Invention No. 1 in C major, BWV 772
Bach's Invention No. 1 in C major, BWV 772, is an early-intermediate piece (Octotune grade 5 of 8) in 4/4. Two independent lines, one in each hand, pass a short sixteenth-note motif back and forth, upside down and in new keys.
At a glance
| Composer | Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | Intermediate: grade 5 of 8 |
| Key | C major (no sharps or flats) |
| Time | 4/4 |
| Tempo | 80 quarter-note beats a minute, as the app starts it (it can go slower) |
| Length | 22 measures, about 1:06 |
| Hands | both hands |
| Right hand | C4 to C6 |
| Left hand | C2 to A♯4 |
It reaches past the staff: see ledger lines explained.
Levels in the app
| Version | Grade | Levels |
|---|---|---|
| Invention No. 1 in C, BWV 772 | 5 of 8 | Melody, Melody and bass, Full |
Practice notes
Bach wrote his fifteen Inventions as teaching pieces: short works in two parts, one for each hand, to teach playing two lines at once and, in his words, to give a taste of composition. No. 1 in C major is where nearly everyone starts.
How it is built. The whole piece grows from one idea, a motif of seven quick notes: after a short rest, C D E F D E C, then a leap up. The right hand plays it; half a measure later the left hand answers with the same motif an octave lower. Then it appears again and again: starting on other notes, in other keys, and upside down (going down where it went up).
The tricky parts
- Two independent hands. Each line has its own shape and phrasing. When one hand moves in sixteenths, the other often moves in eighths.
- Evenness in sixteenth notes in both hands.
- Ornaments. Short trills and mordents decorate the line. Octotune leaves the quickest ornaments out of what it asks you to play; learn the line first, add them later.
- Fingering. A good fingering is half the work here. Use the one on the page, or pencil one in and keep it.
Practice plan
- Find every appearance of the motif and its upside-down form. Mark them. You will see the whole piece is built from them.
- Hands separately, slowly, until each line is smooth.
- Hands together, two measures at a time, at 50% speed with the A–B loop.
- Join the sections, then raise the speed gently.
Before you start: Octotune's path through Unit 9. A few accidentals come in as the motif moves to G major and A minor.
Questions
Is Bach's Invention No. 1 hard?
It is early intermediate: Octotune grades it 5 of 8. The notes are mostly sixteenths in both hands, and each hand plays its own line, so the challenge is independence and evenness rather than speed.
What are Bach's Inventions?
Fifteen short two-part pieces (and fifteen three-part Sinfonias) that Bach wrote for teaching, collected in a fair copy of 1723. Each is built from one short musical idea.
Credits and license
- Music: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
- Typeset by jeff covey for the Mutopia Project
- License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
- Source and printable sheet music: the Mutopia Project’s page for this piece