How to play fugues on the piano (Bach BWV 846)?

How to play fugues on the piano? Analysis and examples based on Bach's BWV 846 from WTC I.

First, an important question arises: In his works, such as The Well-Tempered Clavier, Bach wrote pieces where notes must be held down with the fingers due to the longer durations of some notes relative to others, like in Fugue I. If Bach played the harpsichord, which plucks the strings, why did he write it this way?

Although it is true that the harpsichord operates via a plucked-string mechanism—unlike the piano, where hammers allow notes to be sustained or dampened using the sustain pedal—there are fundamental structural, acoustic, and technical reasons why Bach wrote (and performed) these exact note prolongations.

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1. Acoustic Illusion and Finger-Legato (Overlegato)

Since the harpsichord lacks a sustain pedal and cannot alter the dynamic level of individual notes based on key velocity, harpsichordists of the era relied on the exact duration of finger contact with the key to shape articulation and expression.

• Resonance effect: When you keep a key pressed, the damper remains lifted. This allows the string to continue vibrating (even though a plucked string's sound decays rapidly) and causes other strings within the instrument to resonate sympathetically.
• Sustained sound: Holding down the notes of a chord or voice while others are playing creates an effect known as overlegato (or harmonic articulation). This gives the listener the perception of a fuller, warmer, and more sustained sound than the instrument actually produces on its own.

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2. Voice Leading (Pure Polyphony)

For Bach, music was not merely a melody with an accompaniment, but a conversation between distinct, independent voices (soprano, alto, tenor, bass).

• In Fugue I in C Major from The Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV 846), as in many others, every note fulfills a specific function within its own polyphonic voice.
• If a note is a sustained half note or quarter note while another voice plays eighth notes, writing and playing it while holding down the key allows the performer (and the listener) to trace the horizontal line of each voice. Releasing key contact prematurely would tear the polyphonic fabric.

3. The Ambiguity of the Word Klavier (Harpsichord, Clavichord, or Organ)

In 18th-century German, the word Clavier (or Klavier) did not refer exclusively to the harpsichord (Cembal), but to any keyboard instrument:

• The Clavichord: This was Bach's preferred instrument for intimate practice and study at home. Unlike the harpsichord, the clavichord uses a tangent mechanism that strikes and remains in contact with the string, allowing for sustained notes, subtle dynamic shading, and even a slight vibrato (Bebung).
• The Organ: An instrument where holding down notes is vital, as the sound never decays as long as the key remains depressed.
• The Harpsichord: As noted, it requires holding keys down to preserve contrapuntal clarity and resonance.

When writing The Well-Tempered Clavier (Das wohltemperirte Clavier), Bach was not thinking of a single household instrument, but of the science of composition and universal keyboard technique.

4. Legato Technique and Bach's Keyboard School

C.P.E. Bach (his son) and Johann Nikolaus Forkel (his first biographer) clearly documented J. S. Bach's pedagogical approach:

Bach developed a playing style where fingers did not merely "strike" or "release" keys, but glided and remained held for the exact duration required by the note, transferring weight seamlessly from one finger to the next without gaps of silence.

Thus, keeping fingers depressed on longer notes was not a misconception of the instrument, but the only way to make a plucked-string instrument sing.

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Fact: The Fugue I in C Major (BWV 846) is one of the most complex pieces in the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier, precisely for many reasons. That's why we chose it!

Unlike other fugues that feature freer episodes or sections, this fugue is a continuous stretto: a true polyphonic masterpiece in 4 voices where the subject enters constantly before the previous voice has even finished—sometimes separated by just a single beat.

It presents two main difficulties that make it "really hard":

1. Physical difficulty (finger independence): Managing 4 voices with only two hands forces you into complex finger maneuvers: holding one finger down (such as a thumb or ring finger) while the rest of the hand must play another voice with precise articulation.
2. Mental difficulty (voice leading): Knowing which voice you are "singing" at any given moment and understanding its structural importance.

Bach WTC Book I Fugue 1 SATB 4 Voices for analysis sheet music, Noten, partitura, spartiti, 楽譜, 乐谱

Practical Tips for Studying This Fugue:

1. Work in Pairs of Voices

Don't try to play all 4 voices from the start. Divide the score and practice only two voices at a time to understand how they intertwine and to build muscle memory for the legato:

• Soprano + Bass (to see the harmonic skeleton).
• Alto + Tenor (the inner voices demand a lot of effort in hand distribution).
• Soprano + Alto / Tenor + Bass.

2. Sing One Voice While Playing Another

Pick one voice (for example, the Tenor) and sing it aloud while playing the other voices with your hands. This forces your brain not to "abandon" the held notes of the voice you are sustaining.

3. Plan the Hand Distribution (Partitio)

In this fugue, the middle voices (Alto and Tenor) often need to be split between the right and left hands depending on the register. If a passage feels stuck, it is often because the right hand is trying to hold too many voices when the left hand could take over one of the notes.

4. Use "Finger Substitution" on a Held Key

To sustain a long note without losing reach for the next phrase, Baroque technique relies heavily on switching fingers silently on a held key (for example, pressing a key with finger 2 and sliding finger 1 onto it without lifting the key to free up finger 2).

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At the very beginning, you feel overwhelmed!

It's a massive challenge! The first page of Fugue I (BWV 846) presents the exposition of all four voices one after another, and the difficulty of holding long notes appears right from the start.

Since the theme (the subject) lasts three measures and the second voice enters while the first is still sounding, you immediately run into sustained notes (tied quarter notes or half notes) in one voice while the other hand (or even the same hand!) has to play the eighth notes of a countersubject.

Here is a concrete strategy to master the duration of longer notes on this first page:

1. Practice the "Skeleton" Without the Moving Voice

If one hand has to hold a long note while playing eighth notes with the remaining fingers:

• Play only the long note and keep it pressed down.
• While holding it down, press the remaining keys of that hand silently (without producing sound), just to get the hand used to the feeling of having one finger "anchored" while the others remain independent and relaxed.

2. Pay Attention to Physical Tension

The most common mistake when struggling to hold a long note is applying too much force on the held key.

• Once the key on a harpsichord or piano is depressed, only the natural weight of the finger is needed to keep it down. There is no need to press hard.
• Check that your wrist, arm, and unused fingers are not completely stiff while sustaining the note. Wrist flexibility is the key to letting the free fingers move smoothly.

3. Finger Substitution (Silent Finger Changes)

On the first page, as the third voice (Tenor) and fourth voice (Bass) enter, the hands overlap significantly.

• If a finger must sustain a note but you need that same finger for a subsequent note, practice switching fingers on the same held key (for example, pressing a half note with finger 2, and without lifting the key, sliding finger 1 over it to release finger 2).

4. The "Audible Counting" Exercise

To avoid releasing long notes prematurely due to the pressure of playing the incoming voice:

• Count the beats out loud (One, two, three, four...), paying special attention to the exact moment when the long note must be released. We often tend to lift the finger right when playing the next note, but if the long note has a rest or ends on a specific beat, releasing the key must be an intentional action.

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In measures 8 and 9, you no longer have any "free" hand: you have 4 melodic lines sounding simultaneously, distributed across 10 fingers.

What Exactly Happens in Measures 8 and 9 of the first page?

1. Hand Overlap and Anchored Fingers: While the Bass presents the theme (C - D - E - F - E - D...), the Tenor and Alto have sustained notes and phrases that cross the central part of the keyboard.
2. The "Thumb Trap": In these measures, the right and left hands get very close. The thumb of one hand often gets in the way of the thumb of the other if your position isn't well-defined.

How to Overcome This Section Step by Step:

1. Forget About Expressiveness for Now (And Don't Feel Bad About It!)

You are doing the right thing by not worrying about expressiveness yet. In Bach's music, the first step is pure mechanics and contrapuntal clarity. Expressiveness on the harpsichord or piano stems from precise articulation (knowing exactly when each note begins and ends), and that is only achieved when your hands are no longer suffering physically.

2. Review the Right and Left Hand Distribution

Sometimes printed editions place the Tenor notes in the lower staff (Bass clef) and the Alto in the upper staff (Treble clef), but this does not mean you have to play the Bass clef notes exclusively with the left hand.

• In measures 8 and 9, see if the right hand can help by taking an Alto or Tenor note when the left hand is busy with the Bass line.

3. Practice "Beat by Beat" (Stop & Go)

Instead of playing the whole measure straight through slowly:

1. Play only the first beat of measure 8 with all 4 voices.
2. Stop with your fingers depressed on the keys.
3. Relax your wrists and shoulders. Check which finger is holding a long note and which fingers need to prepare for the next eighth note.
4. Jump to the second beat and stop again.This trains your brain to process the "visual chords" formed on each beat.

4. Work Only on "Bass + the Interlocking Voice"

Try playing only the Bass voice and the Tenor voice in measures 8 and 9. These two lower voices form the foundation upon which the entire texture rests. Once your left hand has the muscle memory for these two voices, adding the right hand (Soprano and Alto) will be much easier.

Keep up the great spirit! Remember that conquering the 4-voice exposition of this fugue is the toughest toll gate of the piece; once you have these measures automated, the rest of the fugue AND THE OTHER FUGUES in general will use the exact same tools and finger combinations!

Bach, J.S. Fugue 1 Well Tempered Clavichord, Book I (SATB For Analysis)

Bach – Prelude & Fugue No. 1 in C Major, BWV 846 (WTC I) | Marta Czech

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