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Minuet in D Minor, BWV Anh. 132

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) · sheet music

  • Key D minor
  • Time 3/4
  • Levels 2–10
  • Passages 25

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Johann Sebastian Bach, German baroque (1685–1750). The reading release has 26 passages from this piece at levels 2–10; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–2 for the left hand alone.

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 Minuet in D Minor, BWV Anh. 132.

  1. Left hand alone · bars 1–2 level 2
  2. Hands together · bars 1–4 level 5
  3. The hardest bars · bars 1–8 level 10

How to play Minuet in D Minor, BWV Anh. 132

  1. Tempo:Choose a moderate minuet tempo and count three steady beats. The minor key invites a slightly serious character, so avoid hurrying.
  2. Right hand:Phrase the melody in short breaths and lighten the note before each cadence.
  3. Left hand:Keep the bass line quiet and steady. It should support the melody rather than compete with it.
  4. Hands together:Check that the hands land together on beat one. Practice the first two phrases until they are secure, then go on.
  5. Fingering:Learn the D minor scale, including the raised seventh, so that the accidental C sharp feels familiar.
  6. Rhythm:Give a slight emphasis to beat one and keep beats two and three light, as a dancer would.
  7. Dynamics:Use small dynamic changes in the phrases. Baroque dance music is shaped by articulation more than volume.
  8. Practice:Play each half separately, then connect them. Repeat the minuet daily to build smooth reading in D minor.

Common mistakes

  • Forgetting the C sharp accidental in the minor key. Fix: Mark the sharp in the first pass and say it aloud while practicing.
  • Rushing because the notes are easy. Fix: Keep to a dance tempo and count three beats.
  • Playing the bass too loudly. Fix: Practice the left hand softly and keep the melody on top.

Structure: binary minuet

The minuet is a short dance in triple meter, built in two repeated halves. The first half starts in D minor and closes in F major, the relative major; the second half begins there and makes its way back to D minor.

A · First half (D minor)
The tune opens in D minor over long bass notes and cadences in F major.
B · Second half (D minor)
Begins with a wide leap in the right hand, passes through A major chords with C sharps, and runs up to a final cadence in D minor.

About Minuet in D Minor, BWV Anh. 132

This minuet in D minor, BWV Anh. 132, is No. 36 in the notebook Bach began for his second wife, Anna Magdalena, in 1725. The book mixes keyboard partitas, minuets, polonaises, marches, chorales and a rondeau with a few songs and arias. Most entries are in Anna Magdalena's hand; others were written by Bach, his sons and family friends.

Whether Bach wrote this minuet is uncertain. It sits in the second appendix of the Bach catalogue, which gathers works of doubtful attribution, and IMSLP marks his authorship as uncertain. Several other notebook pieces are known to be by other composers.

Despite the doubt, the minuet is a standard piece for students. Its minor key and clear tune give beginners an early taste of Baroque dance style and expression.

  • The number BWV Anh. 132 means it sits in an appendix of the Bach catalogue rather than among his confirmed works.
  • The notebook also holds pieces by others, including a rondeau by Couperin and marches and polonaises by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.
  • The notebook's famous G major and G minor minuets are usually credited to Christian Petzold, not Bach.
  • The notebook contains the aria on which Bach built the Goldberg Variations.

Why the first passage is level 2

That passage is level 2 rather than 1 because it is in 3/4, not 4/4.

The page is in 3/4 with one flat. Watch for the C sharps that keep pulling the music back to D minor.

Questions about Minuet in D Minor, BWV Anh. 132

How hard is Minuet in D Minor, BWV Anh. 132 to play?
Its passages grade from level 2 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 1–8 at level 10.
Is there an easy part of Minuet in D Minor, BWV Anh. 132 for beginners?
Yes. Start with bars 1–2 for the left hand alone, the level-2 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 2 because it is in 3/4, not 4/4.
What key and time signature is Minuet in D Minor, BWV Anh. 132 in?
Minuet in D Minor, BWV Anh. 132 is in D minor, 1 flat. The engraving on this page is in 3/4 time.
Who composed Minuet in D Minor, BWV Anh. 132?
Johann Sebastian Bach, German baroque (1685–1750). This minuet in D minor, BWV Anh.
Can I practice Minuet in D Minor, BWV Anh. 132 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 25 graded passages from Minuet in D Minor, BWV Anh. 132 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Did Bach write the Minuet in D minor?
It is listed in the doubtful appendix of the Bach catalogue, and IMSLP says his authorship is uncertain. It is still widely played as part of the Anna Magdalena Notebook.
Who was Anna Magdalena Bach?
She was Bach's second wife. Most of the pieces in the notebook he started for her in 1725 are in her handwriting.
What does Anh. mean in BWV Anh. 132?
Anh. stands for Anhang, or appendix. The Bach catalogue places doubtful and spurious works in its appendices, and this minuet is in the second one.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 25 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 2
bars 1–2 left hand
Level 5
bars 1–4 both hands · bars 1–8 both hands · bars 5–8 both hands · bars 7–10 both hands
Level 7
bars 13–16 both hands · bars 21–24 both hands · bars 29–32 both hands
Level 8
bars 1–12 both hands · bars 7–14 both hands · bars 9–12 both hands · bars 9–16 both hands · bars 13–16 both hands · bars 17–24 both hands · bars 17–20 both hands · bars 25–32 both hands
Level 9
bars 3–18 both hands · bars 7–18 both hands · bars 9–16 both hands
Level 10
bars 1–8 both hands · bars 1–12 both hands · bars 5–8 both hands · bars 9–16 both hands · bars 13–24 both hands · bars 13–16 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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