...and "let the middle voice take care of itself", is not a proper one. when playing a fugue, you must control every single line, which includes phrasing, articulation, sound, touch, and so on. ...
so, that said, let me propose a very helpful way of practice: choose a voice and play it, alone, until you manage it perfectly (with the same fingering you'd use when playing all voices together). this kind of practice in the inner voices is particularly important, because you will need to switch from one hand to the other all the time, but play it without a noticeable break notwithstanding.step two, and that's the one i love the most, is to play all possible combinations. in a four voiced fugue, it means: 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 2-3, 2-4, 3-4, 1-2-3, and so on, until playing 1-2-3-4 with perfect control. of course, it takes a looooong time to achieve, but the effort is fully rewarded.
... I've seen where people color-coded the separate voices...
gerry, that's quite a labor intensive effort! if you were to undertake such an endeavor, do you write out a modified score for yourself, or are you able to pick out the voices separately just looking at the full score?I've seen where people color-coded the separate voices, and certainly I've practiced each hand separately, but playing different permutations of the voice combinations, that's a new one, and very intriguing.btw, I'm working on Fugue #1 C Maj from book one...it's deceptively tricky!
... you can even fake it, if you play the subject louder than the rest. but that's not music after all...
It is sad and shameful to say that I used to play mechanically, didn't realize what music is. After years of practicing in that way, it is difficult to change. To play "musically" becomes even tougher as my listening skill is really poor.Though, I'm trying.
Am I right?... If yes, then the dynamics really adds a lot more difficulty on the fugue.Regards.
gerryjay, that's absolutely the best way to practice, and that's what I (try to) do. It helps to think of a voice in a fugue (or anywhere else really) as a "voice", that is a vocal line. When you play them separately you will just naturally find yourself phrasing them in the same way that you would if you were singing. Then hopefully when you put them back together you can retain some of that feeling.
But I'm sure you'd agree that when you actually play all the voices together, it's not always best to make them as independent from each other as possible. There are certainly places where one of the voices doesn't carry an actual melody, just some phrase fragments meant to support the other voices. It's important to pay attention to what's going on vertically as well as horizontally
I started with no. 12 in F minor from Book 2 and it has worked out fairly well, but I was choosing from a syllabus, so I didn't have any other options, and there may be better starting pieces.
do you know plato's allegory of the cave? well, without pushing it too far, that's what happens. so, you really need some time to get acquainted with this way of playing.
* experimenting is fundamental* It helps to think of a voice in a fugue (or anywhere else really) as a "voice", that is a vocal line. ...[as] ...if you were singing.* bring out each voice strongly on its entrances (repetitions of the original fugue theme), and then to kind of fade into the background.* coordination between voices is as important as each individual voice. in a fugue, the sum is greater than the parts.
p/s: my playing does sound different after practicing in the suggested way.
The Swingle Singers recorded it, one of my favorites of theirs, but alas I can't find it on youtube...
Topic: Bach's preludes and fugues 