Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner I procrastinated with Bach, and now it's too late.

Lucky for us the Arts are cumulative and history offers a great breadth and depth of material; like a great musical smörgåsbord we can pick and choose the styles that we like most. No matter the amount of 'musical water under the bridge', for me it will always be Bach, Liszt, Franck and Debussy.

Nicely put. I've always loved playing Bach on the piano, even if we respectfully disagree about the use of pedal.

Like you, I haven't played nearly the amount of Bach on the organ as I would like -the Trio Sonatas are dear to my heart- but I suppose it's all about time constraints. At least with a piano (a Yamaha where I can switch to headphones when practicing early in the morning) there's more guaranteed access, and I'm going to tackle the 6th Partita during my stay in Finland- of which the flight leaves later today.

'Bach, Liszt, Franck and Debussy'. We're close soul mates as always. Beethoven, Liszt, Franck, Wagner, Elgar for me.

Oh, man do you and I have a lot in common! Preferred "big crashy Romantic rep" as a kid, particularly Chopin. My teachers were less indulgent, and sadly I lost interest in the piano through my teenage years. Wasted opportunity.

Looking forward, I, too, am looking at undertaking a Partita. My fingers and brain need the discipline, and I do love Bach! I can play the Scherzo from Partita III pretty cleanly and fast. Oddly, as a kid I didn't have much knowledge (still don't!): my favorite piece was Chopin Op. 31 Bb minor Scherzo, and here's a Bach Scherzo that is also fast and also starts with loud minor chords - and was playable at the time. (The Op. 31 most definitely was NOT! )

Just the last couple of days I've been learning the Menuet II from the B-Flat Partita. Still have not decided whether to pick #1 or #3 as a first.

Where are you at? Have you polished this puppy off, or still in the learning process? I'd be interested, if you are likewise, in comparing notes in our studies.

...I found studying species counterpoint in college opened up a far greater appreciation and understanding of Bach for me, it even helps with playing in that some of the inner logic of why something is going where (and where things will probably go!) relates to how you might place your fingering, it also facilitates sequential muscle memory in that you can group things into logical musical chunks which you can then practice separately...

I belong to an adult piano club and have a monthly performance opportunity. Unfortunately, I'm just not able to practice as much as I'd like. One way I deal with this is to focus very narrowly...more than one piece or 2 very short pieces at a time just means that I spread my practice time too thin and don't progress fast enough on any.

Due to my childhood and young adult experiences (limited as they were ), and my feelings about what I considered my weaknesses then, my personal bias is that what I play for piano club must be thoroughly memorized and as polished as I and my teacher can possibly get it-as if it were a formal recital (most other club members play something every month and few memorize...because I had memorization 'issues' as a kid I now make myself memorize...but of course that means I don't play every month ).

Anyway, a couple of months ago I played the Gigue and the Allemande from the Bb Partita. The goal this month (as long as life and the boss don't intrude too much on practice time) is to have the Prelude and the 2 Menuets ready.

Because I was so unfamiliar with Bach it has taken me much longer than usual to learn and polish, but the good news is I am getting much better now that I've 'learned his language' so-to-speak. A 20 year period in which I did not play or even own a piano has not helped. I've only been back to it about a year and trills and Baroque ornaments are still (sigh) kicking my butt. I never used to have trouble with them but now they're just a lot of work to get right.

Don't feel guilty about not wanting to play Bach. Not every pianist has the mindset, passion, or possibly the patience and dexterity it takes to perform it at the pro level. Bach is hard, and I know of a German lady who is a very high level player and she isn't into Bach either. Bach can become redundant, boring at times, predictable, physically demanding.

Actually Bach is the majority of classical/Baroque that I work on, and Mozart. I dabble with Chopin. I used to hate Bach until I started playing the Inventions and WTC, now I have built a real taste and passion for the music, but I have a long way to go to get it to a pro level.

katt

I love Bach, but I'm only playing his easy pieces now though(Invention in F Major)

Bach is as close as we mere mortals can come to knowing the mind of God.