Inventions' aims and objectives

[faa2010]

I see that the Bach Inventions are very recommended.

What are the reasons and purposes to learn Bach Inventions?

[pytheamateur]

I see that the Bach Inventions are very recommended.

What are the reasons and purposes to learn Bach Inventions?

It prepares you for Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier.  It's an introduction to playing polyphonic music.

BTW, I'm relearning a two-part inventions at the moment.  My teacher has just asked him to memorise it so that I can play each voice both separately and together.

[m1469]

Teachers assign them for various reasons.  There are many aspects of playing that a person can develop and grow from in playing them, so that alone supports a wide range of purposes.  However, I seem to have an unending fascination with them, beyond just playing them myself or assigning them to students.  Here is a good post from Bernhard about purposes and reasons:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=2714.msg23310#msg23310

In which he also quotes ideas from Bach himself (supposedly):

In the preface he states that the Inventions provide material with which players can learn “to play clearly in two parts”; they show “not only how to come to good ideas (inventiones), but also how to develop them well”; and by practising them, the musician can “arrive at a cantabile style of playing while acquiring a strong foretaste for composition”.


Personally, I think this is all good.  I also agree.  However, one forgets that Bach knew something already, he knew something that others didn't.  And, even if he composed these works for the purposes pointed out, Bach is Bach and the things he knew, the person he was, what his musicianship was based upon - is all within these works, as well, even if he didn't create them for us knowingly for those purposes.  So, in my mind, yes, there are the said reasons to learn them, both from Bach himself and whatever a teacher may assign them for, but then there is also the hidden reason for somebody like me, to discover what are those secrets which Bach knew and in some ways took for granted.

[faa2010]

I appreciate your comments and based on them I'll change my way of learning the Inventions, thank you.

I'll re-learn the Inventions which I already know until now with both hands separately as well as the last one I am starting to see(1, 4, 7 and 8 ).

My goal is to play all the 15 Inventions and get the most essential even though I can't memorize them like the Hanon (my memory is tricky sometimes ).

Also I'll think in the story of the Ferrari.

[m1469]

Happy if it helped!

[megadodd]

I'm playing Bach inventions for the purpose of developing more dynamical induviduality between left and right hand. So this is what I focus on, I'm sure you can come up with something great to do with them aswell .

[lostinidlewonder]

Teachers assign them for various reasons.  There are many aspects of playing that a person can develop and grow from in playing them, so that alone supports a wide range of purposes.  However, I seem to have an unending fascination with them, beyond just playing them myself or assigning them to students.  Here is a good post from Bernhard about purposes and reasons:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=2714.msg23310#msg23310

In which he also quotes ideas from Bach himself (supposedly):

In the preface he states that the Inventions provide material with which players can learn “to play clearly in two parts”; they show “not only how to come to good ideas (inventiones), but also how to develop them well”; and by practising them, the musician can “arrive at a cantabile style of playing while acquiring a strong foretaste for composition”.


Personally, I think this is all good.  I also agree.  However, one forgets that Bach knew something already, he knew something that others didn't.  And, even if he composed these works for the purposes pointed out, Bach is Bach and the things he knew, the person he was, what his musicianship was based upon - is all within these works, as well, even if he didn't create them for us knowingly for those purposes.  So, in my mind, yes, there are the said reasons to learn them, both from Bach himself and whatever a teacher may assign them for, but then there is also the hidden reason for somebody like me, to discover what are those secrets which Bach knew and in some ways took for granted.

+1