Prelude and Fugue in E minor, WTC II
About this arrangement
This is No. 10 in Book 2 of the Well-Tempered Clavier, compiled around 1742 in Leipzig. The prelude is the only one in the collection with two repeated sections and a volta. The fugue subject is about six bars long, described as the longest in either book.
Play the prelude hands separately, since the theme passes between them. In the fugue, learn the long subject in short pieces, then mark each entry. Loop the busiest bars at 50% before joining the voices.
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 E minor, BWV 879?
Advanced. The prelude has quick trills and swirling figures, and the fugue subject is long and rhythmically varied.
02 How long is BWV 879?
Our score writes the prelude's repeats out, so it has 216 prelude bars and 87 fugue bars, 303 in total. As printed with repeat signs, the prelude is 108 bars.
03 What should I practise first?
Start with the prelude's opening theme and its answer in the other hand. Then break the fugue subject into short phrases.
04 What is unusual about the fugue subject?
It is about six bars long, which the source describes as the longest in either volume of the Well-Tempered Clavier.