Prelude and Fugue in F minor, WTC II
About this arrangement
This is No. 12 in Book 2 of the Well-Tempered Clavier, compiled around 1742 in Leipzig. The fugue is in three voices and has a four-bar subject. It ends with a Picardy third, a major chord closing a minor piece.
Play the prelude in its two halves, hands separately. In the fugue, learn the four-bar subject and then follow it through the three voices. Loop the sequence bars between entries 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 F minor, BWV 881?
It is advanced. The three-voice fugue is long, and the prelude is a long piece in two halves.
02 How long is BWV 881?
Our score writes out the prelude's repeats, so it has 141 bars of prelude and 86 bars of fugue, 227 in total. Printed with repeat signs, the prelude is 71 bars.
03 What should I practise first?
Start with the prelude's two halves, then learn the fugue subject on its own.
04 How does the F minor fugue end?
It closes with a short codetta on a Picardy third, so the last chord is major.