Fugue in C-sharp major, WTC I
About this arrangement
This is the fugue from No. 3 in Book 1 of the Well-Tempered Clavier, compiled in 1722 in Köthen. It uses few of the usual fugal tricks: there is no stretto, no inversion and no pedal point. A long sequential episode travels through related keys before all three voices come back.
Learn the cheerful subject by itself, then find each of its entries in the three voices. Play voice pairs before putting all three together. Loop the long episode at 50% and listen for the repeating pattern.
Start with short loops.
Use the section list as a practice map. Start at 50% tempo, loop one section, then return to the full piece once the hand shape feels stable.
Choose Right or Left to focus on one hand. Wait for note checks the highlighted notes as you play them on the screen or a connected MIDI keyboard.
Before you practice.
01 How hard is Bach's Fugue in C-sharp major, BWV 848?
It is lighter than most fugues in Book 1: three voices, steady eighth notes and sixteenths, and no stretto. The key has seven sharps, so reading takes some care. We rate it intermediate.
02 How long is BWV 848?
Our score of the fugue has 55 bars in 4/4. The prelude has its own page.
03 What should I practise first?
Start with the subject, the descending broken sixths. Then play it with each countersubject separately: one is running sixteenths, the other has longer notes.
04 Does the fugue use stretto?
No. Nor does it use inversion, augmentation or a pedal point. It relies on a long sequential episode instead.
