How to Learn Bach's Fugues

Summary

This video provides a step-by-step guide for learning Bach's fugues, particularly Fugue No. 15 in G Major from the Well-Tempered Clavier. The speaker emphasizes the importance of falling in love with the fugue's subject before playing hands together, as well as marking and recognizing where the subject appears throughout the piece. Key tips include avoiding rushing through the notes and focusing on the articulation and phrasing of each subject. The speaker advises against learning the fugue by simply memorizing notes, stressing that a deeper understanding of the structure and themes is essential for musical expression.

Takeaways

• 😀 Mastering the theme of a fugue is crucial before attempting to play it hands together. Know and love the theme first!
• 😀 Don’t rush into playing a fugue too fast; site reading Bach’s fugues can be deceptively difficult, especially with multiple voices.
• 😀 Understanding the structure of the fugue is essential—mark where each subject enters and learn to recognize the voices.
• 😀 Start by playing the fugue with one voice and focus on articulating it clearly before moving to the next voice.
• 😀 Avoid playing all the voices at once when learning the fugue. First, identify and learn each subject individually.
• 😀 Mark the subject entrances in your score, so you always know where they appear throughout the piece.
• 😀 Don’t learn hands separately—think of fugues as voices rather than left-hand and right-hand parts. Focus on learning each voice’s role.
• 😀 It’s better to make decisions about articulation (e.g., legato, detached) early, rather than correcting mistakes later on.
• 😀 Invert the subject or play it in different keys to understand how Bach manipulates the theme and to help reinforce your memory.
• 😀 Don’t skip the small details in the fugue; even slight differences in articulation and fingering can make a huge impact on performance.
• 😀 Efficiency is key—make sure you’re learning each subject with the right emphasis and articulation from the very beginning to avoid wasting time later on.

Q & A

Why does the speaker say that sight-reading a Bach fugue is harder than sight-reading Beethoven?

Because a Bach fugue contains multiple independent voices occurring simultaneously, which is more complex to digest quickly than Beethoven’s more hierarchical texture with a melody, accompaniment, and clear structure.

What is the first step the speaker recommends before attempting to play a fugue?

Fall in love with the subject (theme). The speaker stresses learning the subject alone, understanding its shape, articulation, and expressive character before playing anything hands-together.

Why does the speaker emphasize falling in love with the subject?

Because the subject appears many times throughout the fugue. If you don’t like it or don’t understand it deeply, learning the fugue will be frustrating and musically unfocused.

What is the second step recommended in learning the fugue?

Identify every entrance of the subject throughout the entire piece. This includes the original subject, its entries in other voices, and any inverted or modified versions.

Why is it inefficient to learn all the notes first and worry about subjects later?

Because after learning the notes, you often have to relearn measures to adjust articulation, voicing, or fingering to properly bring out the subject. This results in wasted time and unnecessary frustration.

How does the speaker recommend identifying subject entrances?

By scanning the score measure by measure, recognizing the melodic shape of the subject, and marking or mentally noting where the subject appears in each voice.

What does the speaker mean by an 'inverted' subject?

An inverted subject is a version of the theme where the melodic intervals are flipped upside down—for example, an ascending leap becomes a descending leap.

What is the purpose of analyzing articulation (legato vs. detached) early on?

Establishing articulation early ensures that every subsequent subject entrance is consistent, clear, and musically connected, preventing the need to change fingering or phrasing later.

Why does the speaker advise thinking in terms of voices rather than hands?

Because fugues are polyphonic. Voices may shift between hands, and learning by strict ‘right hand vs. left hand’ thinking can obscure the independence and clarity required for each line.

What is a helpful practice technique for understanding multi-voice passages?

Practice two voices at a time—such as soprano + alto, or alto + bass—to hear how lines interact. This makes the polyphonic structure clearer and improves voicing when all voices are combined.

Why does the speaker repeatedly stress avoiding the temptation to play the piece too fast at first?

Starting too fast makes it easy to miss important structural elements, lose control of voicing, and form bad habits that are difficult to correct later.

What is the overall goal of the speaker’s step-by-step method?

To build the fugue correctly from the beginning—understanding the subject, identifying structure, and integrating voices efficiently—so that players avoid relearning large sections and achieve a more musical and technically sound performance.