March in G Major, BWV Anh. 124
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788) · sheet music
- Key G major
- Time 2/2
- Levels 7
- Passages 1
Your turn · both hands
Preparing your passage…
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German baroque (1714–1788). The reading release has 1 passage from this piece at level 7; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 9–12 for both hands together.
The hardest stretch is bars 9–12 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 March in G Major, BWV Anh. 124.
- Hands together · bars 9–12 level 7
How to play March in G Major, BWV Anh. 124
- Tempo:The engraving is marked Allegro with a two-beat bar; feel two strong beats and pick a pace at which the repeated bass notes stay even.
- Right hand:Play with a clear, detached touch where the tune marches, and a smooth line for longer notes.
- Left hand:The left hand often drums repeated low G's or D's; keep them light and even, and let the octave jumps land quietly in time.
- Hands together:Pay attention to places where the hands move apart and practice those leaps slowly, looking at the hand you are moving.
- Rhythm:Where a quarter note falls between two eighths, count the eighths aloud so the longer note does not arrive early.
- Dynamics:Try a bold first statement and a lighter repeat, a contrast that suits the march's simple, sectional shape.
- Reading:Read in G major with one sharp, and watch for C sharps in the first section and F naturals in the second.
- Practice:Play the two sections separately, then join them, keeping the same tempo across the join.
Common mistakes
- Missing the leaps in the left hand. Fix: Look at the destination key before you move and practice the jump slowly.
- Playing the syncopations too early. Fix: Count aloud and tap the offbeats.
- Rushing the march pulse. Fix: Practice with a metronome at a slow tempo.
Structure: binary (two sections)
As printed on this page, the march has two sections. The first sets out the G major tune over drumming bass notes and moves to D major; the second starts in D, works back through C major colors and closes in G.
- A · First section (G major)
- A confident tune over repeated left-hand bass notes, ending with both hands in octaves on a cadence in D major.
- B · Second section
- The drumming bass returns under new phrases, an F natural briefly colors the music, and the march ends with the hands in octaves in G major.
About March in G Major, BWV Anh. 124
The 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach is a collection of 42 numbered keyboard and vocal pieces that Johann Sebastian Bach presented to his second wife. Most entries are in Anna Magdalena's hand, and alongside Bach's own music it holds pieces by family members and friends, including his sons Johann Christian and Carl Philipp Emanuel.
The March in G major, No. 18 in the notebook, is usually attributed to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, as are the neighboring March in D major and two Polonaises in G minor; they are counted among his early compositions. Because they are not by Johann Sebastian, they sit in the appendix (Anhang) of the Bach catalog rather than its main list.
It is a short, bright keyboard march that makes a good companion to the better-known minuets from the same notebook.
- Entries 16 to 19 of the notebook, two marches and two polonaises, are all usually credited to C.P.E. Bach.
- C.P.E. Bach's Solo per il cembalo in the same notebook is an early version of one of his keyboard sonatas.
- The famous Minuet in G from the same notebook is usually attributed to Christian Petzold, not to J.S. Bach.
Why the first passage is level 7
That passage is level 7 rather than 6 because it has syncopated rhythms.
A bright G major march with a steady beat. Watch for the leaps between hands and the syncopated rhythms in the second section.
Questions about March in G Major, BWV Anh. 124
- How hard is March in G Major, BWV Anh. 124 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 9–12 at level 7.
- Is there an easy part of March in G Major, BWV Anh. 124 for beginners?
- Its easiest passage is level 7, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 9–12 for both hands together, the level-7 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 7 because it has syncopated rhythms.
- What key and time signature is March in G Major, BWV Anh. 124 in?
- March in G Major, BWV Anh. 124 is in G major, 1 sharp. The engraving on this page is in 2/2 time.
- Who composed March in G Major, BWV Anh. 124?
- Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German baroque (1714–1788). The 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach is a collection of 42 numbered keyboard and vocal pieces that Johann Sebastian Bach presented to his second wife.
- Can I practice March in G Major, BWV Anh. 124 online for free?
- Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the one graded passage from March in G Major, BWV Anh. 124 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
- Did J.S. Bach write the March in G?
- Probably not. The March in G major, BWV Anh. 124, is usually attributed to his son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.
- What is the Anna Magdalena Notebook?
- A collection of 42 numbered keyboard and vocal pieces from 1725 that J.S. Bach presented to his second wife, Anna Magdalena, with entries by several family members and friends.
- What is the BWV Anhang?
- It is the appendix to the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, the catalog of Bach's works, where doubtful pieces and pieces by other composers, like this march, are listed.
Every passage, easiest first
The reading release grades one passage of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:
- Level 7
- bars 9–12 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.