How hard is Fugue in A Minor, B. 144 to play?

Its passages grade from level 7 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 7.

Is there an easy part of Fugue in A Minor, B. 144 for beginners?

Its easiest passage is level 7, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 1–8 for both hands together, the level-7 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 7 because it carries accidentals outside the key and it has syncopated rhythms.

What key and time signature is Fugue in A Minor, B. 144 in?

Fugue in A Minor, B. 144 is in A minor, no sharps or flats. The engraving on this page is in 2/2 time.

Can I practice Fugue in A Minor, B. 144 online for free?

Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 2 graded passages from Fugue in A Minor, B. 144 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.

Why did Chopin write a fugue?

Nobody knows for certain. One commentary suggests it was written to teach his pupils or as an early study.

Was Chopin's A minor fugue ever credited to someone else?

Yes. It was credited to Luigi Cherubini for some time, but Arthur Hedley concluded from the manuscript that it is Chopin's.

Can this fugue be played on organ or harpsichord?

Yes. The manuscript does not name an instrument, and it is a two-voice work that fits one manual of a harpsichord or an organ.

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Fugue in A Minor, B. 144

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) · sheet music

Key A minor
Time 2/2
Levels 7
Passages 2

Your turn · both hands

Preparing your passage…

Frédéric Chopin, Polish-French romantic (1810–1849). The reading release has 2 passages from this piece at level 7; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–8 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 at level 7.

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 Fugue in A Minor, B. 144.

Hands together · bars 1–8 level 7

How to play Fugue in A Minor, B. 144

Tempo:A steady, unhurried pace in two lets the voices speak. Fast playing makes the chromatic steps in the subject sound frantic.
Left hand:The left hand states the subject first, so give it a clear, singing tone. Mark each later entry of the subject in pencil.
Right hand:The right hand answers on the dominant and often holds a countermelody. Play it slightly softer when the left hand has the subject.
Hands together:Learn the exposition one hand at a time, then join them. When both voices move, listen for the one that carries the subject.
Dynamics:In a fugue, every entry of the subject should be audible. Lift the volume of the subject by a small amount and let the other voice recede.
Reading:No key signature is printed, but the chromatic steps come in constantly. Read ahead for sharps and naturals and plan fingerings across them.
Practice:Play the subject alone, then play it with the other voice only in half notes. Gradually add the full countermelody.

Common mistakes

Playing both voices at the same volume so the subject gets lost. Fix: Practice with one hand at mezzo-forte and the other at piano, then switch roles on each entry.
Playing the chromatic steps as if they were wrong notes. Fix: Sing the subject aloud first so the chromatic notes sound deliberate.
Rushing the long notes because the eighth notes move so quickly. Fix: Count in two and hold long notes for their full value.

Structure: fugue (two voices)

One voice states the subject alone and the second voice enters with the answer a fifth higher. The two voices then keep trading the subject and fragments of it, and near the end the entries overlap in a stretto before the final cadence.

Exposition · Subject and answer (A minor): The lower voice states the subject alone, and the upper voice answers on the dominant. The first reading task is to follow one melody at a time.
Middle · Further entries and episodes: The voices keep passing the subject back and forth, joined by freer connecting passages. Watch for chromatic notes that signal a change of key.
Stretto · Closing entries: Entries overlap more closely and the texture tightens toward the final cadence.

About Fugue in A Minor, B. 144

This fugue is dated 1841 and survives in a single-page manuscript in Chopin's hand; it has no opus number. It was for some time credited to Luigi Cherubini, but the Chopin biographer Arthur Hedley judged from the manuscript that it is unmistakably Chopin's.

The fugue is for two voices only, and its subject opens with a leap of a perfect fourth from the dominant up to the tonic, so the answer must be altered, which is called a tonal answer. Each bar of the subject also contains at least one chromatic step. The counterpoint is plainer than in Chopin's other contrapuntal works.

No one knows exactly why Chopin wrote it. One commentary suggests it was a teaching piece for his pupils or an early study, which would fit its simplicity. It was published only after his death, and sources give different first-edition dates.

The fugue was credited to Cherubini for a time before the manuscript was recognized as Chopin's.
The manuscript does not name an instrument, and harpsichordists and organists have taken it up as well as pianists.
Every bar of the subject contains at least one chromatic step, a trait one commentary links to Bach's fugues.

Why the first passage is level 7

That passage is level 7 rather than 6 because it carries accidentals outside the key, it has syncopated rhythms.

A minor, no key signature, in 2/2. The first voice enters alone in the lower register while the upper voice rests, and both parts move in eighth notes with many chromatic notes.

Questions about Fugue in A Minor, B. 144

How hard is Fugue in A Minor, B. 144 to play?: Its passages grade from level 7 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 7.
Is there an easy part of Fugue in A Minor, B. 144 for beginners?: Its easiest passage is level 7, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 1–8 for both hands together, the level-7 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 7 because it carries accidentals outside the key and it has syncopated rhythms.
What key and time signature is Fugue in A Minor, B. 144 in?: Fugue in A Minor, B. 144 is in A minor, no sharps or flats. The engraving on this page is in 2/2 time.
Who composed Fugue in A Minor, B. 144?: Frédéric Chopin, Polish-French romantic (1810–1849). This fugue is dated 1841 and survives in a single-page manuscript in Chopin's hand; it has no opus number.
Can I practice Fugue in A Minor, B. 144 online for free?: Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 2 graded passages from Fugue in A Minor, B. 144 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Why did Chopin write a fugue?: Nobody knows for certain. One commentary suggests it was written to teach his pupils or as an early study.
Was Chopin's A minor fugue ever credited to someone else?: Yes. It was credited to Luigi Cherubini for some time, but Arthur Hedley concluded from the manuscript that it is Chopin's.
Can this fugue be played on organ or harpsichord?: Yes. The manuscript does not name an instrument, and it is a two-voice work that fits one manual of a harpsichord or an organ.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 2 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 7: bars 1–8 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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