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The short answer
A keyboard lesson that also opens a door to composing. Two-Part Invention No. 7, BWV 778 is an invention by Johann Sebastian Bach from the Baroque era. PlayPiano puts it at Level 5, an estimate.
- invention
- Baroque
- playful
History
Two-Part Invention No. 7, BWV 778 belongs to Bach's two-part Inventions. The earlier teaching notebook for Wilhelm Friedemann was begun in Köthen on 22 January 1720. Bach made a separate fair copy of the collection in 1723, revising its presentation and order. These dates mark stages in the collection's history, not the exact day this individual piece was composed. The collection reached print in 1801, long after Bach's lifetime.
Sources
What to listen for
Contours change
Hear sequential patterns, inverted shapes and held supporting tones.
How to practise it
Keep the upper ornamented figure distinct from the later lower answer.
- Practise the first upper gesture without ornaments, then add them at a comfortable pace.
- Play the opening lower octave gesture and count the silence before its sixteenth entry.
How hard is it
An intermediate independence study with small running figures and frequent ornaments. Ornament timing must fit the other line without interrupting the phrase.
About this piece
- Collection
- A conversation in two voices
- Licence
- Public Domain
- Source
- mutopiaproject.org
More by Johann Sebastian Bach
- Prelude in C major, BWV 846Level 4, estimatedOpen to everyone
- Two-Part Invention No. 1 in C major, BWV 772Level 5, estimatedWith Maestro
- Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971: III. PrestoLevel 9, estimatedWith Maestro
