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
194 replies
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Also be aware that most guitar versions have an E as a bass note on mesure 23 when, according to the original score, it should be an F. The Apke's version is right here but for whatever reason he's using an Eb instead of a D# for the following note of the chord! 🤯
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Blaise Laflamme The low F (Eb in C minor) is available as the open ninth course on the lute. Nonetheless, I was misreading the score and playing it a semitone lower (the open tenth course) until I noticed your post, so thanks for pointing this out! Just to be sure I was playing things correctly, I had a look at the source text of the prelude, which is not in Bach's hand. The first thing I discovered is that the note in question occurs not in measure 23 but in measure 22. 🤔 (I counted several times!) Looking more thoroughly at the score, I realized that three of the measures (5, 6 & 7) have a repeat sign in them. If taken literally, that would put our problem note in measure 25! It seems modern editions accept the first of the repetitions (measure 5) but reject the other two. That is probably in accordance with Bach's intention, but it might be interesting to experiment with other possibilities.
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David Krupka But in the end we're looking at the same mesure of music... that said I wonder why most guitar version uses the E pedal (that makes sense in a way) but that's not what is written, also most piano scores use the Eb (in C min) as a bass. So who was the first to keep the E pedal and what was the reasoning about the choice?
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Derek The use of Eb instead of D# changes its meaning while it sounds almost the same (almost because the use of an F for the bass makes a big difference)... to my understanding during this whole section (with the E pedal) we're tonically in A minor and this chord makes far more sense using the original D# as it acts like a predominant to the dominant (V/V or II/V) or in this case bII, better known as the Neapolitan sixth. I wonder who did this change first... 🤔
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Blaise Laflamme Those are good questions, Blaise. (I also wonder in what year the piece was first arranged for guitar.) As for why the change was made, I presume the reason had to do with the necessity of playing the F in a different octave. Although this maintains the integrity of the harmonic movement, it rather jarringly disrupts the contour of the bass line. I guess whoever made the editorial decision thought it preferable to preserve the latter, even if this meant altering the harmony. I'm not sure which solution I prefer, but I will note that when I myself was playing it incorrectly (on the lute) it sounded fine to my ear. (That might of course be nothing more than a sad commentary on the capacity of my ear to make a sound musical judgement!)
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David Krupka And they also changed the chord using an Eb instead of a D# (look at my reply to Derek). For sure the octave step changes the bass line and up until I listened to piano / harpsichord versions I've always heard the E bass from guitarists, so I was a bit surprised, lets see what we'll find out about this and the choices we're going to make!
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Blaise Laflamme Hi Blaise. I've found a manuscript on ISMLP which is perhaps the same as the one that you mention. This according to IMSLP is from about 1727. There is a note in the back of my Hofmeister edition which says that he based this version on what appears to be the same manuscript as the one on ISMLP (by Johann Peter Kellner). The note is written in German and my German isn't brilliant but I think he also says in the notes that for bar 23 The bass F (which supposedly was mistaken as a copying mistake for an E) has been transposed up an octave - for technical reasons). Also that in order not to break the pedal E which continues from bar 17 to 32 he has placed the E in brackets and states that it is up to the performer to either leave it ringing from the previous bar or play it with the F. (I've attached a copy of the note so hopefully Martin will provide a better translation!). Note that he has got the BWV number down as 996 not 999 in the note!
Back to the E flat / D sharp, the manuscript has a C sharp so transposing up a tone it should be a D sharp and not E flat. I don't know why the Hofmeister transcription has the E flat - I originally assumed it had been transcribed from Lute Tablature which could result in this mistake but it apparently wasn't.
And sorry to be pedantic about the harmony Blaise (It's not one of my strong points) but now that you've clarified the D sharp issue I make this out to be an F major with an augmented 6th added. If this section is in A minor then the F would be the 6th of the scale (A minor) and so with my very limited understanding (and with the help of my Oxford Book of Harmony) I thought the Neapolitan 6th was built on the flattened supertonic which for A minor would be b flat. The F would be the flattened supertonic of E to which it is resolving. Is that the case? Or am I barking up the wrong tree and I've made a mistake in thinking that the root note of the chord is F.
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Derek Indeed that's weird the error for 996 instead of 999! As for the bII chord, it definitely resolves to the following E7 (with b9), and one of the most common used voicing for the Neapolitain sixth is to use in 2nd inversement with the fifth (F) as the bass note and the third (D#) as the top note, which is not the case here, and then having the effect of both semi-tone resolving in opposite motion. This is definitely a transition chords that helps with its chromatic properties, somehow someone find it more convenient with an Eb chromatically resolving to the following D while having an E as the bass note to continue the pedal (which one could argue the F was a typo). Thanks for the reference from your edition, I think I have it somewhere because the page reminds me of something I know! 🤔
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Blaise Laflamme Thanks for the explanation Blaise. As I said harmony (beyond the basics) is not my strong point and particularly with Bach. Just to continue the question then if you don't mind. Are you saying this bar is based on a B9 chord without the root? That would mske sense to me. Thanks Derek
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Derek Yes, it's common to use this chord without the fundamental (in this case Bb), looks at this progression example...
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Blaise Laflamme Thank you for clarifying this for me Blaise. Very much appreciated - sometimes figuring out the harmony is more of a challenge for me than playing a piece (maybe not with this one though :-))
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Derek Well, figuring out harmony is sometimes a challenge as it could be explained in different ways. At least even if some disagree about it I think the most important is to play according to the meaning you think, and then adapt if you change your mind! 😅
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Blaise Laflamme Thanks Blaise
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Blaise Laflamme This has always been an interesting topic to me. I've been back and forth, but now I'm firmly in the 6th string F camp for measure 23. It's tricky to pull off, but if I'm observing the rests and using a guide finger on the jump up, it's doable. I think playing it as an E almost blunts the high point of the piece. Part of my thinking is that if it was supposed to be an E, and sounded better with an E, wouldn't more of the keyboardists, lutenists, harpists, etc. play an E? I might dig out my score and see if I can get it back up to speed.
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Steve Price You're right about this, after watching a few other instrumentists and transcriptions for other instruments, if I recall, only guitarists are keeping the E in this case. For sure the F on 6th string is sounding best, but it 's hard to maintain it up to the upper C, maybe up to the A with a strong shift, let's take a look tomorrow in the Zoom! I think the F on 5th string is a good compromise to keep the right harmony, by sacrificing the real bass voicing, instead of replacing it.
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Hi, it's a great idea to share insights into this piece. Have mostly memorised but would be good to refine it and hear thoughts on dynamics and particularly the tricky bars 31-34!!
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Hi, everyone, I've just about reached till the infamous barre (measure 15 on my score). Can you help me with some advice/opinion on that barre section? Right now, I'm thinking of playing that F an octave higher as suggested by Isaac Bustos in his TB lesson and by Martin in his recorded livestream. For me, I can't hold down the strings with my pinky only. In isolation, I can hold down the C, E and A using a combination of my ring finger and the pinky with the index in the 1st position, but I can't use this fingering when I actually transition from the preceding chord. I'm curious how many of you can pull-off this chord and how you do it.
Secondly, the bass notes- I know about the rest in the 2nd beat, but in the 3rd beat (that's where the bass line comes in, right?), how legato or staccato do you play the bass notes?