Description
A D minor prelude, BWV 926, built on unbroken right-hand broken chords that let each change of harmony be heard in triple time. It belongs to the little book Bach began in 1720 for Wilhelm Friedemann, his eldest son. The preludes from that book are grouped together as the little preludes and serve widely as preparation for the inventions.
In D minor and 3/4, the left hand supports the harmony, which shifts within a tense minor-key sound. It has 414 notes in 62 seconds, and its range, C#2 to B5, fits on a 61-key keyboard. Compared with the F major prelude BWV 928 from the same notebook, its character lies more in letting the harmonic changes be heard in triple time.
Rated intermediate. The task is to play the repeated figures evenly while letting the sound change where the harmony changes. Lower the playback speed to hear the chords shift, and repeat passages isolated with the A-B loop. Checking the right-hand figures and the left-hand support with the hand colours makes the different roles of the hands clear.
A collection of preludes not tied to a specific set, featuring short, evocative works by composers from Bach to more modern voices.
Browse all songs in Preludes →Sheet Music
Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
What this piece teaches
One of the pieces in Friedemann's notebook later loved as the "little preludes" (BWV 926). D minor, 3/4: the right hand repeats a broken-chord figure while the left supports the harmony. The lesson is letting the moment the harmony changes be heard within an unchanging figure.
How to practise it
- Play the right-hand figures as block chords first, so you know the route the harmony takes.
- At 0.75x, check that the repeated figure stays even.
- Where the harmony changes, let the tone change slightly too. Loop short passages with A-B to practise it.
About the Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Johann Sebastian Bach was the towering figure of German Baroque music, serving for decades as Cantor of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. Renowned for his mastery of counterpoint, he laid the foundations of keyboard music with works such as The Well-Tempered Clavier and the Inventions. This site includes minuets and polonaises from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, the Inventions and Sinfonias, and fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier. The Notebook pieces are catalogued with BWV Anh. (appendix) numbers, but many are by other composers - Petzold's minuets among them - or by no one known, and most of their song pages give the current view of who wrote them.
View all works by Bach →