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Minuets and marches from the Anna Magdalena Notebook

In 1725 Johann Sebastian Bach gave his wife, Anna Magdalena, a notebook of music to play at home. The family filled it with short pieces: minuets, marches, songs and more. Some are Bach's own; many, including most of the little dances here, are by other composers or by no one we can name. The famous Minuet in G is now credited to Christian Petzold.

The ones in Octotune are graded 2 to 5 of 8. Each is short, and much of the time each hand plays one note at a time, so they make a good first step into Baroque music. They are listed easiest first.

Easiest first

  1. Minuet in G major, BWV Anh. 114Starter pieces, grades 2–4 · G major · 3/4
  2. Minuet in A minor, BWV Anh. 120Beginner, grade 3 · no sharps or flats · 3/4
  3. Minuet in F major, BWV Anh. 113Beginner, grade 3 · 1 flat (B♭) · 3/4
  4. Minuet in G major, BWV Anh. 116Beginner, grade 3 · 1 sharp (F♯) · 3/4
  5. March in E-flat major, BWV Anh. 127Beginner, grade 4 · 3 flats (B♭, E♭, A♭) · 2/2
  6. Minuet in G minor, BWV Anh. 115Beginner, grade 4 · 2 flats (B♭, E♭) · 3/4
  7. Musette in D major, BWV Anh. 126Intermediate, grade 5 · 2 sharps (F♯, C♯) · 2/4

The Octotune team · Updated