Spread Chords


Examples from the Repertoire (1)

Bach Italian Concerto, BWV 971 Let’s look at the opening chord of Bach’s Italian Concerto. Some players (harpsichordists and pianists) spread the opening LH chord, others don’t. What does this tell us? That there is no one right answer, and that the option to spread the chord lies with the individual performer. Experiment and see what works for the type of effect you are after. The fact that there is no instruction to spread the chord it is neither here nor there. Bach gave us occasional directions to spread chords in his music...

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