Invention No. 4 in D minor, BWV 775
Bach's Invention No. 4 in D minor, BWV 775, is an early-intermediate piece in 3/8, Octotune grade 5 of 8. Its idea, a scale rising six notes and a leap down to C sharp, is imitated by the left hand and spun out in long runs.
At a glance
| Composer | Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | Intermediate: grade 5 of 8 |
| Key | Key signature: 1 flat (B♭) |
| Time | 3/8 |
| Tempo | 90 quarter-note beats a minute, as the app starts it (it can go slower) |
| Length | 52 measures, about 52 seconds |
| Hands | both hands |
| Right hand | C4 to B♭5 |
| Left hand | C2 to F4 |
It reaches past the staff: see ledger lines explained.
Levels in the app
| Version | Grade | Levels |
|---|---|---|
| Invention No. 4 in D minor, BWV 775 | 5 of 8 | Melody, Melody and bass, Full |
Practice notes
Bach's fifteen Inventions are two-part teaching pieces, collected in a fair copy of 1723. No. 4, in D minor (one flat), is quick and dramatic, in 3/8: three eighths to a measure, felt as one beat.
How it is built. The idea is two measures long. The right hand runs up a scale in sixteenths, D E F G A B flat, then leaps down to C sharp and runs back down, B flat A G F E. Two measures later the left hand plays the same idea, an octave lower, while the right hand holds it up with eighths. From there the idea is spun out in long chains of sixteenths, passed between the hands.
The tricky parts
- The leap. B flat down to C sharp is a wide, strange-sounding jump. Place the hand for it in advance.
- Long runs. Some passages run for many measures without a break. Keep the fingering fixed, and breathe at the downbeats.
- Accidentals. C sharp, D minor's leading note, and others as the music visits new keys.
- One in a measure. Feel the downbeat, not every eighth, so it drives forward.
Practice plan
- Hands separately in Wait for me, a phrase at a time, with the same fingering each time.
- Hands together at 50% speed with Loop this measure, two or four measures at a time.
- Play along, raising the speed only while the runs stay even.
Start with: Invention No. 1, in C major.
Before you start: Octotune's path through Unit 10, which teaches B flat. The C sharps and other accidentals go beyond it.
Questions
Is Bach's Invention No. 4 hard?
It is early intermediate, Octotune grade 5 of 8. It is mostly single lines of sixteenths in 3/8, with long runs in each hand; evenness and keeping the two lines apart are the challenge.
Credits and license
- Music: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
- Typeset by Allen Garvin for the Mutopia Project
- License: Public Domain
- Source and printable sheet music: the Mutopia Project’s page for this piece