Musette in D major, BWV Anh. 126

Learn this piece

Level

Intermediate

Key

D major

Metre

2/4

Tempo

120 BPM

Length

20 bars, about 1 minute

Hands

both

Trains

A bagpipe dance in 2/4 over a drone: the left hand leaps in octaves (on D, then A and E) and doubles the right hand in bars 3–4 and 7–8; the right hand has sixteenth-note runs and eighth-note figures. The second half moves to A major over a long E pedal (G sharp, D sharp, D natural) and ends there; the fermata in bar 8 marks where a da capo would end (the edition prints no da capo, so none is played). Both halves repeated.

How to practise it

• In bars 1-2 the left hand jumps between a low D and the D an octave above on every eighth note. Practise it alone at 70 BPM until the jumps feel easy.
• In bars 3-4 and 7-8 both hands play the same notes an octave apart. Loop bars 3-4 hands together and listen that the two hands sound as one.
• From bar 13 the left hand keeps an E drone while the right hand plays D♯ and then D. Loop bars 13-17 at 70 BPM and read each accidental carefully.

Where this score came from

Licence: Public domain

https://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/piece-info.cgi?id=79

Credit: Typeset by Allen Garvin for the Mutopia Project (Mutopia-2013/01/06-79) from the Bach-Gesellschaft edition, and placed in the public domain by the typesetter.

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