Prelude and Fugue in G minor
About this arrangement
This is No. 16 in Book 1 of the Well-Tempered Clavier, compiled in 1722 in Köthen. The fugue subject also appears in Bach's funeral cantata Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106. The prelude ends with a major chord (a Picardy third).
Learn the subject alone, with its opening minor sixth, and find the four entries: the second comes in bar 2 on the dominant (D). Practise voice pairs, then three voices, then four, and loop the closing bars at 50%.
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 Prelude and Fugue in G minor, BWV 861?
The prelude is manageable, but the four-voice fugue is advanced: you keep several lines going at once, often in the same hand.
02 How long is BWV 861?
Our score has 53 bars in total: the prelude is 19 bars and the fugue is 34.
03 What should I practise first?
Start with the prelude to settle the key. Then learn the fugue subject and its minor-sixth leap before adding voices.
04 Where is the subject elsewhere in Bach?
The G minor fugue subject also appears in Bach's funeral cantata Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106.