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Musette in D Major, BWV Anh. 126

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) · sheet music

  • Key D major
  • Time 2/4
  • Levels 6–9
  • Passages 13

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Johann Sebastian Bach, German baroque (1685–1750). The reading release has 14 passages from this piece at levels 6–9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–4 for the right hand alone.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 1–12 at level 9.

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 Musette in D Major, BWV Anh. 126.

  1. Right hand alone · bars 1–4 level 6
  2. Hands together · bars 1–4 level 7
  3. The hardest bars · bars 1–12 level 9

How to play Musette in D Major, BWV Anh. 126

  1. Tempo:Feel two beats to the bar at a gentle dancing pace; the sixteenth-note figures in the right hand decide how fast you can go.
  2. Right hand:The tune opens with a quick run down from a held note. Let the long note ring, then play the run lightly and evenly without crowding it.
  3. Left hand:The left hand jumps between low D's an octave apart in steady eighth notes. Keep the hand loose and let it rock between thumb and fifth finger rather than lifting the arm.
  4. Hands together:Start hands together with the drone only, playing the octave hop as a steady pulse, then add the right-hand run on top once the pulse no longer needs thought.
  5. Fingering:Choose one fingering for the falling sixteenth-note run and keep it every time it returns, since the figure repeats often.
  6. Reading:In the middle strain watch for G-sharps and D-sharps that are not in the key signature; they mark the move to A major.
  7. Practice:Learn the opening strain first, since it frames the piece, then practice the middle strain on its own before linking them.

Common mistakes

  • Letting the left-hand octave hops get louder than the tune. Fix: Play the left hand alone very softly, then add the right hand above it.
  • Rushing the sixteenth-note run after the held note. Fix: Count the beat aloud and start the run only when you reach its beat.
  • Missing the G-sharps and D-sharps in the middle strain. Fix: Circle them before you play and say each one aloud the first few times.
  • Stiffening the left hand during the octave hops. Fix: Practice the hop slowly with a relaxed wrist, then gradually speed up.

Structure: three short strains (A–B–A)

The opening tune runs over a drone on D, the middle strain moves to A major with new sharps, and the opening tune comes back to close in D. The mood stays light and rustic throughout.

A · Opening strain (D major)
A falling sixteenth-note figure answered by eighth notes, over left-hand octave D's that hop back and forth. It teaches steady two-beat counting with a moving bass.
B · Middle strain (A major)
The music shifts to A major, so G-sharps and D-sharps appear, and the right hand trades sixteenth-note turns with wider leaps.
A · Return (D major)
The opening tune returns over the drone and rounds the piece off in D major.

About Musette in D Major, BWV Anh. 126

This Musette is No. 22 in the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, a book of keyboard pieces and songs kept by the Bach household. Anna Magdalena wrote most of the entries herself, with others in the hands of Johann Sebastian, two of Bach's sons, and a few family friends, and the book mixes Bach's own music with pieces by other composers of the time.

The Musette carries Bach's name, but his authorship is doubtful, which is why the Bach catalogue lists it in its appendix as Anh. 126. Whoever wrote it, it sits with the notebook's minuets and marches as one of the short pieces many young pianists play first.

The name comes from the musette, a bellows-blown French bagpipe tied to shepherds and pastoral scenes, and a dance piece took the same name. Here the left hand imitates the bagpipe's drone by bouncing between low D's in octaves while the tune runs above.

  • The 1725 notebook is larger and more richly decorated than the 1722 one, and all of its pages have gilt edges.
  • The Musette shares its notebook with the famous Minuets in G major and G minor, once credited to Bach but now known to be by Christian Petzold.
  • The notebook's later annotations of Anna Magdalena's name were added by her stepson C. P. E. Bach, who inherited it.
  • The French court musette was a bagpipe used in chamber music and even opera, where it signaled shepherds and country life.

Why the first passage is level 6

That passage is level 6 rather than 5 because it runs fast figuration.

Read the two sharps in the key signature first, then let the left hand's octave D's become a steady background while you track the tune. In the middle strain, look ahead for the extra sharps.

Questions about Musette in D Major, BWV Anh. 126

How hard is Musette in D Major, BWV Anh. 126 to play?
Its passages grade from level 6 to level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 1–12 at level 9.
Is there an easy part of Musette in D Major, BWV Anh. 126 for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 6, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 1–4 for the right hand alone, the level-6 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 6 because it runs fast figuration.
What key and time signature is Musette in D Major, BWV Anh. 126 in?
Musette in D Major, BWV Anh. 126 is in D major, 2 sharps. The engraving on this page is in 2/4 time.
Who composed Musette in D Major, BWV Anh. 126?
Johann Sebastian Bach, German baroque (1685–1750). This Musette is No.
Can I practice Musette in D Major, BWV Anh. 126 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 13 graded passages from Musette in D Major, BWV Anh. 126 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Did Bach really write the Musette in D major?
It carries his name, but his authorship is uncertain. That is why it is catalogued in the appendix of the Bach catalogue as BWV Anh. 126.
What is the Anna Magdalena Notebook?
It is a book of keyboard pieces and songs from 1725, written mostly in the hand of Bach's second wife, Anna Magdalena. It includes minuets, marches, and other short pieces by Bach and other composers.
What is a musette?
It was a bellows-blown French bagpipe with drones, associated with shepherds and pastoral scenes, and the name was also given to a gentle dance piece in that style.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 13 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 6
bars 1–4 right hand · bars 5–12 right hand · bars 17–20 right hand
Level 7
bars 1–4 both hands · bars 5–8 both hands · bars 13–20 both hands · bars 17–20 both hands
Level 9
bars 1–12 both hands · bars 1–8 both hands · bars 9–20 both hands · bars 9–16 both hands · bars 13–24 both hands · bars 17–24 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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