Week 3 - Into the Fugue: Three Voices at Once
Hey everyone! 🎹
Halfway there! Many of you are still working through the Prelude, and that's completely ok. Take the time you need with it. The threads will be here whenever you're ready.
For those moving on to the Fugue, this week's suggested focus is Sections 8–11 (Fugue, bars 1–20):
- Section 8, Fugue Fundamentals: what a fugue actually is, and articulated legato, the touch that keeps every voice clear.
- Section 9, The Exposition (bars 1–9): the fingering walkthrough, setting your tempo, and giving each of the three voices its own character.
- Section 10, Voicing Gym: the seesaw approach, 2-for-1, exaggeration, ghosting and staggered-note practice. These are short drills you can return to all week.
- Section 11, Development & Episodes (bars 9–20): a structural map of the development, the conversation within one hand, the jumps, double thirds, and those shocking harmonies before the recap.
Open the Track here: https://app.tonebase.co/piano/tracks/bach-prelude-and-fugue-in-c-minor-bwv-847
Jumping in now? No catching up required. Go at your own pace.
Share a clip, a question, or a voicing drill that's working for you (no clip required), and leave a kind word or a tip on someone else's post. Prelude updates are welcome here too!
Question for the week: which voice is hardest for you to keep alive in the Fugue (or, if you're still in the Prelude, which passage is giving you the most trouble)?
Coming up:
- Next Tuesday, Oct 27, 11am PT: Deep Dive on the C minor Prelude and Fugue, live with me. Post your questions in these threads and I'll answer as many as I can!
- Monday, Nov 2, 11am PT: Watch Party featuring your recorded submissions 🎥
6 replies
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Anyone finished their prelude yet?
Myself, keeping the pace exact for the first 24 bars is still a little 'wobbly', as well as some transition bars, i.e., hand position changes, but making progress nonetheless. Years ago I played this, but quite sloppily and I never played the fugue. So this time around, attempting to 'polish' for my own self-respect. 🙂 As for the fugue, have learned the notes by now, and am attempting to add musicality to it, is the stage I am it. There is still a chance I'll finish in time. I enjoyed the track and the challenge very much and am grateful for these track additions to Tonebase and all of Dominic's obvious hard work on our behalf.👋 Anyone else to share their progress?
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I think I am playing the Prelude’s first 24 bars with a quasi-staccato on the inner notes. It took a while to figure out how to do it but today it seemed to click. It seems to give a harpsichord-ish feeling to the piece and helps bring out the melody and the pedal points. I am working on the fugue but haven’t really conquered the Presto of the Prelude yet. This is a great challenge!
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Dominic, it seems that your touch in the Presto of the Prelude is quite different from that of the first 24 bars. Am I hearing it all correctly? Maybe it’s the change in tempo…?
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I have the prelude completed! How does one share a video clip to the group? This is my first time trying to do that.
I would love to get feedback and also advice on how to better shape the melodic line of the first 24 bars. I tend to fall into a monotonous pattern.
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I figured out how to upload a video! Yay!
Please let me know your thoughts. I am struggling with the phrasing and creating a more musical line in the first 24 bars. And the presto section still needs polishing. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!