Learn to play Bach on the piano
Why Johann Sebastian Bach’s music remains an essential stepping stone for aspiring pianists
There’s no objective way of measuring superlatives like “best,” “greatest,” or “most influential” when it comes to music (and we’d argue that’s a good thing). But if you really had to think about composers in such a manner, you’d be hard pressed not to put Johann Sebastian Bach at the top of your list. Many respected publications, in fact, have done just that.
But what is it that makes Bach so special? History is littered with great, prolific composers. Why is it that a boy from Eisenach, the youngest of eight and orphaned by age ten, grew up to be one of — if not the — most important figures in Western musical history?
First, and it almost goes without saying, young Johann Sebastian was incredibly talented. While not exactly a child prodigy like the oft-compared Mozart, Bach nonetheless began to study and play music from a young age. Instructed first on the clavichord by his brother Johann Christoph Bach, with whom he lived following the deaths of both his parents in quick succession, he later sang in the choir and played both organ and harpsichord at school — more on all these instruments later. It was as an organist that Bach made his living and reputation in his early years, taking up a position at the New Church (now known as the Bach Church) in Arnstadt.
While talent is undeniably a prerequisite for musical greatness, Bach is more commonly discussed today in terms of his prolificness. Producing well over 1,000 pieces in his lifetime, counting only the ones we know of today, he’s also known as an extremely versatile composer, having worked across a great number of styles and written for widely varied instruments and ensembles. For aspiring composers, Bach remains perhaps the best possible example of the fact that there’s no shortcut to making great music — it’s more often the natural result of producing vast quantities of work over a sustained period of time.
When we think about “greatness,” as it relates to composers, we tend to consider the influence they’ve had on subsequent generations. This may be why many pianists featured on our best-of lists tend to be those who have long since passed. For this reason, it’s easy to see why Bach is held in such high regard — not just by music scholars, but by other entrants on those lists. Haydn, Beethoven, and Mozart are all recorded as having expressed appreciation for Bach’s music and acknowledged his influence on their own work. The latter is even known to have sought out and collected Bach’s manuscripts to study and learn from. Today, we see shades of Bach via samples and musical quotations in all sorts of genres, some of which we’ll explore below.
Bach’s single greatest influence to this day, it might be argued, is on the way we teach and learn music. His compositions for keyboard instruments and violin are considered rites of passage for learners of both, admired for their beauty and feared by beginners for their complexity in equal measure. Anyone with any formal training in composition will be (possibly all too) familiar with both functional harmony and counterpoint — two fundamental building blocks of Western classical music that wouldn’t be the same without Bach’s innovation. Musicologists often cut their teeth interpreting his work, seeking to understand its profound emotional impact from a theoretical perspective.
Did Bach play the piano?
Not often. While the modern piano was invented during Bach’s lifetime, it grew slowly in popularity, and he wouldn’t have encountered too many. His primary instrument, as we’ve discussed, was the organ, and he was also proficient on violin and viola. The two other keyboard instruments Bach is most commonly associated with are both precursors to the modern piano.
The harpsichord is a keyboard instrument that produces its sound by means of a plectrum, much like a modern guitar. Traditionally made from bird quills, these plectra were moved past the string (or strings on some models) by the key mechanism to produce a note. A key limitation of the harpsichord is that the mechanism doesn’t offer a way to adjust the dynamics of a note — consider the way that pressing a piano key harder results in a louder sound.
The clavichord, though thought to be even older than the harpsichord, does allow for dynamic playing. Its mechanism resembles that of a modern piano more closely, with small metal blades, known as tangents, striking and maintaining contact with the string when a key is pressed —a modern piano hammer, in contrast, retracts after hitting the string, allowing the string to vibrate freely. The clavichord, owing to its quiet, soft-sounding nature, was generally regarded as an instrument for practicing or composing on, rather than performing.
Modern pianos, of course, are able to produce a very wide array of sounds, from extremely quiet to extremely loud, depending on how they are played. The name itself, in fact, is short for Pianoforte, which itself comes from the Italian “gravecembalo col piano e forte” — “harpsichord with soft and loud.” So while we don’t really have original Bach piano pieces today, playing Bach on piano remains popular with beginners, professionals, and everyone in between.
Bach did, as it happens, play the piano on at least two occasions. An early German builder, Gottfried Silbermann, had been inspired by the instrument’s inventor, Bartolomeo Cristofori’s work, and began producing his own instruments in the same style. Asked to comment on one of Silbermann’s prototypes, Bach provided mixed feedback, criticising the weak sound of the instrument’s higher register. Having taken Bach’s feedback on board, Silbermann continued to develop his piano, eventually selling some 15 of them to Frederick the Great of Prussia.
King Frederick’s court harpsichordist at the time just happened to be one Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, son of Johann Sebastian. It’s said that the king showed Bach one of these pianos while the latter was visiting his son, giving him a theme from which to improvise using the instrument. This theme formed the basis of The Musical Offering, a collection of fugues and canons published in 1747. Unfortunately, the Bach piano itself was destroyed in World War II.
Air On the G String
One of Bach’s most enduring pieces, Air On the G String is named for the fact that, in this arrangement, the whole piece can be played entirely on the violin’s lowest string, typically as a solo. It’s also a highly popular Bach piano piece. You may well recognize some of the melodies here, even if you haven’t heard the piece in its entirety. It’s often been used in movies and commercials or sampled in other tracks. It was also the basis of Procol Harum’s 1967 hit “A Whiter Shade of Pale”.
Badinerie Orchestral Suite, No. 2
The Badinerie is a popular piece for concert flautists, with its intricate melody and fearsome pace making for an impressive spectacle. It’s not all that easy on piano either, but don’t be put off — just follow the lights, take it slow, and practice, practice, practice. As an aside, readers of the right age may remember this tune as a popular cellphone ringtone in the late 90s and early 2000s.
Little Prelude in C minor, BWV 999
Nobody knows exactly when Bach wrote this composition for the lute, and we’re also not entirely sure if he ever actually finished it, owing to the unusually abrupt ending for the time. We do know that it was transcribed for keyboard instruments shortly after it was written and has since become a hugely popular piece for lutes, guitars, and keyboard instruments of all types, including the modern piano.
Musette in D Major
The musette was a French dance style named for the musette de cour, a baroque-era bagpipe. Bach’s composition echoes the nature of the instrument with relatively slow harmonic motion in the left hand, but the rhythmic variation, jaunty right-hand melodies, and leaps across octaves ought to provide a good degree of challenge. This composition is taken from one of two notebooks of sheet music that Bach created for his second wife, Anna Magdalena.
Prelude No.1 in C Major
Bach’s Prelude No.1 in C Major is the first prelude and fugue from the first book of his collection The Well-Tempered Clavier (“clavier” referring to any one of a variety of popular keyboard instruments of the time), compiled in 1722 “for the profit and use of musical youth desirous of learning, and especially for the pastime of those already skilled in this study”. If Bach himself thought this one in particular was worth learning, who are we to argue? This prelude had a second life as the accompaniment for Charles Gounod’s setting of Ave Maria in the mid-nineteenth century, and later as the basis for minimalist composer Arvo Pärt’s 1968 “Credo”.
Toccata in D Minor
Let’s draw the list to a close with one you’ll definitely know. Time to load up an organ sound in ROLI Learn (you’ll find one in the top-right menu of the Playground) and spook your friends with the ultimate horror cliche. First popularized by its inclusion in Disney’s Fantasia, the title is derived from the Italian toccare or “to touch” — in reference to the dexterity needed to play it correctly. Again, keep practising, keep an eye on your scores at the end, and you’ll be soundtracking your own private horror movie in no time.
Learn to play Bach with the ROLI Piano System
A collection of Bach piano music is available to learn as part of a subscription to the ROLI Learn app, along with 1,000+ other classical and contemporary hits. Paired with ROLI Piano or Piano M keyboards and the optional Airwave smart music stand, the app forms the core of the ROLI Piano System. If you’ve ever played a video game like Guitar Hero or Rock Band, you’ll feel at home right away; color-coded notes cascade off your screen and onto the glowing keys of your piano keyboard. Hit the right note at the right time, and you’re playing along with your favourite songs!
The ROLI Learn app also features more than 200 video lessons with real teachers, engaging exercises and games, a Playground mode for musical exploration, and the new Piano AI — a voice-activated assistant that’s always on hand to answer your questions, offer advice, and help navigate the app.
