The Prelude in C major opens the first book of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, completed in 1722. It is built from broken chords: each measure repeats the same arpeggio pattern on a new chord, from beginning to end.
That makes it both easy to read and very instructive. Click the notes of the first measure and you can see the keys of a C major chord spread across the arpeggio. The next measure follows the same shape on a different chord, which shows how the harmony moves.
The challenge is not reading but evenness. You must keep the notes equal, without rushing, over a fairly long stretch. The last measures, with their held bass, also demand concentration.
The tricky part is the middle of the piece, where the chords become more chromatic and it is easy to lose your place.
Tip for beginners: play the chords as blocks first, measure by measure, then move on to the arpeggio.
About this piece
- Composer
- J. S. Bach
- Key
- C major
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Number of bars
- 35
- Range
- C2 – A5
- Level
- Intermediate
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Source and licence
Notes: Mutopia Project, Shay Rojansky et al.. File licence: public domain, Partiscope encoding CC0 1.0. All sources and licences