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Hello,

I am working through "First Lessons in Bach" by Walter Carroll & Willard A. Palmer.

I am working on the second piece, which is simply titled Minuet, which has b flat and e flat in the signature.

In measure 17, E is naturalled in the treble cleft. In measure 19 it is naturalled in the bass cleft. In measure 22, E is returned to flat in the treble cleft. There also appears an E in the bass cleft after that. My question is, do I play E flat or E natural in the bass cleft?

So in other words, are the flats and naturals to be respected per cleft separately, or taken into consideration together? I hope I phrased that well enough.

Thanks.

BTW- Yes, it would be a lot better if I had a teacher I could ask such basic questions of, but I cannot afford that at this time

The rules for this are mostly consistent:

Accidentals apply only to the line or space they are introduced on and only for the measure they are in. It does not apply to other lines or spaces. Publishers will often print courtesy accidentals to help make the score clearer.

For information about the few exceptions, I would reference www.dolmetsch.com . That site has a very good music dictionary / theory discussion. Bach, printed in a modern edition, is not one of what I would typically consider an exception to the above rule.

If I can find a copy of this piece when I get home, I can let you know how it is printed in my books.

So to state it directly, it probably should be a flat unless there is a typo in the piece.

Rich

Thank you for your reply. It seems my edition is marked up in a somewhat inconsistent manner, but that, as you say, the E in question should be flatted. I will try it that way.

I assume we are talking about the Minuet in G Minor from Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook. This piece is attributed to Christian Petzold, just like the Minuet in G Major (which is probably the first piece in that book). I've seen it written that one way to play these pieces are to play Minuet in G Major, then Minuet in G minor , and finally Minuet in G Major again as one complete set.

The edition I am looking at is Keith Snell, J.S. Bach, Selections from Anna Magalena Bach.

Measure 17 has a natural sign on E in the treble. Measure 19 has a natural sign on E in the bass. Measure 22 has no natural or flat symbols, assuming that you understand that it is back to just the key signature.

Another example from the same piece: Measure 12 has a natural on B in the bass, and measure 13 in my edition also repeats the natural on B in the bass.

Hope this helps,
Rich