Bach’s Prelude in D minor, BWV 999

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martin.3
updated 2 mths ago
194replies

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

- LIVE
- martin.3
- 1 mth ago
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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.3
  
  1 mth ago
  
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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!
- Nijwm_Bwiswmuthiary
  
  1 mth ago
  
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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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  martin.3
  
  1 mth ago
  
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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#) ?
- Nijwm_Bwiswmuthiary
  
  1 mth ago
  
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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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  martin.3
  
  1 mth ago
  
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  Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary Aaaaah, I see what you mean!! If that works for you, great!!
- Barney
  
  1 mth ago
  
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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!
- David.39
  
  1 mth ago
  
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  martin could you post the reference to that wonderfully articulated performance you presented in the video.
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  martin.3
  
  1 mth ago
  
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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!
- Stefanie_MosburgerDalz
  
  1 mth ago
  
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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
- David.39
  
  1 mth ago
  
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  martin Here's my fingering. I'm wondering what you might change?
  
  Bach BWV 999 Rangel
- Palmer
- 1 mth ago
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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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  martin.3
  
  1 mth ago
  
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  Palmer It's a great piece to have in your repertoire!
- Perpetual Guitar Student
- Eileen
- 1 mth ago
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This piece may be too difficult for me, but I’ll participate if I can.
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  martin.3
  
  1 mth ago
  
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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?
- Perpetual Guitar Student
  
  Eileen
  
  1 mth ago
  
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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.
- Calin_Lupa
- 1 mth ago
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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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  martin.3
  
  1 mth ago
  
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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!
- Barney
  
  1 mth ago
  
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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.
- LIVE
- martin.3
- 1 mth ago
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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!

Bach-Vol.2-Leseprobe Leseprobe-1750-EE2 Bach_P_804 _Faszikel_19_(BWV_999) - Manuscript
- Bill_Young
  
  1 mth ago
  
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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.
- Barney
  
  1 mth ago
  
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  martin This is great stuff and very helpful! Thanks for sharing it with us!
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  martin.3
  
  1 mth ago
  
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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!
  
  https://youtu.be/qzOMxKT2Sgs
- Barney
  
  1 mth ago
  
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  Martin a simple harmonic structure with the genius of Bach. Amazing! Thanks Martin!
- David.39
  
  1 mth ago
  
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  martin Here's a Google translation of the first document:
  
  History of origin and general discussion of Bach BWV 999
- Stefanie_MosburgerDalz
  
  1 mth ago
  
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  martin thank you so much