Help Identifying Chords (Bach's Partita 2 in C Minor, Sinfonia)

[youngwerther]

Hi all,

I am studying all types of chords.
I am looking at the first movement of Bach's 2nd Partita for Keyboard and I would like to know what these chords are for personal study.



Looking at the bass clef...

The first chord is obviously a C minor
I can also identify the 4th one being C major.

Could anyone help me with the others? Thanks

[brogers70]

Don't be confused by the pedal C in the bass; that's a constant and does not make up a part of all the chords with which it is played. So, just doing the chords in the bass you have

C minor, D diminished 7th (with a pedal C), same, C minor, C major, C major, F minor, D dim, G minor,
C minor 7th, F minor, G 7th lasting for a while, then C minor.

Hope that helps.

[pjaul]

C minor, D diminished 7th (with a pedal C), same, C minor

You are close, but it's incorrect to call the second and third chords D diminished 7th.  They are actually B diminished 7th chords.  Although Ddim7 and Bdim7 are enharmonically the same, Bdim7 resolves to c minor while Ddim7 does not.

Also, look at the spelling of the chord.  B, D, F, A flat.  The seventh occurs between B and A flat, so that identifies B as the root of the chord.

[brogers70]

Thanks, I always found naming dim7 chords confusing, since there are four names for the same set of enharmonic pitches.