Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 871
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, No. 2
No speed is printed on this score, so Clefsight plays it at quarter note = 109: the middle speed of the 100 pieces in 4/4 in the library whose files set one. Its length counts from that.
Plays on a MIDI keyboard in Chrome, Edge or Firefox on a computer, or Chrome on an Android phone or tablet, or on the keys on screen without one.
Versions
Each easier version only leaves notes out and adds none, so every note in it is the piece's own. Print any of them free.
- As written2065 notes
- Melody and a simpler left hand1820 notes
- Melody and left-hand roots1095 notes
- Right-hand melody1014 notes
The easy version, the melody and a simpler left hand at level 4, engraved on its own page.
To practise it on paper: a practice chart for this piece, a week of steps from each hand alone to full tempo, with their speeds.
What it asks of you
- Treble clef from G3 to C6, with ledger lines
- Bass clef from C2 to G4, with ledger lines
- Key signature: 3 flats (E♭ major or C minor)
- Accidentals: naturals, flats outside the key
- Rhythm: quarter notes, half notes, whole notes, eighth notes, dotted quarter notes, sixteenth notes, notes held across the beat, triplets, dotted eighth notes
- Intervals: 2nds (steps), 3rds (skips), 4ths, 6ths, 5ths, 7ths
- Chords: inverted triads, seventh chords, triads
- Hands playing together, one hand moving while the other holds, moving the hand to a new position, hands taking turns, hands in different rhythms
Sections
The piece in 11 sections, cut where its music breaks, each read at its own level. Tap one to loop it on the stand until it's clean, then the next.
- Bars 1–8level 4 of 7
- Bars 9–16level 4 of 7
- Bars 17–24level 4 of 7
- Bars 25–32level 5 of 7
- Bars 33–40level 5 of 7
- Bars 41–48level 5 of 7
- Bars 49–56level 5 of 7
- Bars 57–64level 4 of 7
- Bars 65–71level 5 of 7
- Bars 72–78level 5 of 7
- Bars 79–85level 5 of 7
What stands between you and this piece
Clefsight compares the notes of this piece with what you already read.
Score from a copy shared on MuseScore (CC0 1.0); the composition is public domain: Johann Sebastian Bach died in 1750. Credits
Community source. A copy shared on MuseScore that passed our checks: every bar complete, every chord within reach of a hand, repeats that can be followed, and the key its title names. It hasn't been compared bar by bar with a printed edition yet. How we check Heard a wrong note? Tell us