Prelude and Fugue in C minor, WTC II
About this arrangement
This is No. 2 in Book 2 of the Well-Tempered Clavier, compiled around 1742 in Leipzig. Both the prelude and the fugue are 28 bars in the printed score. The fugue closes with a Picardy third: a major chord at the end of a minor piece.
Play the prelude hands separately, keeping the sixteenths even, and add the trills last. In the fugue, find the subject entries and practise voice pairs. Loop the densest 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 C minor, BWV 871?
Advanced. The prelude is a steady run of sixteenths, and the fugue needs clear voice-leading.
02 How long is BWV 871?
The printed prelude is 28 bars and the fugue is 28 bars. Our score writes the prelude's repeats out, so it shows 56 bars of prelude and 28 of fugue, 84 in total.
03 What should I practise first?
Start with the prelude, one hand at a time, then together slowly. Then learn the fugue subject alone before adding other voices.
04 How does the fugue end?
On a Picardy third, a major tonic chord in a minor-key piece.