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The short answer
Courante, French Suite No. 3, BWV 814 is a courante by Johann Sebastian Bach from the Baroque era. PlayPiano puts it at Level 7, an estimate.
- courante
- Baroque
- Key of B minor
- dancing
- grand
- hand independence
- voicing
Also known as French Suite No. 3 in B minor, BWV 814; J. S. Bach.
History
A brief high F-sharp leads to longer held notes above a moving lower line. More upper voices appear inside the texture. Keep the held tones present while the eighth notes pass around them.
Sources
What to listen for
A held arrival
The opening F-sharp leads to a dotted half note with other held upper voices. Listen for a sustained sonority before the line moves on.
The moving lower path
The lower voice moves through E, D and C-sharp while the upper layers are held. Follow that line without letting it cover the long notes.
How to practise it
- Keep sustained and moving voices audible without making the supporting layer heavy.
- Practise the independent lines separately, then combine their different rhythmic roles.
How hard is it
Several upper voices hold dotted half notes while the lower line moves in eighths and quarters. The literal source metre is six-four; sustaining clarity in that layered texture supports an upper-intermediate estimate.
About this piece
- Licence
- cc-zero
- Source
- musescore.com
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
