what would you say are the easier preludes from the well tempered clavier? C major looks fairly do-able for me, but are there any others?
i dont really mind about key signatures, i promise i wont arrange them... there shouldnt be a badly tampered clavier...

A minor from book two only has two parts, can be taken at a leisurely tempo, and is beautiful.

It's quite chromatic tho.

David.

I've recently been to Budapest and visited a very nice music shop in the city centre where I saw some interesting sheet music by Koenneman Budapest music - cheap Urtext editions - and was tempted to buy the Well-Tempered Clavier but being at about Grade 5 level, thought I might wait ... can anyone advise me whether a Grade 5 student could face some of the WT Clavier ?
Many thanks,
J
P.S.: For "hellocello": I also welcome answers in Spanish - my native language!

You can certainly tackle many of the Preludes and Fugues at Grade 5 and they will do nothing but good for your playing.

But I would not advise you to work from the Konemann editions as they have no suggested fingerings. I think you would be better off buying the much more expensive Henle-Verlag edition which has excellent fingerings, or the Associated Board edition which has some useful inrtroductory notes to each Prelude & Fugue as well as very good fingerings.

I actually bought myself a copy of the Konemann edition because my old editions are battered and falling apart, but I am in the process of marking in my own fingerings which are mostly those suggested in the Henle and AB editions with a very few changes to suit my slightly larger than average hands. I would not like to have to work out every detail of the fingering for myself - especially as some of those suggested seem very awkward, and even anti-musical, when you first try them, but with time, and after trying many others, they usually turn out to be the best.

Relatively easy Preludes? Opinions will differ, and a lot depends on what tempo you take them, Book 1 No 1 is by far the "easiest" of the lot, but out of the rest I find these straightforward:

Book 1 Nos 2, 4, 8, 20, 22
Book 2 Nos 2, 3, 7, 9, 12, 20,

Some otherrs look easy at first, and mostly are, but turn out to present unexpected problems (e.g. Book 1 No 9, Book 2 No 4), or they are easy at a slow tempo, but not at a faster speed that suits them more. One or two are especially difficult to play clearly and accurately when taken at speed, e.g. Book 1 Nos 5 and 15, Then there are some that are perversely harder to play slowly than at a moderate speed (Book 1 No 12) because of the greater control over rhythm and dynamics that is needed!

p.s. Musically - that is, making them worth listening to, doing them justice - they are all a challenge.

Thanks a lot MadTom! I'll certainly get hold of one of those. Do they both have suggested fingering? And is ABRSM as good as Henle-Verlag as far as Bach's WTC is concerned??

They are both excellent. Fingering in the AB is by Harold Samuel. The Henle Verlag has fingering by Andras Schiff - one of the all-time great Bach players. On that basis - and the fact that it is a 2007 publication (the AB dates from 1924) it might seem an automatic choice, but I am still fond of my ragged old AB edition with Tovey's notes.

You might want to gather a few more opinions, or better still browse them yourself, before committing yourself. Me ... I'd sacrifice some other luxury, or go without food, and buy both.

Frederic Iliffe's "48 Preludes and Fugues of John Sebastian Bach analysed for the use of students" (!) is a very useful companion.

A good tip for many of us! Ta.

Thanks! i was also looking for something along those lines last night

Thanks also to everyone else who has given suggestions ill probably go out and look at the two books you suggested, as at the moment i only have print outs from Free-scores.

A question though, in the prelude n C# in bar 16 there is the following:



How is that note/what is it played as

I think it is cancelling a previous double sharp so the note is played as a sharp.

You might enjoy the book of Eighteen Little Preludes too if you don't know them already.

I could do with not having read this as I've seriously struggled at grade 8.

Indeed MadTom spoke of tackling them ... not managing them ...

Have you had a look at any of the two-part inventions? Some of the movements from the keyboard suites should be within your capability if you're at around Grade V standard.

I have already learnt 3 Two-Part Inventions and also French Suites Numbers 1 and 3 (almost complete). I play the 2-Part Inventions at regular intervals over time and so can play them given due revision but with some movements of the 1st French Suite, for instance, it happens that I studied them months ago and never played them again, so if I wanted to resume them I'd have to start all over again ... almost as if I'd never played them. My teacher - and I - haven't been wise enough to keep doing the piece(s) after I'd learnt them and apart from Allemande in French Suite No 1 and the first 4 movements of French Suite No 3, which I keep playing for personal pleasure, the others seemed to have vanished into thin air ....