Been working through the two-voice inventions over the past year (with an occasional attempt at a three-voice thrown in), and now I’m on 12, which I’ve saved for last. I _always_ come to your videos when I start a new “invention project”. It’s so enjoyable to hear these intricate parts played slowly with discussions of their interactions.
Hello derinderruheliegt, thank you so much for your wonderful and appreciated words about these Bach Invention tutorials! You are welcome, it is my pleasure. It is very gratifying to hear that the discussions about the voice dialogues and intricacies is both enjoyable and helpful! With very best wishes to you and with your playing. 🎶
Sally, your Bach invention videos are the best on the internet and I cannot thank you enough for making them. Your contribution is only second to the composition themselves. The videos are the perfect mix of entertainment via your performance and analysis of the piece. -Mark 🎹
Hello Mark, wow, ... I am so grateful to hear your stunning acknowledgements about the content and presentation of these videos. Your thoughtful words move me very much, and encourage and inspire me to continue with this work. Thank you for your generosity of spirit. 🙏 With blessings and best wishes to you on your own musical journey! 🌟🎸
Dear Sally, SO WONDERFUL AS ALWAYS!!!!! Thank you for my favourite Bach in an excellent your rendition and for this great tutorial, your video will be helpful for many pianists, again my warm greetings from Poland to San Francisco, have a happy week. Joanna
Hello Joanna, thank you for your enthusiastic and acknowledging words! I do hope this tutorial will be helpful for many pianists. With warm and best wishes to you from San Francisco to Poland. 🌼
I learn so much from your videos even if I'm not playing the piece the lesson is on. You're truly one of my favorite teachers. Keep it up! Already excited for the next tutorial! 🎹😊
Hello Adam, thank you for your kind and generous comment! I really appreciate hearing that you are enjoying the videos, even if you are not playing the piece I am teaching. Your words mean a great deal to me, and encourage me to continue making these videos! Best wishes to you and with your playing. 🎹
Sally, this is a brilliant video. I get so much out of looking at your charts and taking notes on them as you teach. The detail you provide is available nowhere! The patterns you point out would not be obvious to me, but knowing the patterns enhances self-confidence in being able to play it. At first, I thought I would never be able to play it, but I think --because of your teaching style-- I can handle it. Thank you!
Hello Roger, thank you so much for your enthusiastic and very appreciated words! It is deeply gratifying for me to hear that the lessons and charts are encouraging you to learn pieces you might not otherwise attempt to learn. When we understand the patterns and details of a piece, everything becomes easier to learn. I treasure your acknowledgements, and wish you much joy and fulfillment with your playing!
Thank you sally! What a journey through this fantastic piece I realized during this tutorial that not only are we introduced to the structural analysis but we are forced to actually listen!!!! It’s amazing what is uncovered through listening to the sounds. Ever grateful to you
Hi Gina, thank you for your thoughtful and generous words! I agree, this is a fantastic piece, and is a joy to play once it is learned and "in the fingers." I appreciate you mentioning the importance of really "listening." There are so many hidden patterns one might not hear on a first listening. With Bach in particular, the layers of discoveries and surprises are endless! I hope you will play this invention and also teach it to your more advanced students! 💕
Hello Lane, thank you for your very nice comment! I do hope you can find a teacher who will guide you well with your piano studies. I wish you the very best in locating the right teacher for you! 🌼
Hello musicalintentions / James! Thank you for your very appreciated words about the "beautiful intricacies" in Bach's music. It never ceases to amaze me how each one of these inventions reveals something new and unique in Bach's never-ending inventiveness! Many best wishes to you, your students, and your music! 💚💜🎵
Hello Jason, thank you so much for your enthusiastic and thoughtful words! You are welcome, it is my pleasure. Your encouragement for more videos inspires me to continue with this work! Thanks again, and best wishes to you. 🌻
Another great performance and tutorial Sally. Sorry it took me so long to respond but I wanted to tell you how important you are to all of us subscribers as well as those who listen to your channel. Your dedication is always inspiring and heart felt. You’re amazing!!
Hello Jim, it is so nice to hear from you! Thank you for your wonderful words of acknowledgement. I very much appreciate you saying that these videos are inspiring and also come from the heart. 💕 I send many best wishes to you, your family, and of course with your piano playing! 🎹
Hello John, thank you for your kind and appreciated words! You are welcome, it is my pleasure. All the best to you as you explore the wonderful world of Bach!
Dear Sally, I wish you and your family a Happy Easter 2022, mainly health&happiness, as always my warm greetings from Poland to San Francisco, have a Happy Easter! Joanna
Hello Joanna, how lovely to hear from you! I wish you and your family a Happy Easter, and good health and happiness as well. Best wishes to you from San Francisco to Poland. 💕
Sally I don’t know you but I love piano and am self taught // thanks for the history lesson// my grandmother 👵 was a concert pianist (never met her). Your playing is majestic // and emotional 😭 addicting // thanks 🙏 for the history lessons too //
Hello John, thank you so much for letting me know this advise was helpful in how to produce a "snappy" mordent! Best wishes to you and with your playing. 🎵
As always, thanks for exuding the joy in the finer bits of art. Love watching the joy at 46:00, you're almost off the chair 🤗 Correct me if I'm mistaken but I read somewhere that Bach was not impressed by pianos for his music in his time.
Hello Joe, thank you for your kind and beautiful words about this lesson! I really appreciate you commenting about "exuding joy." This piece completely fills me with joy from the opening notes to the end. Yes, I often wonder how Bach felt about the keyboard instruments that were available to him: the clavichord, harpsichord, and the organ. For such an exuberant piece as this, I imagine he drew inspiration from the sounds and capabilities of the organ, perhaps his favorite keyboard instrument and one on which he was a virtuoso.
@@SallyChristianMusic my pleasure. If I can find that link about Bach's opinion of the piano I'll copy it here. The person who wrote it seemed to be informed on the topic, which also surprised me as I think most people would assume Bach would have loved the piano. But I'm guessing if that reference is true, Bach was more interested in articulations and extraordinary composition formulas, which you are excubarantly unearthing in your videos. Thanks again 🤗
@@joeblue6325 Hello Joe, thank you, that would be great if you could find and copy the link here. I would be very interested to read this! Best wishes to you. 🎵
@@SallyChristianMusic hi again, I wasn't able to find the link as I think it was actually in a comment on one of the gazillion Bach RUclips clips I watched over years. But a Google search will yield various scholars opinions and examinations of Bach's opinion on pianos of his time. In one i recently read they noted the difference in modern and the older first pianos.
When I read the score of this invention i was a bit intimidated by the complexity of it - now i feel more confident after watching your tutorial. Thank you!
Hello Chi Tat, I so appreciate seeing your wonderful comment! It is my hope that the tutorials and charts I engrave and use in the lessons will be a tool to make the pieces easier to understand and learn. Thank you for letting me know you feel more confident now to play this joy-filled Invention No. 12. 🎉 With all best wishes to you and your musical journey! 🎵
Thank you very much Lady Sally. I try to play no 14, but... I can't to remember this invention. I don't know why. I was able to remember 1 and 6 but 14 i can't. Thank you very much for beautifully performance :)
Hello Robert, thank you for your kind words about this performance! 🌼 Invention No. 14 can be tricky to track and remember, particularly with the stretto section at the end. You might find it helpful to look at the Color Structural Analysis I made and use in the tutorial video for Invention No. 14. This pdf gives the birds eye view and clearly shows the structure of the piece. The CSA is very useful in seeing the bigger sections and how they function and unfold. Best wishes to you.
@@SallyChristianMusic Thank you very much Lady Sally. You inspire me, although unfortunately I started to learn to play the piano too late. Best wishes 🤗😁
Hey Sally, another great tutorial, thank for posting! Question - is this piece technically a fugue and, if not, why not? It seems to have the elements of a fugue - subjects in tonic/dominant, countersubjects, development etc. I think the B-minor invention is also similar in structure.
Hello Jamie, thank you for your kind and much appreciated words about the tutorials! You are correct that this Invention No. 12 has elements of fugue writing. Invention No. 15 has stronger fugue elements with the alternating Subject entries occuring three times: in the Exposition, mid, and final entries. An even better example of 4-part fugue writing is Sinfonia No. 12 with four Subject entries stated in the Exposition that alternate between the Tonic and Dominant.
I actually have a question about studying the Inventions for a lower-intermediate pianist, and your way of understanding the music made me think of it -- gave me the courage to ask, actually. Can a person learn these well without the more difficult ornaments, and then gradually put them in? Could this be a way into the Inventions, or is this setting oneself up for problems? Or, possibly both? I've been to bashful to ask! I really want to learn this, but am afraid of going down the wrong road.
Hello L.W. Paradis, thank you for your beautiful comment(s) which I so appreciate hearing! 💐You ask an excellent question. Yes, you can certainly learn the piece first without ornaments and then gradually add them later. This is actually a good idea. I am always fascinated when I play an invention without ornaments and then compare the difference it makes with the ornaments. They help to define the character of the piece and give a lovely “bloom” to a single note. This invention with its many longer extended trills, however, will not sound as good without them. As soon as you can add a "measured" trill, the better. I encourage you to play as many of the inventions as you can, and wish you much joy with your playing!
Hello OmnipotentPotato, Thank you for your excellent question. In my experiences playing a wide range of classical repertoire on acoustic pianos, each major and minor key carries with it a unique and inherent frequency spectrum and vibration. Each key resonates a little differently in our bodies and also activates different emotions. To my ears, this Bach A Major Invention No. 12 would sound quite a bit different if it were played down a half step in the key of Ab Major. This might not be as noticeable on an electric keyboard because most digital keyboards are devoid of overtones.
@@SallyChristianMusic oh, so it's due to the overtones, not the fundamental of each note itself. Does that also mean that transposing the piece up or down an octave would also give it a different feel, due to the different overtones? I know that in the Baroque era they didn't use equal temperament and would use just intonation instead, and so each key really would sound a bit different, but this, theoretically, shouldn't be the case in equal temperament. Do you think equal temperament is better, or just intonation? Thanks for the information! And I really enjoy your videos.
@@OmnipresentPotato Thank you for your warm words about the videos. I'm glad you are enjoying them! As far as which tuning is better, my technicians have always used Equal Temperament. Best wishes to you. 🎶
![How to Play Bach | Invention No.13 in A minor [Tutorial]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ohzCZjkjvMc/mqdefault.jpg)
Been working through the two-voice inventions over the past year (with an occasional attempt at a three-voice thrown in), and now I’m on 12, which I’ve saved for last.
I _always_ come to your videos when I start a new “invention project”. It’s so enjoyable to hear these intricate parts played slowly with discussions of their interactions.
Hello derinderruheliegt, thank you so much for your wonderful and appreciated words about these Bach Invention tutorials! You are welcome, it is my pleasure. It is very gratifying to hear that the discussions about the voice dialogues and intricacies is both enjoyable and helpful! With very best wishes to you and with your playing. 🎶
Sally, your Bach invention videos are the best on the internet and I cannot thank you enough for making them. Your contribution is only second to the composition themselves. The videos are the perfect mix of entertainment via your performance and analysis of the piece. -Mark 🎹
Hello Mark, wow, ... I am so grateful to hear your stunning acknowledgements about the content and presentation of these videos. Your thoughtful words move me very much, and encourage and inspire me to continue with this work. Thank you for your generosity of spirit. 🙏 With blessings and best wishes to you on your own musical journey! 🌟🎸
Dear Sally, SO WONDERFUL AS ALWAYS!!!!! Thank you for my favourite Bach in an excellent your rendition and for this great tutorial, your video will be helpful for many pianists, again my warm greetings from Poland to San Francisco, have a happy week. Joanna
Hello Joanna, thank you for your enthusiastic and acknowledging words! I do hope this tutorial will be helpful for many pianists.
With warm and best wishes to you from San Francisco to Poland. 🌼
She is an angel. There is no one in the world like her.
@@l.w.paradis2108 Thank you L.W. Paradis for your very sweet words!
I learn so much from your videos even if I'm not playing the piece the lesson is on. You're truly one of my favorite teachers. Keep it up! Already excited for the next tutorial! 🎹😊
Hello Adam, thank you for your kind and generous comment! I really appreciate hearing that you are enjoying the videos, even if you are not playing the piece I am teaching. Your words mean a great deal to me, and encourage me to continue making these videos! Best wishes to you and with your playing. 🎹
Sally, this is a brilliant video. I get so much out of looking at your charts and taking notes on them as you teach. The detail you provide is available nowhere! The patterns you point out would not be obvious to me, but knowing the patterns enhances self-confidence in being able to play it. At first, I thought I would never be able to play it, but I think --because of your teaching style-- I can handle it. Thank you!
Hello Roger, thank you so much for your enthusiastic and very appreciated words! It is deeply gratifying for me to hear that the lessons and charts are encouraging you to learn pieces you might not otherwise attempt to learn. When we understand the patterns and details of a piece, everything becomes easier to learn. I treasure your acknowledgements, and wish you much joy and fulfillment with your playing!
Thank you sally! What a journey through this fantastic piece I realized during this tutorial that not only are we introduced to the structural analysis but we are forced to actually listen!!!! It’s amazing what is uncovered through listening to the sounds. Ever grateful to you
Hi Gina, thank you for your thoughtful and generous words! I agree, this is a fantastic piece, and is a joy to play once it is learned and "in the fingers." I appreciate you mentioning the importance of really "listening." There are so many hidden patterns one might not hear on a first listening. With Bach in particular, the layers of discoveries and surprises are endless! I hope you will play this invention and also teach it to your more advanced students! 💕
Thanks for this, love all your work Sally
Hello Colin, thank you for your wonderful words, ... I really appreciate your acknowledgement and support of my work! Best wishes to you. 🌼
im 22, i just recently started teaching myself classical piano and I enjoy it so much, i wish i could find a teacher like you !
Hello Lane, thank you for your very nice comment! I do hope you can find a teacher who will guide you well with your piano studies.
I wish you the very best in locating the right teacher for you! 🌼
always a pleasure to hear you bring out the beautiful intricacies of Bach’s music
💕🎵💕
Hello musicalintentions / James! Thank you for your very appreciated words about the "beautiful intricacies" in Bach's music. It never ceases to amaze me how each one of these inventions reveals something new and unique in Bach's never-ending inventiveness! Many best wishes to you, your students, and your music!
💚💜🎵
Set up a personal playlist, Sally Christian Teaches Bach, ages ago. 💕🌹
💕 This is so inspiring to hear, ... thank you! 🎼
Whenever I come back to your lesson, I feel encouraged by your genuine delightfulness. Many thanks as always.
Hello Linda, thank you so much for your lovely, thoughtful, and very appreciated words! 💕You are welcome, it is my pleasure.
Best wishes to you. 🎶
Thank you happy new year
Hello Eydi, thank you! Happy New Year to you as well. 🌻
Fantastic!!
Thank you so much! ⭐I appreciate your enthusiasm!
Best as always! Thank you so much! Expecting more inspiring videos
Hello Jason, thank you so much for your enthusiastic and thoughtful words! You are welcome, it is my pleasure. Your encouragement for more videos inspires me to continue with this work! Thanks again, and best wishes to you. 🌻
Wonderful, as always.
Thank you, Joshua! I always appreciate your kind words! 🌼
Love your take on this Sally
Hello shreddingnotes, thank you for your warm and much appreciated words! Best wishes to you and with your playing. 🎵
Another great performance and tutorial Sally. Sorry it took me so long to respond but I wanted to tell you how important you are to all of us subscribers as well as those who listen to your channel. Your dedication is always inspiring and heart felt. You’re amazing!!
Hello Jim, it is so nice to hear from you! Thank you for your wonderful words of acknowledgement. I very much appreciate you saying that these videos are inspiring and also come from the heart. 💕 I send many best wishes to you, your family, and of course with your piano playing! 🎹
inspiring for the piano hobbyist exploring Bach, thanks for posting.
Hello John, thank you for your kind and appreciated words! You are welcome, it is my pleasure. All the best to you as you explore the wonderful world of Bach!
Dear Sally, I wish you and your family a Happy Easter 2022, mainly health&happiness, as always my warm greetings from Poland to San Francisco, have a Happy Easter! Joanna
Hello Joanna, how lovely to hear from you! I wish you and your family a Happy Easter, and good health and happiness as well. Best wishes to you from San Francisco to Poland. 💕
Sally I don’t know you but I love piano and am self taught // thanks for the history lesson// my grandmother 👵 was a concert pianist (never met her). Your playing is majestic // and emotional 😭 addicting // thanks 🙏 for the history lessons too //
love the advice on how to hit the snappy mordent
Hello John, thank you so much for letting me know this advise was helpful in how to produce a "snappy" mordent! Best wishes to you and with your playing. 🎵
As always, thanks for exuding the joy in the finer bits of art.
Love watching the joy at 46:00, you're almost off the chair 🤗
Correct me if I'm mistaken but I read somewhere that Bach was not impressed by pianos for his music in his time.
Hello Joe, thank you for your kind and beautiful words about this lesson! I really appreciate you commenting about "exuding joy." This piece completely fills me with joy from the opening notes to the end. Yes, I often wonder how Bach felt about the keyboard instruments that were available to him: the clavichord, harpsichord, and the organ. For such an exuberant piece as this, I imagine he drew inspiration from the sounds and capabilities of the organ, perhaps his favorite keyboard instrument and one on which he was a virtuoso.
@@SallyChristianMusic my pleasure.
If I can find that link about Bach's opinion of the piano I'll copy it here. The person who wrote it seemed to be informed on the topic, which also surprised me as I think most people would assume Bach would have loved the piano. But I'm guessing if that reference is true, Bach was more interested in articulations and extraordinary composition formulas, which you are excubarantly unearthing in your videos.
Thanks again 🤗
@@joeblue6325 Hello Joe, thank you, that would be great if you could find and copy the link here. I would be very interested to read this! Best wishes to you. 🎵
@@SallyChristianMusic hi again, I wasn't able to find the link as I think it was actually in a comment on one of the gazillion Bach RUclips clips I watched over years. But a Google search will yield various scholars opinions and examinations of Bach's opinion on pianos of his time. In one i recently read they noted the difference in modern and the older first pianos.
@@joeblue6325 Thank you Joe! This is a huge subject with volumes of writings and opinions about it! 🎵
When I read the score of this invention i was a bit intimidated by the complexity of it - now i feel more confident after watching your tutorial. Thank you!
Hello Chi Tat, I so appreciate seeing your wonderful comment! It is my hope that the tutorials and charts I engrave and use in the lessons will be a tool to make the pieces easier to understand and learn. Thank you for letting me know you feel more confident now to play this joy-filled Invention No. 12. 🎉 With all best wishes to you and your musical journey! 🎵
Thank you very much Lady Sally. I try to play no 14, but... I can't to remember this invention. I don't know why. I was able to remember 1 and 6 but 14 i can't. Thank you very much for beautifully performance :)
Hello Robert, thank you for your kind words about this performance! 🌼 Invention No. 14 can be tricky to track and remember, particularly with the stretto section at the end. You might find it helpful to look at the Color Structural Analysis I made and use in the tutorial video for Invention No. 14. This pdf gives the birds eye view and clearly shows the structure of the piece. The CSA is very useful in seeing the bigger sections and how they function and unfold. Best wishes to you.
@@SallyChristianMusic Thank you very much. I'm going to run to watch it soon. Yours sincerely 😁🌻
@@robertdepiano Excellent! I hope you find it helpful! Very best wishes to you and with your playing. 🌷
@@SallyChristianMusic Thank you very much Lady Sally. You inspire me, although unfortunately I started to learn to play the piano too late. Best wishes 🤗😁
Es un placer escucharla !!!!!GRACIAS
Hola Sandra, muchas gracias por tus maravillosas palabras! Mejores deseos para usted. 🎵
Hey Sally, another great tutorial, thank for posting! Question - is this piece technically a fugue and, if not, why not? It seems to have the elements of a fugue - subjects in tonic/dominant, countersubjects, development etc. I think the B-minor invention is also similar in structure.
Hello Jamie, thank you for your kind and much appreciated words about the tutorials! You are correct that this Invention No. 12 has elements of fugue writing. Invention No. 15 has stronger fugue elements with the alternating Subject entries occuring three times: in the Exposition, mid, and final entries. An even better example of 4-part fugue writing is Sinfonia No. 12 with four Subject entries stated in the Exposition that alternate between the Tonic and Dominant.
I actually have a question about studying the Inventions for a lower-intermediate pianist, and your way of understanding the music made me think of it -- gave me the courage to ask, actually. Can a person learn these well without the more difficult ornaments, and then gradually put them in? Could this be a way into the Inventions, or is this setting oneself up for problems? Or, possibly both? I've been to bashful to ask!
I really want to learn this, but am afraid of going down the wrong road.
Hello L.W. Paradis, thank you for your beautiful comment(s) which I so appreciate hearing! 💐You ask an excellent question. Yes, you can certainly learn the piece first without ornaments and then gradually add them later. This is actually a good idea. I am always fascinated when I play an invention without ornaments and then compare the difference it makes with the ornaments. They help to define the character of the piece and give a lovely “bloom” to a single note. This invention with its many longer extended trills, however, will not sound as good without them. As soon as you can add a "measured" trill, the better. I encourage you to play as many of the inventions as you can, and wish you much joy with your playing!
🙏🙏♥️♥️
Thank you, Ali! 💖 Best wishes to you.
Question after having watched your introduction to the key: Is A major really that different from any other major key?
Hello OmnipotentPotato, Thank you for your excellent question.
In my experiences playing a wide range of classical repertoire on acoustic pianos, each major and minor key carries with it a unique and inherent frequency spectrum and vibration. Each key resonates a little differently in our bodies and also activates different emotions.
To my ears, this Bach A Major Invention No. 12 would sound quite a bit different if it were played down a half step in the key of Ab Major. This might not be as noticeable on an electric keyboard because most digital keyboards are devoid of overtones.
@@SallyChristianMusic oh, so it's due to the overtones, not the fundamental of each note itself. Does that also mean that transposing the piece up or down an octave would also give it a different feel, due to the different overtones?
I know that in the Baroque era they didn't use equal temperament and would use just intonation instead, and so each key really would sound a bit different, but this, theoretically, shouldn't be the case in equal temperament. Do you think equal temperament is better, or just intonation?
Thanks for the information! And I really enjoy your videos.
@@OmnipresentPotato Thank you for your warm words about the videos. I'm glad you are enjoying them!
As far as which tuning is better, my technicians have always used Equal Temperament.
Best wishes to you. 🎶