Beginning the 2nd Bach Two Part Invention

[bernadette60614]

I approached this the way I usually do: hands apart, hands together in chunks but it is strangely difficult.

I'm going back to the beginning and just focusing on getting the right hand fluent with the intention of adding the left.

Any ideas or comments (gentle ones!) much appreciated.

[j_menz]

This Invention neatly divides the two parts across the staves.

My suggestion if you feel hands separate is any use is to not only do them top stave RH bottom stave LH, but also play the top stave through several time with the left, and the bottom several times with the right.

The voices echo and copy each other (mainly the lower aping the top, it should be said), and where they do you need to play the them same (at least to start with). You need, therefore, to avoid playing the bottom part in a left hand way and the top in a right hand way, which is a real likelihood for relative newcomers to this type of music. So get the right sound of each part clearly in your head, and in your fingers.

Also, have a look at the score and look for the bits that ape one another so you are aware where they are. Initially, concentrate on making sure the bits that are exact copies (an octave or so apart) are played with the same touch and dynamics.  Later on you may choose to vary it up a bit, but only do that once you are sure you can do them identically.

[cwjalex]

i agree that it's much more difficult than it looks/sounds.  from a quick glance it would seem you could just sight read it but it's very awkward on the hands, at least it was for me.

[bernadette60614]

Yes!  I"m not an advanced pianist, but I've played some early intermediate Schubert, Beethoven and Mozart, and this is a killer!

[bernadette60614]

This Invention neatly divides the two parts across the staves.

My suggestion if you feel hands separate is any use is to not only do them top stave RH bottom stave LH, but also play the top stave through several time with the left, and the bottom several times with the right.

The voices echo and copy each other (mainly the lower aping the top, it should be said), and where they do you need to play the them same (at least to start with). You need, therefore, to avoid playing the bottom part in a left hand way and the top in a right hand way, which is a real likelihood for relative newcomers to this type of music. So get the right sound of each part clearly in your head, and in your fingers.

Also, have a look at the score and look for the bits that ape one another so you are aware where they are. Initially, concentrate on making sure the bits that are exact copies (an octave or so apart) are played with the same touch and dynamics.  Later on you may choose to vary it up a bit, but only do that once you are sure you can do them identically.

Yep, went back to the keyboard, and this is working! Thank you!/quote]

[j_menz]

I'd also add two more points:

You need to be able to play each part without looking at your hands. If you need to look HS, it will fall apart HT simply because you can't look at both hands at once. Don't sweat the odd glance, but generally no looking.

Also, it is unlikely that at this point of your musical development you can fully hear two parts at once. To (at least go some way towards) overcome this, when you do go HT, make sure you switch the part you're concentrating your listening on each time. This will make sure one part doesn't just fade into an unintelligible blandness when the two are together. It will also aid in developing the skill to hear both parts satisfactorily.

[rmbarbosa]

When I was young, my teacher asked me to play the 6 little preludes before the inventions.
For example, the little prelude in E major is like a two voices invention and it has several phrases we can put in first plan. It is more complex than some two voices inventions and very fun. For example, in the second part, at the beginning, the RH plays a variation of the theme and after the theme. And LH the theme and after the same variation. It`s a "game" of voices.
So, when I went to the Inventions, I was prepared already to play them easly.
And with one advantage: the small preludes are more "musical" than the inventions. We can play the 6 preludes as a "encore" after a recital, but not the inventions, I think. They are not intended to that.
But this is not anything against the inventions. They are very important.