Ive decided that I am at a point where I am ready to seriously embark upon the journey of counterpoint. I have little to no experience with it. Are there any prep methods? Any easier fugues of Bach? Etc...

I have worked out a few fugues from 18 little preludes/fugues, and the first and second set of the Well Tempered Clavier, however I believe these or WAY above my concious level.

What is a good preparitory method? Book recommendations?

except the very first prelude of WTC, everything else there will be of some or a lot of chanllenges, especially fugues.

you could try 2/3-part inventions which are good to learn counterpoint/composition especially, and little easier than most of WTC pieces to play.

there is a well known counterpoint book by Fux, which you might be interested in reading. check at Amazon.com, and you may find it.

Schirmer has a "First Lessons In Bach" which is very good for those just starting. Each piece clearly lists what technique you are learning and they are not so difficult that they would make you frustrated. I would recommend exploring this before jumping into more advanced music like the Inventions.

Try the inventions, but the Art of Fugue may be more rewarding. There are some pieces that can be quite pleasant if broken down into two voices on the piano (the 4 voice stuff is beyond me). I will probably start these in a few weeks.

Th Fux book is great, a bit weird from a presentation point. Also check out the books on Counterpoint from Preston from the local library.

I'd only recommend Fux for someone interested in historical pedagogical technique. Walter Piston's "Counterpoint" (I believe this is the book being referenced) is thorough, but a bit on the dry, academic side. I still think it's best handled one-on-one with a competent teacher.

Now, if your interest is in PLAYING, rather than writing counterpoint, I'd recommend starting with Bach's Two-Part Inventions and then the (three-part) Sinfonias.

That's it Piston... it's been a while since I had it checked out, and it is dry compared to the Fux book which is a bit easier to read and is a "cliff notes" version of counterpoint. I think it is about 148 pages or so (I have the paperback version $10).

Piston has another old book, this one on harmony and it is as dry as the first one but much easier than the treates on harmony man what bore.

Alfred has a masterpiece book available of Bach, the fingering is easy to read and has inventions 1, 4, 8, 14 (which are the ones that everyone recommends) Personally I like #2, it is note on note counterpoint for the full grinding effect.... it's loaded with good Bach.

Have fun

i thought Piston's harmony(or counterpoint) book is used as text book in music schools. is that still the case nowadays?

When I came back to the piano after a 30 year absence, I told my teacher that I wanted to learn Bach. She gave me the C minor prelude from the Well Tempered Clavier, Book 1. I think she wanted to see if I REALLY wanted to learn Bach.

Took me a long time, but I got it down, though it still falls apart sometimes. She said, "OK, you REALLY want to learn Bach, here's a fugue." And she gave me the c-minor fugue from WTC book 1.

Took another long time, but I can do it, most of the time.

soooo.....

Over the holidays I started the c-major fugue (4 voices). I'm amazed at how damn MUSICAL it is. Sometimes when I play it, I get a shiver up my spine 'cos it's sooo beautiful (not my playing- the music!).

soooo.....

This week, I've started the G-minor prelude and fugue.

It's addictive.

Dive in, the water's deep, but really fun. So much more valuable for technique than mindless Hanon exercises. And a lot more fun.

Best regards,


George

i am working on that c minor fugue, half way through and it takes me quite long time to even get a few bars done. i am crawling on this, but it's such a beautiful piece to keep me going... it's one of my favorite prelude&fugue pair, difficult to learn nevertherless.