Prelude (Erato)
The Prelude from Erato, a suite by the Baroque composer J. C. F. Fischer, is a 15-measure piece in 4/4 that opens in E minor, Octotune grade 4 of 8: running sixteenth notes, passed between the hands over held bass notes.
At a glance
| Composer | J. K. F. Fischer |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | Beginner: grade 4 of 8 |
| Key | Key signature: 1 sharp (F♯) |
| Time | 4/4 |
| Tempo | 60 quarter-note beats a minute, as the app starts it (it can go slower) |
| Length | 15 measures, about 1:00 |
| Hands | both hands |
| Right hand | A3 to A5 |
| Left hand | E2 to E4 |
It reaches past the staff: see ledger lines explained.
Levels in the app
| Version | Grade | Levels |
|---|---|---|
| Prelude (Erato) | 4 of 8 | Melody, Melody and bass, Full |
Practice notes
Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer was a German composer of the generation before Bach. Erato is the name of one of the nine Muses, and Fischer named the suites of his keyboard collection Musicalischer Parnassus after them. This prelude opens the suite: about a minute of music, in 4/4, with one sharp in the key signature.
How it is built. The piece is almost all running sixteenth notes. The right hand starts, running down from the top of the staff in E minor; then the left hand takes a turn while the right holds, and they trade back and forth. Under the runs, the bass often holds long notes. It is a prelude in the old sense: a warm-up that tries out the key.
The tricky parts
- Evenness. Every sixteenth the same length and weight. Listen for notes that stick out at the turns.
- D sharp. E minor's leading note, written in each time; there are many.
- Handing over. Where the run passes from one hand to the other, the line should sound unbroken.
- Ties and held notes. Some notes are held across the beat while the other hand moves. Count them out.
Practice plan
- Each hand alone in Wait for me, a measure at a time.
- Both hands at 50% speed with Loop this measure; join two measures, then four.
- Play along, raising the speed only as fast as the sixteenths stay even.
Before you start: Octotune's path through Unit 10, which teaches F sharp and the ledger-line notes. The D sharps and C sharps go a step beyond it.
Questions
Is Fischer's Prelude (Erato) hard?
It is a Beginner piece, Octotune grade 4 of 8, and only 15 measures long. Most of it is running sixteenth notes, passed between the hands, so the skill is evenness.
Credits and license
- Music: J. K. F. Fischer
- Typeset by Rune Zedeler for the Mutopia Project
- License: Public Domain
- Source and printable sheet music: the Mutopia Project’s page for this piece