How hard is Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048 to play?

Its passages grade from level 5 to level 10 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 300–303 at level 10.

Is there an easy part of Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048 for beginners?

Its easiest passage is level 5, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 61–64 for both hands together, the level-5 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 5 because notes come faster than one per beat and a hand covers more than one position.

What key and time signature is Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048 in?

Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048 is in G major, 1 sharp. The engraving on this page is in 2/2 time.

Can I practice Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048 online for free?

Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 44 graded passages from Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.

What instruments is Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 written for?

It is written for three violins, three violas, three cellos and harpsichord continuo, three groups of three strings over a bass line.

Why is the middle movement of Brandenburg 3 only two chords?

Bach wrote only a pair of chords forming a Phrygian half cadence, likely as a frame for an improvised cadenza, though there is no direct evidence. Modern performers range from a plain cadence to cadenzas of several minutes or a substituted slow movement.

How long does it take to learn Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 on piano?

That depends on your level, but because it is dense and contrapuntal, expect to spend longer on each short passage than on a typical piano piece. This page lets you work up from easier passages to the hardest ones.

Is Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in the public domain?

Yes. Bach died in 1750, so the original music is in the public domain. Arrangements and editions can have their own rights, but the engraving on this page comes from a public-domain source.

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Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) · sheet music

Key G major
Time 2/2
Levels 5–10
Passages 44

Your turn · both hands

Preparing your passage…

Johann Sebastian Bach, German baroque (1685–1750). The reading release has 44 passages from this piece at levels 5–10; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 61–64 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 300–303 at level 10.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048.

Hands together · bars 61–64 level 5
The hardest bars · bars 300–303 level 10

How to play Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048

Tempo:Choose a tempo that lets you play the fastest notes evenly. The writing is for strings and sounds best bright and steady, so build speed gradually with a metronome rather than rushing.
Right hand:The right hand often carries a quick melodic line that passes through the lines of the three string groups. Shape each entrance of the theme so the listener can hear it come back.
Left hand:The left hand works as bass and inner voice together, so it moves more than in most dance music. Practice it alone until its path through the leaps feels natural.
Hands together:Treat the arrangement as a conversation. Play one hand loudly and the other softly, then swap, so you can hear both lines and notice where they answer each other.
Fingering:Write in fingering for any repeated pattern and use it every time. Baroque writing like this rewards consistent fingering because the same figures keep returning.
Rhythm:The passages here are in cut time, so feel two big beats per bar rather than four small ones. Counting in two helps the fast notes sit in place.
Practice:Learn each voice on its own first, then each pair, before attempting everything together. The passages with the most notes per beat should be slowed way down.

Common mistakes

Pushing the tempo so the quick runs blur. Fix: Play at the speed where every note is even and increase gradually.
Playing every line at the same volume so the theme gets lost. Fix: Mark where the theme enters and give it a little extra weight each time.
Using inconsistent fingering on repeated patterns. Fix: Write down one fingering for each pattern and keep it the same every time.
Counting four beats per bar, which makes the music feel heavy. Fix: Count two long beats per bar and let the small notes subdivide them.

Structure: ritornello concerto (fast, slow cadence, fast)

The concerto has three movements, but the middle one is only two chords long. The first and last movements are fast ritornello structures in which a short, driving theme returns again and again between passages that pass among the nine string parts.

I · First movement (no tempo marking; usually played Allegro) (G major): A bright, driving movement in ritornello form: the opening idea keeps returning as it passes among the nine string parts. Dense reading with many entries to follow.
II · Adagio (two chords) (E minor): Just two chords forming a Phrygian half cadence, a pause between the fast movements. In performance it may be a brief cadence, an improvised cadenza, or a slow movement borrowed from another Bach work.
III · Allegro (G major): A fast closing movement, again in ritornello form, so its main idea keeps coming back between episodes. Expect long runs and quick repeated patterns.

About Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048

Bach presented a set of six concertos to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721, with a dedication dated 24 March. Much of the music was probably written earlier, and the exact dates are uncertain. The set is known today as the Brandenburg Concertos, though Bach called them concertos with several instruments.

The third concerto is built on threes: Bach writes for three violins, three violas and three cellos, plus a harpsichord for continuo. It is the shortest of the six. The outer movements are in ritornello form, in which a main theme returns between more adventurous episodes.

The Brandenburg Concertos were largely forgotten after Bach died. Siegfried Dehn found them in the library of Princess Anna Amalia in 1849 and published them the next year.

The slow middle movement is just two chords, forming a Phrygian half cadence, and performers have long debated how to fill the gap with a cadenza or another slow movement.
A MIDI version of this concerto was included in the sample music bundled with Windows 98.
Bach's autograph score of the set passed through Johann Kirnberger and Princess Anna Amalia before reaching the Royal Library in Berlin in 1914.
The first movement reappears as the opening sinfonia of Bach's cantata BWV 174, with three oboes and two horns added.

Why the first passage is level 5

That passage is level 5 rather than 4 because notes come faster than one per beat, a hand covers more than one position, it leaps a octave, it is in 2/2, not 4/4, it moves in sixteenth notes, it runs fast figuration.

This page has many passages, from the easiest to the very hardest, all taken from a piano arrangement of the string parts. Because lines overlap, practice each hand's line separately before putting the hands together.

Questions about Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048

How hard is Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048 to play?: Its passages grade from level 5 to level 10 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 300–303 at level 10.
Is there an easy part of Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048 for beginners?: Its easiest passage is level 5, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 61–64 for both hands together, the level-5 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 5 because notes come faster than one per beat and a hand covers more than one position.
What key and time signature is Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048 in?: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048 is in G major, 1 sharp. The engraving on this page is in 2/2 time.
Who composed Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048?: Johann Sebastian Bach, German baroque (1685–1750). Bach presented a set of six concertos to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721, with a dedication dated 24 March.
Can I practice Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048 online for free?: Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 44 graded passages from Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
What instruments is Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 written for?: It is written for three violins, three violas, three cellos and harpsichord continuo, three groups of three strings over a bass line.
Why is the middle movement of Brandenburg 3 only two chords?: Bach wrote only a pair of chords forming a Phrygian half cadence, likely as a frame for an improvised cadenza, though there is no direct evidence. Modern performers range from a plain cadence to cadenzas of several minutes or a substituted slow movement.
How long does it take to learn Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 on piano?: That depends on your level, but because it is dense and contrapuntal, expect to spend longer on each short passage than on a typical piano piece. This page lets you work up from easier passages to the hardest ones.
Is Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in the public domain?: Yes. Bach died in 1750, so the original music is in the public domain. Arrangements and editions can have their own rights, but the engraving on this page comes from a public-domain source.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 44 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 5: bars 61–64 both hands · bars 77–80 both hands · bars 85–88 both hands · bars 93–96 both hands · bars 97–100 both hands · bars 101–104 both hands · bars 121–124 both hands · bars 125–128 both hands · bars 129–132 both hands · bars 133–136 both hands · bars 149–152 both hands · bars 157–160 both hands · bars 161–164 both hands · bars 165–168 both hands · bars 181–184 both hands · bars 185–188 both hands · bars 201–204 both hands · bars 205–208 both hands · bars 213–216 both hands
Level 7: bars 73–76 both hands · bars 81–84 both hands · bars 89–92 both hands · bars 105–108 both hands · bars 109–112 both hands · bars 117–120 both hands · bars 209–212 both hands · bars 217–220 both hands · bars 221–224 both hands
Level 8: bars 65–68 both hands · bars 69–72 both hands · bars 70–77 both hands · bars 137–140 both hands · bars 169–172 both hands · bars 189–192 both hands · bars 193–196 both hands
Level 9: bars 70–85 both hands · bars 113–116 both hands · bars 145–148 both hands · bars 173–176 both hands · bars 177–180 both hands · bars 225–228 both hands · bars 229–232 both hands · bars 233–236 both hands
Level 10: bars 300–303 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

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