2 part v 3 part inventions

[youjean88]

dear ppl of pianostreet

as i read through the forums i saw that a lot of people recommend that people play the 2 part inventions, but many dont mention the 3 part inventions.  are the 3 parts not as important?  y is it that the 2 part inventions are mentioned so much more?

[Bob]

Easier for beginners probably.

[stevebob]

If I had to guess the reason the three-part inventions get relatively little attention, it would be that a typical learning path uses the two-part inventions as a foundation for proceeding directly to the WTC.

[youjean88]

ahhh i see that makes sense

thank you for your reply.  i am currently working on invention #13.  i wanted to move onto the WTC after finishing #14 and 15, but i was wondering if it was standard to play through the 3 part inventions first.

thanks again

[birba]

Stevebob is right.  After the two-part inventions, you can begin the easier preludes and fugues.  There's even one in two voices, if I'm not mistaken.  But there's nothing to stop you from doing some 3-part "inventions".  They're actually called "sinfonias", by the way.

[keyboardclass]

I don't find the 3-part that enjoyable but the technique of playing in three parts was very important in the 18th century.