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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If you want to participate in this fun group-experiment, please sign-up through this link so we can keep you up to date:
https://tonebase.notion.site/20079f958bf880539135e5f162a3490c?pvs=105
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martin
What a great initiative Martin. The idea is just fantastic.
I wish I could participate but I have too many things on my plate for this summer and this piece is probably a bit of a stretch for me.
I hope that you can repeat this experience in the future and with pieces at a beginner level.
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martin Will the Zoom calls be recorded for later viewing? Meeting on Fridays during the work day is impossible for me.
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I'm looking forward to work and share ideas on this prelude with all of you in this new Study Group concept, I think it'll be a fun ride! martin Any reference score to propose, do you have one on Tonebase?
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Blaise Laflamme I thought we had one with Isaac's lesson, but it seems there is just a workbook!
I shared some scores a while back for my live stream, but those were just grabbed from IMSLP: https://guitar-community.tonebase.co/t/g9hkj09 -
Martin Thanks Martin, the Apke score looks clean and good!
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I've been thinking of revisiting this piece for a while (rather a lot of decades since I last played it!)- looking forward to the study group. The score I have is in Lautenmusik (Hofmeister edition) - it's all in German so I might finally find out what it means
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martin This is an excellent initiative, Martin. As someone who's musically and historically not well versed, Bach has been a sort of enigma, inapproachable for me. BWV 999 is an excellent introduction to Bach's music, I feel. I have tried the first few bars, and I'm eager to learn more from such knowledgeable and great musicians on the forums.
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martin Can you please add events we can subscribe to for both Zoom calls like you usually do for livestreams, that'd be convenient!
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Greetings from New Mexico! Looking forward to some Bach; and some fingering ideas for m.s 31-34!
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Amy G Hi! I’m using the Koonce edition with measures 31-34 fingered by Jason Vieaux.
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Marilyn Blodget
This is a fun idea. I will be out of town for most of this, but I did work with Jason Vieaux on Bach 999, and I used the Koonce edition with fingerings of measures 31 - 34 by Jason. He said I could steal them. I find they work beautifully.
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Marilyn Blodget Thanks! I appreciate the picture!!
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Hello from Washington. I’m working on the piece, so am excited about this event!
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David Q：What drew you to this piece — and what do you hope to take away from these two weeks? A：I heard the piece on ToneBase and liked it immediately. I played some easy Bach on violin as a younger person and miss the music. This seems like a good opportunity to make some progress on the Prelude. I am hoping to learn how to practice the movements between harmonies to make it flow and fall more easily below my fingers. Then I hope to be fluent enough to express some musicality.
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David I am using the fingerings in Werner's edition, but will also want to explore some of the suggested LH fingerings posted in this TB Community.
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Hello, I am Pete from upstate NY, I am looking forward to getting this piece in a better spot.
Pete
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Boy oh boy .... this one is going to be a doozy. I have never played this piece, and it very well could be beyond my current level. But I will give it the good old college try.
I like to use Musescore for score (and tab) reading, and there are a number of versions of the Prelude up on their website.-marc (from NYC)
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Marc Adler race ya? LOL.
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Way over my head, but I might "sit in" to audit.
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Hi this is Srinath from Bangalore, India and very happy to join this group. Bach and this piece has always been attractive to me. Bouree in E minor is on my plate for a while - almost there but not quite. This is something a level or two, beyond my reach but I couldnt pass up on this opportunity, even if it meant I could only play some parts and not the whole piece as of now. But more importantly I would be able to be get the pleasure of seeing and listening to how the talented musicians in this group approach the piece and I am sure I will learn quite a few things from that, when that "beyond me" becomes the "present me" :-). Thanks for having me as a part of this study group. What a lovely idea!
Warm regards,
Srinath-
Srinath Subrahmanyan Hi, Srinath. Great to see a fellow Indian in the forum. I'm from a small town called Kokrajhar, although currently I'm based in Guwahati.
When did you join TB?. I've been here since 2023 if I'm remembering correctly. What's the classical guitar scene like in Bangalore? I know that Bangalore is famous for its music scene alongwith Shillong in India. Back where I'm from, I really haven't come across anyone interested in classical guitar music, which is a pity. But great to see you here.
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Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary how nice to see you here. I remember fondly my visit to IIT Guwahati for an event several years back and the beauty of that part of India. Welcome to TB and I look forward to being "classmates" in this group. Bangalore does have quite a few music schools focused on classical music but I think the beter place maybe Kolkatta and possibly Shillong for this form of music. I think martin himself may have been in Calcutta a few years back for their yearly Classical music fest.
Best wishes to you,Srinath
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Srinath Subrahmanyan We should get together sometime, through TB forums and beyond. I'd like to exchange ideas with you.
Yeah, Martin and I think Mircea too was here in India. I tried connecting to some of people in the classical music scene here in India. Sadly, I haven't received any response from them so far.
The classical guitar music festival in India seems to be dormant right now unfortunately. Unless I'm wrong. I'd be great to meet and share ideas with fellow classical guitar.
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I am Jack from Oakland, CA and am currently attending the TB LA Music Intensive thru this week. I am in on revisiting the BWV 999 prelude. I like the concept of shared study with fellow Tonebuddies (is that the correct designation?).
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