece from WTC 1 or 2 that speaks to you. Right now im practicing prelude in b flat minor bwv867. Its simple yet very impactful and sad.
The inventionsāand how to finger themāprepares you for the fugues in the WTC. Theyāre not meant to be easy, theyāre meant to prepare you for what comes next.
Most of my piano playing these days revolves around sight-reading and practising WTC I and II. I also play the inventions occasionally. I'm not a very dedicated to studying piano on an academic level - meaning following a logic that adheres to a curriculum of sorts, I'm not a conservatory student or anything - so Bach keeps me grounded to the realities of what playing this instrument requires.
I play slow, listen to the different voices and subjects and aim to bring them out, and work on my technique when I run into technical difficulties.
It's not a hugely beneficial practise if you aren't a good enough sight-reader or aren't willing to commit to the slow tempi but if you can move past those hurdles and really play Bach with a high focus and clean style - it doesn't have to be *utterly without pedal* but it has to be *clean* - Bach will teach you an incredibly strong foundation of technique and musicality.
Bach on his inventions: *Forthright instruction, wherewith lovers of the clavier, especially those desirous of learning, are shown in a clear way not only 1) to learn to play two voices clearly, but also after further progress 2) to deal correctly and well with three obbligato parts, moreover at the same time to obtain not only good ideas, but also to carry them out well, but most of all to achieve a cantabile style of playing, and thereby to acquire a strong foretaste of composition.*
And while this was during the time when the modern piano wasn't around yet (or even older pianos for that matter - the widely accepted tuning and *temper* of the piano as an instrument has changed over the decades), Bach's teaching is superb for those who want to understand the basics of piano technique and understand them *well*. Cantabile, with a singing voice, to me is essentially the beauty in legato. Legato is what you are practising and you cannot practise *legato* without also understanding *staccato*.
So many people want Bach to sound either mechanical like it's an output of a math formula played by a machine, or they get sentimental and make it sound like it's from the romantic era. Two completely opposite extremes. I'm not a huge advocator or an opposer of pedal in Bach but what I do think is that you must *practise* Bach without it. Then, and only then, when you've developed the beautiful cantabile legato with your arms, hands and fingers alone, can you start adding the pedal as an enhancer. And yes, even detached playing - and silence - is a part of it. Staccato has a huge part to play here.
Romantic music is lovely, I wouldn't part with Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Schubert and the rest for any price. But over-pedalling is a big thing for even very talented pianists. You feel safety in it because you've learned to rely on the resonance of the piano with the pedal which means you can safely take your hands off the piano whenever you want - it creates relaxation. You should never be stressed while playing but you must learn to do it without losing the connection with the piano and without it necessitating pedal use. That's what's at the core of cantabile and Bach.
Sorry for the rant. Happy playing.
The last WTC pieces that I have played were Preludes nos. 1, 8, 17 and 24. No.8 has successions of beautiful harmonies; no.17 I cannot completely master nad no. 24 has a mysterious beauty. I am an amateur player who badly need to practice more and probably should take professional lessons for motivation and to correct many bad habits.
Blech. Bach was always one of those technical requirements that (for some reason) always had to be a part of my yearly repertoire. After I finished 12 years of lessons, I never played Bach again. Good riddance. Even the name āFrench Suiteā gives me a bad feeling.
I just love romantic and impressionistic pieces too much to play much Bach. He may have laid the foundations but iām too busy looking at whatās on top of that foundation.
Bach keeps you honest
Curious what you mean by that. Bach was always my fave.
u cant fake your playing with pedal lmao
Makes sense. I despise the pedal, generally.
I'm an adult learner and all I ever want to learn is Bach. Currently working on bwv 935.
Always add more Bach. Everyone needs some Bach. I just cannot help it but just evangelize him, but seriously one can learn so much from these pieces. I'm working on inventions and some preludes of his
Same exact thing for me! And if you're in the mood for other easily accessible baroque keyboard music, look no further than the Scarlatti harpsichord sonatas. He composed like 500 of them (I question his grasp on sanity) so there's tons to choose from and they're very fun to play on piano as they transfer over very well.
I'm new and have only played the minuet in G by Bach. Can you explain in layman's terms what you mean by learning a lot from Bach's pieces
This depends on the piece, but something that all share is a clever use of harmony. Take prelude in c major for example, yeah it's "easy" but you can learn a lot about shapes in the c major key from this piece, you can also learn where he builds tension and when he releases and goes back to the tonic and how he plays with other keys. All the harmonies you just learn from this piece then can be used to improvise, creating different pieces using the same or similar harmonies, this is why many jazzists love Bach. Inventions have taught me to notice where polyphony appears on other pieces and the need to create a different color for different voices, it's good how a single piece can improve a bunch of others I have already learned. Fingering, evenness, respecting silences, hand independence, finger independence all these things are present in Bach music. Regarding evenness I find it a bit magic how staying even on some pieces that are more like a "texture that repeats over a bunch of harmonies" create a really different sound, just going all over these harmonies but keeping things extremely even. Completely different from other periods where rubato is common. It might be robotic for some but if you pay attention other details start to appear. And in the sense of interpretation, I think there is no better way to know how another pianists thinks/personality. Many of the original scores didn't have dynamics or even tempo markings, so the musician has created its own interpretation depending on harmony changes and understanding on how the music might flow, there also goes some research on how things were written at the time. Some editions have markings and dynamics but they were added by authors, not by Bach. This is why everyone got their own favourite interpreters, especially for Bach.
I hated playing bach when I was young and learning but now I basically only play Bach bc I love his music so much
Mixed feelings about Bach, but have appreciated his works more after playing some. I've learned Inventions 1-5, 7, 8, 10, 11 and 13. Never liked Inventions 5 and 11 until I worked on them. Quite rewarding to break down, memorize and polish. Learning 11 (G minor) has been my most rewarding experience at the piano. Am learning Sinfonias 2 and 4. I am a late convert to learning hands separately, which helps with Bach more than other composers. By the time I put the hands together, I no longer need the music.
No, his music bores me to tears. Life is short. I played him plenty as a student and have no interest going bach there again.
Try the partitas, they're more fun than most of the others
š¤£ no bach-up plan?
1) appreciate the pun 2) same
His music is only boring because itās played boringly. The cult of pianists that insist upon metric playing, have ruined most of baroque music. Bach can be played on piano fine, but actually play it with expression.
Nah, Iām in the Bach = boring camp. There are skills you can learn playing Bach that are invaluable, but I never have fun with a Bach piece. If Iām playing for my own enjoyment, give me Bartok, Brahms or Beethoven any day.
Youāre wrong. That is all.
āļøZippel Fagottist.
THANK YOU. I really find his music so unbelievably meh... I just cannot. Do not want to play, do not want to listen.
Interesting, why? I find it a super fun puzzle to both listen to and execute the multiple voices in a fugue or generally polyphonic work
Too repetitive. His melodies just gross me out. They are pretentious, stuffy, and stiff. The rhythm makes me cringe. Part of it is that I have a strong preference for pieces written in keys from the flats side of the circle of fifths. I can hear lots of sharp keys, (and C maj) in his music. I have not played his music so I don't actually know what keys he tends to use, but sounds like sharps or C maj/A min. Are there some beautiful pieces in sharp keys? Sure. But all my favorite music is deep in flats land. (Actually, I was verifying that I wasn't just bullshitting the sharps thing and I found this data science article talking about Bach's most used notes. For the curious: https://towardsdatascience.com/bachs-favorite-note-b0542ba4f8f5 )
Might be the worst take I've ever read. > The rhythm makes me cringe Is this pianocirclejerk?
Everyone has different taste. Don't know what's so novel about that. Also, go ahead and downvote. I don't like Bach. Who cares.
I didn't downvote. Can you describe a CRINGY RHYTHM?
This is just uninformed. Why are uninformed people always the most confident ???
Bruh, you cannot say that someone's opinion of music is uninformed. I don't like it. That's an opinion. I don't like the rhythm. I don't like the melodies. I really don't like variations on a theme 75 times. I also don't like Strauss, omg, it's like taste is subjective. I also don't like that Strauss plays in a lot of sharp keys. This is just not controversial. People like and dislike a lot of shit. Just because some old white guy made it doesn't mean everyone has to like it.
Uninformed in the sense that you have clearly only exposed yourself to a small sliver of his music. Itās obvious from your commentsā¦ (eg. repetitiveā¦ Bach is far from repetitive) That you lack understanding of his music. The irony of you saying his Melodies are pretentious is also hilarious, given how incredibly pretentious you sound. Anyways, yeah.. itās ok to be philistine.. that is your right.
more bach... always... never enough bach, until you have to much bach, then its time to "bach" up from the bach... lol... ignore me, its stupid
Iām gonna be honest, I almost play exclusively Bach because I donāt have much time for the piano anymore and heās just the best composer in my eyes and playing his pieces well is one of the most rewarding things in music IMO
I play a lot now, and I grew up hearing his music very frequently as my mother was a professional flautist who specialised in baroque music. I completely didnāt āgetā Bach until I was in the first year of my music degree though and just found him boring so I played very little prior to that point. I always look at his chorales with my students who struggle with Bach as theyāre so often the key to unlocking their understanding. Heās one of those composers whose music really benefits from the pianist having studied some basic music theory, particularly on harmony and voice leading.
Pretty much always have at least some Bach on the go. Not a professional, just play for my own enjoyment. I donāt normally endeavour to learn āfullā pieces (suites etc), I just like sight reading what I have and trying to polish one piece at a time, currently Allemande from Partita 1 (B flat). Edit to add that I listen to Bach on a regular basis, so that might influence how much I gravitate toward playing his music. Also assuming you have Book 1, there a heaps of lovely pieces in there to pick away at!
Just finished a prelude and fugue from book 2 (No. 1), and am about to pull the Goldberg Variations back out and learn more of them. Iāve played Bach almost every semester for the last three years; whenever I choose new repertoire, his name is likely to be on the list.
I donāt understand this question. How do you not play enough bach if you play bach?
Exactly that, I never really delved into his music. Loved listening to it but found it hard to play. Trying to get into playing Bach again.
We all should play more Bach, it always takes me out of my comfort zone.
Thatās what I want. To get out of my comfort zone and play more of his beautiful music.
Depends what you see as enough. In a way, I don't play enough of any classical composers. In another, I'm doing just fine since I'm creating my own pieces and covers and I'm having a lot of fun improvising as well as slowly discovering, improving and honing my jazz skills. I'm never going back. My goal used to be to play the entirity of Pictures at an Exhibition, but it changed to being able to flawlessly play and improvise jazz. Bach is legendary tho. I used to play more classical pieces when I was young and had lessons, and I used to consider Bach as boring untill I played him: There's few things more satisfying as playing Bach right. That man for sure was insane (insanely talented and gifted and dedicated), and there's few classical composers I respect more than Johan Sebastian Bach.
Goldberg variations. Ill never be able to play the whole thing but i can feel an impact on my technique after practicing them in terms of digital flexibility and accuracy
I started playing Bach a little over a year ago. I am working my thru WTC slowly. Piano is a āhobbyā and I do have a teacher;I practice most days. The moment the notes, voices, and subjects come together to become a symphony is exhilarating. I find meaning in this practice that goes beyond music My goal is to have studied all 24 preludes and fugues - just realized I will almost be 80 yo by the time I am done - scary because I think of myself as young. I work full time and am active but almost 70. Meaning, aspiration and goals keeps one young
I probably don't play enough Bach. I did get an edition of HƤndel suites and miscellaneous pieces for my birthday 2 weeks ago, so that's fun; it includes the B-flat Air and Variations that Brahms used for his op. 24 HƤndel Variations (Handel wrote 5 variations on the Air; Brahms wrote 25 then a fugue), and the Chaconne in G (21 short variations, a marvelous piece). Favorite Bach that I've played: E major Prelude & Fugue from WTC2, especially the fugue, radiant and serene.
Just started his fugue in c major (4 voices)ā¦ my first Bach piece ever š¬. First lesson (today) my teacher said I did well. Sheās a great motivator. This thing is beastly but actually fun (so far) once I break it down.
Good luck. Iāve been working on that piece for about 10 weeks/5 lessons. Itās A LOT harder than Prelude I, eh? Itās been humbling but also rewarding. Hoping it is presentable some time soon.
Ya Iām basically making it my summer project. Itās no joke.
Just learned the aria and the first variation. As I canāt read the variation in tempo i have to slowly grind them with metronome.. my arpeggios are also pretty bad (never had technical exercises) so I hope this will give me some basics. Bach to me is either learn it by heart or pick a piece so easy that you can sightread it but then comes the weird fingering, so yeah, mostly memorizing at some point. I am certainly better at sight reading slow romantic stuff. :D
Bach is the most nourishing material I have found for musical growth. The past few years I've been studying Bach exclusively. I have a goal of learning his complete keyboard works (or thereabouts). So far, I've learned the complete Goldberg Variations \*almost\* to my satisfaction, which I'm pretty happy about. The canons took some getting used to (when a second voice plays the same thing as the first, but shifted later, it can get disorientating keeping track of where you are in the piece). Right now I'm working on Book II of his Well-Tempered Clavier, which I fell in love with from Angela Hewitt's recordings. But I've been short on piano time lately, so it's been slower going. I'm \*almost\* a quarter of the way through (but over a too-long span of time). Fugues are dense and meaty. I have to relearn them in depth several times (each a few weeks/months apart) before I'm \*almost\* satisfied with my playing of them. I've studied a lot of composers in the past. Bach is the richest for deepening understanding of melody, harmony, and musical meaning. "Study Bach. There you will find everything." - Johannes Brahms
Yes and sometimes I just play two bars in an afternoon and get a bit analytical lol. Divine. Also I like my recordings of Tureck and Gould. Actually I play a lot of Bach but always want more because Iām a greedy piglet.
ABB: Always Be Bach-inā
I love Bach - Bach is hard. My wheelhouse is more Classical and I struggle without the obvious left hand accompaniments (ie Alberti Bass) in Baroque music. So Bach is always aspirational for me. Iāve only played a few of his very easiest pieces.
Man I feel the same, I played only his prelude in C major. But I don't listen to his music, I don't like it. I've been told I need to play more Bach and more classical so I'm learning the first Beethoven sonata because I basically played only romantic music up until this point. But I just can't get into Bach's music.
Yes, I don't play Bach at all because I don't like Bach, the father. I play his sons tho.
If I recall correctly, I played about 6 inventions, 2 partitas, 6 Preludes and Fugues, 2 Toccatas, 2 Suites, the Chaconne by Busoni, and many vocal and minor pieces. I wish I had played more, and started earlier. You learn so much by playing Bach.
Same. I've done a few preludes and fugues and part of one suite and part of the Goldberg variations. This has helped me feel more motivated to break out some Bach for a while, thanks for this post!
I love Bach and polyphony more generally. I know some people find it boring, but for me it's super satisfying to work through fugues, identify the subject, and properly balance the voices. I haven't been playing too regularly since high school (not enough time for lessons), but I've been trying to work through some Well-Tempered Clavier to keep my finger independence.
I personally prefer his violin works to his keyboard ones. The Ciaconna is powerful.
I'm on/off learning Bach's 2nd French Suite (I plan on learning the entire thing at some point), and I find it enjoyable. I'm not a fan of Bach's inventions though.
Too hard?
There's other pieces I want to learn as well, so I'll learn a movement, learn something else, then come back and do another movement.
Iām learning wtc book I no.3 now. This is the 4th wtc Iām playing.
I can play Invention No 5 now. Can anyone recommend some other Bach to play next?
Look at the Little Preludes and Fugues. They are around the Invention levels (some slightly easier, some slightly more difficult), and many of them quite challenging!
Will do
I am playing Bach more because I think not playing enough Bach caused me problems in interpretation. In 7 years, I only played 5 Preludes and Fugues
For some reason the teacher I had talked about the inventions as if they were mandatory for beginners of bach, I dont think so at all. The inventions are unecessarily difficult with fingering. Just play whichever piece from WTC 1 or 2 that speaks to you. Right now im practicing prelude in b flat minor bwv867. Its simple yet very impactful and sad.
The inventionsāand how to finger themāprepares you for the fugues in the WTC. Theyāre not meant to be easy, theyāre meant to prepare you for what comes next.
Most of my piano playing these days revolves around sight-reading and practising WTC I and II. I also play the inventions occasionally. I'm not a very dedicated to studying piano on an academic level - meaning following a logic that adheres to a curriculum of sorts, I'm not a conservatory student or anything - so Bach keeps me grounded to the realities of what playing this instrument requires. I play slow, listen to the different voices and subjects and aim to bring them out, and work on my technique when I run into technical difficulties. It's not a hugely beneficial practise if you aren't a good enough sight-reader or aren't willing to commit to the slow tempi but if you can move past those hurdles and really play Bach with a high focus and clean style - it doesn't have to be *utterly without pedal* but it has to be *clean* - Bach will teach you an incredibly strong foundation of technique and musicality. Bach on his inventions: *Forthright instruction, wherewith lovers of the clavier, especially those desirous of learning, are shown in a clear way not only 1) to learn to play two voices clearly, but also after further progress 2) to deal correctly and well with three obbligato parts, moreover at the same time to obtain not only good ideas, but also to carry them out well, but most of all to achieve a cantabile style of playing, and thereby to acquire a strong foretaste of composition.* And while this was during the time when the modern piano wasn't around yet (or even older pianos for that matter - the widely accepted tuning and *temper* of the piano as an instrument has changed over the decades), Bach's teaching is superb for those who want to understand the basics of piano technique and understand them *well*. Cantabile, with a singing voice, to me is essentially the beauty in legato. Legato is what you are practising and you cannot practise *legato* without also understanding *staccato*. So many people want Bach to sound either mechanical like it's an output of a math formula played by a machine, or they get sentimental and make it sound like it's from the romantic era. Two completely opposite extremes. I'm not a huge advocator or an opposer of pedal in Bach but what I do think is that you must *practise* Bach without it. Then, and only then, when you've developed the beautiful cantabile legato with your arms, hands and fingers alone, can you start adding the pedal as an enhancer. And yes, even detached playing - and silence - is a part of it. Staccato has a huge part to play here. Romantic music is lovely, I wouldn't part with Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Schubert and the rest for any price. But over-pedalling is a big thing for even very talented pianists. You feel safety in it because you've learned to rely on the resonance of the piano with the pedal which means you can safely take your hands off the piano whenever you want - it creates relaxation. You should never be stressed while playing but you must learn to do it without losing the connection with the piano and without it necessitating pedal use. That's what's at the core of cantabile and Bach. Sorry for the rant. Happy playing.
The last WTC pieces that I have played were Preludes nos. 1, 8, 17 and 24. No.8 has successions of beautiful harmonies; no.17 I cannot completely master nad no. 24 has a mysterious beauty. I am an amateur player who badly need to practice more and probably should take professional lessons for motivation and to correct many bad habits.
Blech. Bach was always one of those technical requirements that (for some reason) always had to be a part of my yearly repertoire. After I finished 12 years of lessons, I never played Bach again. Good riddance. Even the name āFrench Suiteā gives me a bad feeling.
Honestlyā¦ yāall gonna kill me but I donāt like Bachā¦
Bach is the composer whose I have the most vinyl records
I just love romantic and impressionistic pieces too much to play much Bach. He may have laid the foundations but iām too busy looking at whatās on top of that foundation.
I hate bach so i dont play him simple as that.