Gigue, English Suite No. 2 (BWV 807)

Johann Sebastian Bach · Level 6 (Expert) · Baroque · Piano

A dance from Bach’s keyboard suites (French Suites, English Suites, Partitas). A minor, 6/8, 79 bars (about one minute), complete score.

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• Think of the dance step: find the strong beat and the articulation that give this dance its character. The piece starts with a pickup: count the incomplete bar before coming in. In 6/8, count the beats as groups of three eighths (dotted beats) to keep the lilt. One hand sometimes plays two voices: hold the long notes for their full value and let the main line sing louder than the accompaniment.

More pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach

• Partita 4 (BWV 828) — movement 6
• Aus meines Herzens Grunde (Chorale 1) (BWV 269)
• Two-Part Invention No. 1 in C major (BWV 772)
• Prelude No. 1 in C major, Well-Tempered Clavier I (BWV 846)
• Two-Part Invention No. 13 in A minor (BWV 784)
• Two-Part Invention No. 8 in F major (BWV 779)
• Little Prelude in F major (BWV 928)
• Two-Part Invention No. 4 in D minor (BWV 775)

Source : Mutopia Project · Public Domain