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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Just curious about how you all are learning the piece. Are you going through the piece a few measures at a time, trying to memorize it and burn the fingerings into your muscle memory? Are you reading through the entire piece and playing it end-to-end? Are you doing a few measures at the beginning and a few measures at the end (some people advocate that you should always learn the end of the piece at the same time you are learning the beginning, and then meet in the middle).
As far as my progress, I am up to measure 16 in the piece, and I will start working on the last 2 measures as well and work my way backwards.-
Marc Adler Hi Marc, I usually start by reading from start to the end, try to get a sense of the form, harmonies, melodies, motives and patterns. At this point fingerings are not what I'm working on, some are obvious and others are natural, but the context (music, sound, emotions, ...) is more relevant for me to build memory for. Then when ideas and meaning are clearer I start to craft fingerings to render them up until I find what's more appropriate and effective. Also I split my practice to focus on isolated fragments, and after to incorporate them into phrases and sections to ensure the proper flow of execution in context, and through the whole piece. And after working constantly and repetitively for a certain time, which varies according to the complexity of the work, the memory is built up.
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Blaise Laflamme Thanks for the good advice, Blaise. I am taking chunks at a time and trying to drill them into my hands. My goal for the Bach is 4 new measures every day (if I am not interrupted). I want to get a good overall sense of the piece before our first study session.
-marc
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Hello from Nanaimo, B.C., Canada.
An appealing feature of this prelude is the repeated bass motif: quarter note on first beat; two eighth notes on third beat. I try to make that pattern move fluidly as a unit unto itself. So I work on maintaining as much legato there as possible. There are treacherous waters to navigate as you do this: Bars 10, 15 (big stretch) 19 through to 25 and 31 to 35, just to highlight a few.
I'm not sure which edition I'm following. It's from a budget collection of standard CG pieces that I purchased years ago. The collection is called The Classical Guitarist's Choice. It does have some fingering indications which I largely follow but will depart from when comfort and musical flow so dictate.
Looking forward to our collective exploration of the Prelude.
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Neil Macmillan I'm now using the fingering less version David has shared in this thread, I find it easier to concentrate on my own work. As for the bass motif I'm with you, I think that's the moving part that needs to focus on. On my side I'm working on grouping the last two descending eighth notes with the following quarter note (as the unit) and respect most of the silences to ensure a better flow and separation of concern. I'm just not sure if I prefer, for the two descending bass notes, to play them as written and silence the top voice or to inverse and play them detached (I like the way this articulation enhance the motif and makes it stand out).
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Hi everyone,
I have learned to play this piece some years ago and come back to it erery once in a while. So, I am curious to see and hear ideas and inspirations of the comunity!I am looking forward to participating in this study group!
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Gunter Welcome Gunter and let's see what we'll discover everyone together!
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@martin, Hi Martin, I just rewatched the livestream on this piece that you'd recorded in the past. I highly recommend it to everyone, if you haven't seen it yet. Can you tell me which book was it that you referred to when you were talking about the mood of the piece and the historical context? The page extract mentioned rhetorical performance.
I've been trying to get hold of materials related to historical understanding of composers, their profiles or biographies to get a better historical appreciation of their music and the eras they lived in. Any suggestions from dear members of the community is welcome and appreciated.
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Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary You're absolutely right, watching Martin's livestream about BWV 999 is probably the best way to prepare the next two weeks!
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Blaise Laflamme Watching him play it in the original key of Cmin made the Dmin feel an inferiority complex
. Cmin is so much more sombre and moody and much more suited to the piece, I think. But I don't enjoy retuning the guitar. So, I'll probably stick to Dmin at the moment
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I was not planning to participate in this due to an issue I have in my right hand. For the last couple of years, there have been certain basic right hand movements that have become nearly impossible for me. One of them is any repeated right hand arpeggio that includes the i finger. Whenever that occurs in a piece (and there are many, of course), I lack precision in the index finger, often missing the string completely, and most vexingly, my thumb begins to curl inward involuntarily toward my palm. I figured this issue would make playing this Bach prelude impossible.
Yesterday, however, I thought I would try to find a solution that keeps the i finger out of the arpeggio pattern. I discovered that I am able to play the repeated figure using this pattern: ppma-mpam-pmpm. It is not the most efficient pattern to use, with the repeated thumb at the beginning and the necessity of a slight shift of the hand in the middle of the second beat. At a fairly slow tempo, however, it does seem doable for me.
One thing this pattern does seem to rule out for me is any stopping of bass notes with the thumb (like on beat two of every measure). I tried many times to achieve that, but it just seems impossible, at least for me.
So, here is my first recording of the prelude using this new pattern. My goal by the end of the study group is to get the pattern more secure so I can speed it up a little bit. I'd also like to memorize the prelude, which is think is achievable since most of the harmonic movements are so clear.
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Eric Phillips That's so beautiful, Eric. I could really feel the gloomy melancholic nature of this prelude, in a beautiful way. About the rest, well, if we're being very pedantic, perhaps that's important, I don't know. What do I know about such nuances anyways. But what sounds great to my ears is what's important and, you sounded great.
Really sorry about your right hand. Hope you find a solution for that. You're such an ever present and valuable member of the community. I'm so glad you joined inspite of the issue your facing with your hand.
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Eric Phillips I agree with everything Nijwm said - that was beautiful. I really hope you find a solution for your right hand.
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Eric Phillips I also fully agree - your playing is beautiful. I personally also prefer the moderate tempo.
To me it is impressive that you found a way to get around your right hand limitations and are now able to play an arpeggio pattern in an unusual but effective way.
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Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary Ron Gunter Thank you, guys! Like I said, I want to make it more secure so I can speed it up a bit, and make it more expressive. I appreciate your kind words and encouragement.
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Nicely played, Eric! Your particular solution to the right fingering seems to work perfectly - or so at least is the impression for the listener. As for those 'missing' quarter-note rests, I think they are best omitted anyways.
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Eric Phillips That's a really nice start Eric
... and based on your way of working music there's no doubt you'll reach your goals by the end, or the start, of the study group! 
What you're doing is a perfect example of using your tools to appropriate the music and make it your own! I think the tempo is not an issue here because this prelude sounds as great when executed fast or slow. As for blocking the bass on the second beat you'll have to damp your thumb on the second beat at the same time than your M, think of it as a preparation with the benefit of serving first the musical articulation, then your thumb would have a double action like you're doing on the first beat. In fact any articulation is good IMHO, as long as you can keep it for the whole piece. -
Eric Phillips Thanks for sharing your journey and solution, that’s incredible and inspiring. The result is really musical! Looking forward to hearing how it evolves over the course of the study group!
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Eric Phillips sorry to hear about your i finger issue , have you tried, for the practice purpose only, to plant it right after p has played? This helps me in general to gain precision...
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Calin Lupa Thanks, Calin. I did try doing arpeggio exercises with planting for a while, hoping it might remedy my situation, but I did not find it helping. Planting is not the way I was taught arpeggios years ago, when my technique was forming, so I do wonder if working on it with an experienced teacher might help.
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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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Here's a video showing LH only for Bars 19 to 22. Short, so went through it twice.
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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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