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The Practice Stepladder

Learning a complex piece each hand alone before putting the hands together is a strategy favoured by the majority of piano teachers. While it is of course possible to practise a fugue hands separately, this misses the point. Rather than working hands separately, I advocate strands separately (playing each line of counterpoint by itself) before combining the voices in pairs. Time consuming? Yes, but well worth it, as you will discover! The following is the process for a 3-voice fugue: First, practise each voice alone with the fingering and the articulation you will end up using to the end... Read >>

JS Bach - Prelude and Fugue in B-Flat Major, BWV 866

ABRSM Grade 8 - A1

This prelude and fugue from Book 1 of The Well-Tempered Clavier is one of the few entry level works from Bach’s timeless masterpiece, the lively fugue more approachable than many of the others because the notes lie relatively comfortably under the hands. In three voices, there are three motives (subject, countersubject and the motive that first appears in the soprano voice in bar 9). These themes then join together in different combinations (a compositional device known as triple counterpoint). The Prelude is in toccata style, made up of passages in broken chord figuration, solid chords, and scale-like passages. Depending on... Read >>