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Little Prelude in C major, BWV 924

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) · sheet music

  • Key C major
  • Time 4/4
  • Levels 10
  • Passages 3

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Johann Sebastian Bach, German baroque (1685–1750). The reading release has 3 passages from this piece at level 10; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–4 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 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 Little Prelude in C major, BWV 924.

  1. Hands together · bars 1–8 level 10

How to play Little Prelude in C major, BWV 924

  1. Tempo:Choose a pace slow enough that every sixteenth-note cell stays perfectly even; the piece should sound calm and unhurried rather than quick.
  2. Right hand:On this page the right hand plays a sixteenth rest and three notes on each beat. Count the rest so each cell starts just after the beat.
  3. Left hand:The left hand moves mostly in quarter notes, and this edition writes out short thirty-second-note turns on some of them. Play the turns lightly, as decoration rather than as extra beats.
  4. Hands together:Each bass note falls on the right hand's rest, so the hands alternate within every beat; slow hands-together practice shows at once if a cell starts early.
  5. Reading:The harmony moves through passing sharps such as F sharp and G sharp in the bass and, near the end, E flat and F sharp in the right hand; read the chord before each beat rather than note by note.
  6. Fingering:Choose one finger group for the cell and reuse it each time the shape repeats, changing only when the chord changes.
  7. Dynamics:Start softly and let the sound grow a little as the harmony climbs over the held G, without letting the figuration get heavy.
  8. Practice:Play each beat's cell as a block chord first to learn the harmony, then break the chords out as written, hands together, with a metronome.

Common mistakes

  • Ignoring the sixteenth rest at the start of each beat. Fix: Whisper the count on the rest and place the first note exactly after it.
  • Playing the left-hand thirty-second-note turns as full-value notes. Fix: Practice them alone until they are light and brief, then add the right hand.
  • Rushing as the harmony builds over the held bass G. Fix: Keep the metronome on and let the harmony, not the speed, carry the intensity.
  • Letting the figuration change shape between repetitions. Fix: Record yourself and check that each cell has the same length and weight.

Structure: prelude on a repeating figure (through-composed)

There is almost no melody. One small figuration repeats on every beat while the bass moves, so the interest comes from the changing harmony. In the second half the bass holds a long G under the figuration, and the right hand's patterns grow freer before the closing C major chord.

Opening · Figuration over a moving bass
A broken-chord cell repeats on each beat while the bass steps through the harmony; on this page the cell begins after a sixteenth rest.
Close · Over the held G
The bass settles on a long G, the dominant, while the figuration keeps changing above it and then breaks into freer runs that lead to the final C.

About Little Prelude in C major, BWV 924

In January 1720 Bach started a keyboard notebook for his nine-year-old son, Wilhelm Friedemann. This prelude, headed Praeambulum, is the second piece in that book, and a variant numbered BWV 924a survives later in it in Friedemann's own handwriting, probably from his composition lessons.

In the nineteenth century it was gathered with short pieces from various manuscripts into the Twelve Little Preludes, where it stands first. Peters printed that compilation in 1843 as exercises for beginners, and collections of the little preludes were later used as teaching material at conservatories.

The Netherlands Bach Society describes the piece as having almost no melody: a four-note figuration repeats while the harmony shifts underneath with a clear sense of direction, an effect they liken to a light trance.

  • Bach began the notebook this prelude belongs to in January 1720, when Wilhelm Friedemann was nine.
  • The variant BWV 924a, in Wilhelm Friedemann's handwriting, was probably written during composition lessons with his father.
  • Peters published it in 1843 in a set titled Douze petits Préludes ou Exercices pour les commençans, French for little preludes or exercises for beginners.
  • The Netherlands Bach Society compares the steady climb of its harmony to reaching a summit and looking out over a valley of lights.

Why the first passage is level 10

That passage is level 10 rather than 9 because notes come faster than one per beat, it moves in 32nd notes, it runs fast figuration.

C major with passing sharps in the bass. Sixteenth-note cells run in the right hand while the left hand moves in quarters with small thirty-second turns. Expect an occasional ledger line.

Questions about Little Prelude in C major, BWV 924

How hard is Little Prelude in C major, BWV 924 to play?
Its passages grade from 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 1–8 at level 10.
Is there an easy part of Little Prelude in C major, BWV 924 for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 10, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 1–4 for both hands together, the level-10 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 10 because notes come faster than one per beat and it moves in 32nd notes.
What key and time signature is Little Prelude in C major, BWV 924 in?
Little Prelude in C major, BWV 924 is in C major, no sharps or flats. The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.
Who composed Little Prelude in C major, BWV 924?
Johann Sebastian Bach, German baroque (1685–1750). In January 1720 Bach started a keyboard notebook for his nine-year-old son, Wilhelm Friedemann.
Can I practice Little Prelude in C major, BWV 924 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 3 graded passages from Little Prelude in C major, BWV 924 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Who was this prelude written for?
It is in the keyboard notebook Bach began in 1720 for his nine-year-old son Wilhelm Friedemann.
What is the difference between BWV 924 and BWV 924a?
BWV 924a is a variant version that survives in Wilhelm Friedemann's own handwriting, probably from composition lessons with his father.
Is this prelude part of the Well-Tempered Clavier?
No. It comes from the Klavierbüchlein for Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and was later grouped with other short pieces as the Twelve Little Preludes.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 3 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 10
bars 1–8 both hands · bars 1–4 both hands · bars 5–8 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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