Bach's 18 Little Preludes & Fugues - a good introduction to WTC?

[larapool]

I learned BWV 938, the prelude in E minor, without any professional help in a week.  Yay!  So, when I began lessons with my professor again, he had me work on the first one in the book - BWV 936, the prelude in D major.  This one has taken a little longer to get down but as I type this my memorization of the piece is almost 100% and I can nearly play the entire thing up to tempo.

These are the first pieces to really challenge me with more than 2 voices and I'm finding the practice rewarding.  I will ask my professor as well, but do you think I should play through the majority of these before moving on to tackling stuff from the WTC?  I have yet to play a fugue, and should probably try a few before that.  Perhaps the ones accompanying the preludes I've learned thus far?

[pianoplayjl]

I agree that the little preludes are a good introduction to the WTC. I don't know much about the fugues but do you mean the Prelude and Fughettas? I find that the preludes are always easier than the fugues (with the exception of WTC 1 No 5 in D major). Preludes cover a wide variety of technical work. Perhaps his sinfonias can be used as a precursor to the fugues. The sinfonias are just as hard as the fugues IMO. So yes you can play the little preludes but try a couple of Sinfonias aka 3 part inventions too.

JL

[larapool]

Ah, yes, the fughettas - my mistake!  Those are what I was referring to.

I have actually played one three-part invention - the No. 15 in B minor.  It was the next thing my professor had me learn after the two-part No. 1 in C Major, and I eventually learned the whole thing -- hands crossed halfway through and everything!  Never was able to play it at lightning fast speeds but I was still able to play it fairly quickly!

I'll keep working on these then.  I get more 'musical' enjoyment out of other composers, but as far as getting very rewarding technical results goes... can't get better than Bach, wow!  If you had presented this stuff to me just a year ago I would've never thought I could play this.