Little Prelude in D minor (BWV 935)

Johann Sebastian Bach · Level 4 (Intermediate) · Baroque · Piano

The third of the Six Little Preludes (around 1720): a two-part invention in miniature, in which the hands toss the same sixteenth-note motif back and forth. D minor, 3/8, 48 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.
• Both voices are equal: practise each hand alone until the motif sounds the same in both, then put them together slowly. The few ornaments of the edition are written out in full in this score. One hand sometimes plays two voices: hold the long notes for their full value and let the main line sing louder than the accompaniment. Fast writing: work section by section in Wait mode, then in dotted rhythms, and raise the tempo in steps of 5–10%.

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 : PDMX / MuseScore · CC0 1.0