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Gigue (Suite No. 8 in F Minor, HWV 433)

George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) · sheet music

  • Key F minor
  • Time 6/8
  • Levels 7–9
  • Passages 3

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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George Frideric Handel, German-British baroque (1685–1759). The reading release has 3 passages from this piece at levels 7–9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 25–28 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 22–29 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 Gigue (Suite No. 8 in F Minor, HWV 433).

  1. Hands together · bars 25–28 level 7
  2. The hardest bars · bars 22–29 level 9

How to play Gigue (Suite No. 8 in F Minor, HWV 433)

  1. Tempo:Play the gigue as two big beats per bar, not six small ones. Begin about half the final speed and raise it only when the leaps are secure.
  2. Right hand:The right hand moves in running eighths with wide skips. Keep the hand relaxed and let the arm carry it over the jumps.
  3. Left hand:The left hand has bass notes that must be placed exactly. Practice finding the lowest note by looking at the target before you jump.
  4. Hands together:In places one hand rests while the other keeps the eighth-note line going, and elsewhere both hands run at once. Practice the spots where the line passes from one hand to the other until it sounds unbroken.
  5. Rhythm:Feel the dotted-quarter pulse and let the three eighths in each beat tumble evenly. Tapping the beat with your foot helps keep the compound feel.
  6. Practice:Loop two or three beats at a time around each hard leap and speed up gradually. Then connect the beats into phrases.
  7. Reading:Four flats (B-flat, E-flat, A-flat, D-flat) are in the signature. Name them aloud once before starting and watch for naturals and extra flats.

Common mistakes

  • Rushing because the dance feels like a race. Fix: Practice with a metronome clicking the dotted-quarter beat.
  • Forgetting the flats of the signature on notes that are not near the clef. Fix: Circle the flats on the first few lines and recheck on each new line.
  • Missing the leaps by looking at the music instead of the keys. Fix: Glance down at the target note just before the leap.

Structure: gigue (a lively dance in two sections)

A gigue is a lively dance, usually in 3/8 or a compound meter such as 6/8 or 12/8, and it normally closes a Baroque suite. Like other Baroque dances it is built in two sections. The engraving on this page is in 6/8 with running eighths, held bass notes under moving lines, and sequences that climb step by step.

Part 1 · Opening half (F minor)
Running eighth notes in F minor, often over a repeated bass note. New to read: four flats and frequent accidentals.
Part 2 · Closing half
The same running pulse with new sequences that pass through other keys before the close in F minor. Expect more accidentals as the harmony turns.

About Gigue (Suite No. 8 in F Minor, HWV 433)

Handel's Suite in F minor is the eighth of the eight keyboard suites that appeared in London in 1720 as Suites de pièces pour le clavecin. In his preface Handel explained that he was publishing them because inaccurate copies had gotten abroad, and he said he had added several new pieces. A pirate edition by John Walsh and Jeanne Roger was reportedly being prepared at the same time.

The exact dates of composition are not known. Some of the pieces may date from Handel's youth in Germany and others from his time in England; the Piano Library gives c. 1717 to 1720 for this suite. It has five movements: Prélude, Allegro, Allemande, Courante and Gigue. An earlier version of the suite used a different prelude, HWV 568.

As in most Baroque suites, the gigue comes last: a lively dance in a compound meter. Piano Library gives this one about two and a half minutes and rates it 2.5 on its difficulty scale.

  • The Allegro of this suite also appears in a version in Handel's G minor trio sonata, HWV 404.
  • The Prelude and Fugue of Suite No. 8 are sometimes played separately as an organ voluntary.
  • An early version of the suite opened with a different prelude, the Preludium in F minor, HWV 568.
  • The 1720 collection is often called the Eight Great Suites, and modern editions of it are published by Bärenreiter, Henle, Wiener Urtext and ABRSM.

Why the first passage is level 7

That passage is level 7 rather than 6 because its key signature has 4 sharps or flats, it carries accidentals outside the key, its chords stretch wide, its chords go beyond simple triads.

Four flats (F minor). The engraving is in 6/8 with running eighths and wide leaps, so count two beats per bar and read ahead to the next landing note.

Questions about Gigue (Suite No. 8 in F Minor, HWV 433)

How hard is Gigue (Suite No. 8 in F Minor, HWV 433) to play?
Its passages grade from level 7 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 22–29 at level 9.
Is there an easy part of Gigue (Suite No. 8 in F Minor, HWV 433) for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 7, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 25–28 for both hands together, the level-7 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 7 because its key signature has 4 sharps or flats and it carries accidentals outside the key.
What key and time signature is Gigue (Suite No. 8 in F Minor, HWV 433) in?
Gigue (Suite No. 8 in F Minor, HWV 433) is in F minor, 4 flats. The engraving on this page is in 6/8 time.
Who composed Gigue (Suite No. 8 in F Minor, HWV 433)?
George Frideric Handel, German-British baroque (1685–1759). Handel's Suite in F minor is the eighth of the eight keyboard suites that appeared in London in 1720 as Suites de pièces pour le clavecin.
Can I practice Gigue (Suite No. 8 in F Minor, HWV 433) online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 3 graded passages from Gigue (Suite No. 8 in F Minor, HWV 433) in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
What other movements are in Handel's Suite No. 8 in F minor?
Prélude, Allegro (a fugal movement), Allemande, Courante and Gigue, according to IMSLP.
Why are Handel's keyboard suites called the Eight Great Suites?
The 1720 volume of Suites de pièces pour le clavecin contained eight suites, HWV 426 to 433. The name 'Eight Great Suites' is how editions and scholars refer to the set.
Why did Handel publish the suites in 1720?
According to his own preface, he said inaccurate copies were circulating. A pirate edition by Walsh and Roger was being prepared.

Every passage, easiest first

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

Level 7
bars 25–28 both hands
Level 9
bars 22–29 both hands · bars 45–48 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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