Bach Inventions

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What is the best way to work out phrasing and voicing of Bach Invention #13?

-- Alicia Case (acpianostudio@hotmail.com), October 11, 2004

Answers

Here's my suggestion: As Bach's music tends to be very polyphonic, the voice exchanges between the left and right hand should be brought out. Follow simple phrasing rules (ie the higher the pitch, the higher the dynamic). Keep in mind that Bach tends to demand various dynamics at once, so do not hesitate to crescendo in one hand as you decrescendo in the other at points where the passages move in opposite directions, as even phrasing can be different between the hands. Good luck!

-- Zoe (z_phillips@excite.com), December 07, 2004.

When playing Bach, you must keep in mind that he did not write his music for piano and so he did not include much self imposed dynamics in his pieces, instead, he focused on the crafting of different voices and they way in which they interact. He did put some thought into dynamics in his music, but those would not be expressed by pressing the keys harder or softer, but by playing a different amount of notes at the same time. The bigger the number of notes playing, the louder the passage (and the higher the pitch the louder, like was said before). Dont forget to identify the subjects and semi-subjects of the song making them more significant.

-- inbar (inbibar87@hotmail.com), January 16, 2005.

I recently learned a technique that really enhanced my own Bach playing. Learn each clef with both hands in unison. You will gain a much better sense of line.

-- Arlene Steffen (asteffen@fresno.edu), January 19, 2005.

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