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The short answer
A keyboard lesson that also opens a door to composing. Two-Part Invention No. 10, BWV 781 is an invention by Johann Sebastian Bach from the Baroque era. PlayPiano puts it at Level 5, an estimate.
- invention
- Baroque
- dancing
History
Two-Part Invention No. 10, BWV 781 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
An answering entry
Hear the second-half subject answered a fifth higher.
How to practise it
Hear the three-eighth groups clearly as the second voice joins.
- Practise the opening in three gently shaped groups.
- Rehearse the lower entry while tapping the three larger pulses.
How hard is it
Broken-chord patterns need a stable three-beat compound pulse rather than nine equal accents. Ornaments and sustained notes add coordination demands beyond reading the basic shapes.
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
