Little Prelude in C major (BWV 939)

Johann Sebastian Bach · Level 2 (Beginner) · Baroque · Piano

The first of the Five Little Preludes BWV 939–943, preserved in a copy by Johann Peter Kellner: sixteen bars of arpeggios and scales touring the keys closest to C major. C major, 4/4, 16 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.
• The mordents of the source (main note, lower neighbour, main note, very quickly on the beat) are not written here: add them once the notes are secure. Practise each voice separately, then put them together slowly while listening to the counterpoint. The left hand makes wide leaps: look at the landing note in advance and move early, without rushing the rhythm. For chords, shape the hand in the air before landing, all notes together.

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 · CC BY-SA 3.0