Bach’s Prelude in D minor, BWV 999
Welcome to our very first Study Group — a collaborative, peer-led dive into a beautiful piece of music over the course of two weeks.
We’re kicking things off with Bach’s Prelude in D minor, BWV 999!
This is not a course or a class — it’s a space for mutual exploration, discussion, and shared progress. I’ll be learning the piece alongside you (again — it’s been a while!), and I’m excited to discover new things together.
What to expect:
Between June 9th-20th, we’ll focus on:
Fingerings and technique
Harmonic structure and phrasing
Interpretation and expressive choices
Your own questions and perspectives!
We’ll also meet for two live Zoom sessions to share progress, chat about challenges, and nerd out over all things Bach.
How to participate:
- Sign-Up here!
- Grab your score of BWV 999
- Introduce yourself below!
- Join the prompts and discussion!
- Share your thoughts, ideas, or a clip of your playing!
Zoom Call #1 – June 13th, 9am PST
Zoom Call #2 – June 20th, 9am PST
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The section starting at Bar 19 was tricky at first. This was because I was trying to hold on to rather difficult whole chords. Once I adopted a more 'fractional' approach, it became much easier.
Bar 19 only needs a three-string barre for the opening two beats. Then the only barre needed is light pressure on C, third string.
Bar 20 just needs a half barre. The D in the bass can be played open; my score indicates this. The half barre can be partly relaxed as we just need the upper voice Ds. I find that releasing the barre and repositioning it to include the fourth string will mute the open D.
Bar 21 needs an open E in the bass while positioning the 3, 4 and 2 for the upper voice. Only a genteel little bar is needed on 4th and 5th strings for A and E in the lower voice. No need to place the barre until it's actually needed. LH 4 and 2 can be relaxed as soon as their notes are played,
Bar 22 needs a partial barre on 9th fret with D held by 2. Relax 2 as soon as D is played and hold only E (upper voice) and B (lower voice) with the barre.
This same mindset can serve us well as we start descending all the way to the A minor voicing in Bar 30.
I hope these notes are helpful.
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Neil Macmillan This passage is quite a workout for the left hand—and your solution handles it really well! I’ll give it a try myself once my baby wakes up (my workspace currently doubles as his nap zone… very collaborative arrangement).
Study Group 999 Does anybody else have any special solution for the extended barre section over the dominant pedal tone here?
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Here are my first few thoughts on the first few bars of BWV999! Let me know what you think of the overall tempo of the piece!
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martin I'm late to the party , as I've been nursing my injured left hand thumb joint (currently doing exercise therapy and wearing a brace). However, this piece brings back nice memories from decades ago learning it. I will try to visit it again and hopefully record something.
I like the "slower" tempo as it allows the arpeggio to breathe and the mood of the piece seems more apparent. (Also, I don't believe this piece was intended as a study in arpeggios). I took a listen to Julian Bream's interpretation. He also plays it at a slower tempo- 84 per quarter note.
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Barney
Thank you for sharing this — I’m really sorry to hear about your injury and hope the therapy continues to help! It’s wonderful that this piece brings back fond memories, and I’d love to hear your interpretation if you get a chance to revisit and record it.
I completely agree with you on the tempo — giving the arpeggios space really brings out the character in the piece. Looking forward to hearing more from you when you’re ready!
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martin I'm also using the same fingering ( with the pinky) in the first chord. However, in the 2nd chord, I use the pinky for the A# and the 1st finger for the G.
I agree with the tempo being moderate to somewhat slow, especially when played in its original key of Cminor.
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Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary Oh, can you share a quick video how you do that? Do you play both G and Bb on the first string (since the sub dominant of d minor is g minor, we refer to it as Bb - the minor third of g minor - instead of A#) ?
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martin I was talking of the 4th string, the bass notes (I play the Bb with the pinky and the G with the 1st finger, suits my hand better). Apologies for the unsynced video and bad quality (i need to find a solution for this).
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Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary Aaaaah, I see what you mean!! If that works for you, great!!
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Martin Thanks Martin! All of the comments and suggestions from you and others really helps us gain deeper understanding of the piece and its possibilities. Much appreciated!
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martin could you post the reference to that wonderfully articulated performance you presented in the video.
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David Absolutely!
Study Group 999 Here's the video I presented in the video. It's imo one of the greatest lutists of our time, Hopkinson Smith!
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martin I think the tempo should not be faster. I love the work of T. Hopstock, bought some of hiseditions of the cellosuites for guitar. The Cellosuites may be a guideline for me with the tempo and playing with targets, the direction. Thank you for your sensity on dealing with the bassline
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martin Here's my fingering. I'm wondering what you might change?
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I'm really looking forward to this. I've loved this piece but never got further than sight reading occasionally.
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Palmer It's a great piece to have in your repertoire!
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This piece may be too difficult for me, but I’ll participate if I can.
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Eileen It's great fun to focus on a few bars only as well! Is this your first piece by Bach?
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martin On the guitar, yes. I have played easy Bach pieces on the piano. Life is very difficult for me at this time, but I’ll try a few bars, as you suggested.
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Hi everyone, glad to see so much interest on this iconic piece, great idea Martin! Here is a recording I posted 2 years ago, fast pace. Happy to revisit it and hopefully improve...
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Calin Lupa
So great to have you in the group — and thank you for sharing your recording! Even at that fast tempo, your articulation and voicing is coming. It’ll be exciting to see how your interpretation evolves this time around. Looking forward to hearing your progress as we dive deeper into BWV 999 together!
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Calin Lupa I remember your beatuiful recording a few years ago. I thought it was an excellent performance. Now you can work on the subtle changes that will bring it to the next level. You are already very close.
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Study Group 999 I have created this "Study Group 999" tag, so if you have a finding that you want to make everybody aware of, you can use that to tag everybody who signed up for the study group!
I am sharing a complete harmonic analysis which can be found in "Tilman Hoppstock's Bach's Lute Works Volume 2", some more info from Timan's book sample (excellent stuff), and Kellner's original faszikel of the prelude in c-minor, I hope that helps!
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martin
Thank you so much for sharing these insights, Martin!
I’ve learned from various teachers on Tonebase how essential it is to play arpeggios as block chords—it’s a crucial step in harmonic analysis. Doing so helps identify:
- Chord quality (major, minor, augmented, diminished),
- Harmonic function (tonic, predominant, dominant),
- Tensions, suspensions, and resolutions,
and trains the ear to hear harmonic color more clearly. This deeper understanding enhances interpretation, phrasing, and memorization, making the music more expressive and structurally coherent.
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martin This is great stuff and very helpful! Thanks for sharing it with us!
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martin Study Group 999
Here's a video of me talking through the harmonic breakdown, explaining how to read symbols like that, hope it helps!
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