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I need a good fingering ...

Contratrombone64

Admiral of Fugues
Bach's sublime BWV 548b, Prelude and Fugue in E minor, the Wedge.

In particular, advice about bar 6's fingering is needed as I'm stumbling finding something comfortable, any ideas Lars, Matt, Frederik??

thanks

David
 

Stoda

New member
Unfortunately I'm unable to edit this PDF and its too late to print and scan! I'll try to send my penciled in fingerings for m. 5-13 tommorrow..

As for bar 6... I'm inclined to take the B-A-G-A (1 on the last A will allow you to reach the C below with 4) in the alto with the left (the quarter note E is expectedly shortened in value anyhow).. as well as the alto F# on beat 1 of m.7. Make sure to take the alto G in the beginning of bar 6 with the right thumb and on the repeated soprano B make the switch to 2 (you'll likely have been hanging onto the B with 5 before this). On the held E in the soprano..substitute 5 for 2..which will allow you to take the final two notes of the bar with 1-4 and 2-5 (thank goodness the left hand has that F# covered right? :D).

Anyhow...I hope to get it to you soon!

Stephen
 

Soubasse

New member
That's pretty much exactly what I would have suggested except for the silent finger change from 2 to 5 on the sustained soprano E. I'd be inclined to keep the 5th finger on the E then jump to the next F# with 2nd finger thereby affecting a very slight articulation break just before the 2nd semiquaver (which is how I'd play all of those figures) but that's just my interpretation and as such, is far from infallible!

(Choice thread title David! :lol: :lol:)
 

teddy

Duckmeister
Bach's sublime BWV 548b, Prelude and Fugue in E minor, the Wedge.

In particular, advice about bar 6's fingering is needed as I'm stumbling finding something comfortable, any ideas Lars, Matt, Frederik??

thanks

David

Wish I could help...

teddy
 

Contratrombone64

Admiral of Fugues
My solution to bar six, after playing this whole page for an hour today, is to play the G and E together in the left hand and then reintroduce the lower line in the right hand at the b semi quaver.
 

Contratrombone64

Admiral of Fugues
(Choice thread title David! :lol: :lol:)

Yes, I kind of thought someone with their mind in the gutter would have a snigger at my expense (and well deserved, too!). Funny, how if one talks about tricky fingerings or difficult fingerings anyone BUT a musician would collapse in laughter ...
 

teddy

Duckmeister
I had this problem when sailing. You dare not talk about picking up bouys unless you were with similarly minded people.

teddy
 

Krummhorn

Administrator
Staff member
ADMINISTRATOR
. . . (Choice thread title David! :lol: :lol:)

Yes, I kind of thought someone with their mind in the gutter would have a snigger at my expense . . . anyone BUT a musician would collapse in laughter ...

I had this problem when sailing. You dare not talk about picking up bouys unless you were with similarly minded people.
teddy

Thanks for the humor this morning ... you just made my day :)

:lol::lol:
 

Stoda

New member
That's pretty much exactly what I would have suggested except for the silent finger change from 2 to 5 on the sustained soprano E. I'd be inclined to keep the 5th finger on the E then jump to the next F# with 2nd finger thereby affecting a very slight articulation break just before the 2nd semiquaver (which is how I'd play all of those figures) but that's just my interpretation and as such, is far from infallible!

(Choice thread title David! :lol: :lol:)

I see the merit in that interpretation :)

I like using the substitution so i have time to reach the alto B and C in the right hand without stumbling.
 
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Stoda

New member
Yes, taking the G of m.6 in the left is also a good option :D (if you practice that leap haha).

Here's what I worked out for m.5-13...hope its helpful!

Stephen
 

Dorsetmike

Member
[tongue in cheek mode] another way would be to make a MIDI record of the awkward bits and play it back at the appropriate moment.[/tongue in cheek off]

I do that with the complete piece, never have any fingering problems, albeit the pieces do lack a bit of expression ;)
 

Contratrombone64

Admiral of Fugues
Yes, taking the G of m.6 in the left is also a good option :D (if you practice that leap haha).

Here's what I worked out for m.5-13...hope its helpful!

Stephen

Hey Stephen, yes, very helpful and I notice you used the left hand in places where the right hand is suggested (I say this loosely as Bach had no interest in anything but polyphonic music and fingerings to him would have been a technical matter). I basically sorted this out with your suggestions.

It's a fabulous prelude which I love to bits, am enjoying the tedious process of learning it. I have to take things a couple of bars at a time slowly and slowly build up the tempo, but when the music is just so good it's not a problem.

I'd sure like to hear Matt's (Soubasse) or Lars' (Krummhorn) interpretation of this masterpiece one day (hint hint hint).
 

wljmrbill

Member
I'll drink to that request David. I do like the suggested fingering that Stephen has worked out.. similiar to what I tried last night after reading this post.. Good Luck David
 

Contratrombone64

Admiral of Fugues
Bill - yes, I'm a firm believe in trying to find a comfortable solution to a technical issue, however, it's often good to find others coming to the same conclusion.

David
 

Stoda

New member
Absolutely CT... Working out fingering is one of my favorite parts of the learning process. It might be fun to start a "puzzle" kind of thread for challenging fingering situations we come across haha... Like a daily crossword?
 

JONESEY

New member
Yes, I kind of thought someone with their mind in the gutter would have a snigger at my expense (and well deserved, too!). Funny, how if one talks about tricky fingerings or difficult fingerings anyone BUT a musician would collapse in laughter ...



... I nearly replied soooo many times but thought, no ...
Fair play to Soubasse :grin:
 

Soubasse

New member
... I nearly replied soooo many times but thought, no ...
Fair play to Soubasse :grin:

Now now - all I said was "Choice thread title" it could have meant anything! (not! :grin::grin:). My mind is not normally in those areas, but there happened to be some stupid US sitcom on the TV in the background (because I didn't have the remote and my wife forgot to change the channel) when I first read the thread, and the innuendo-ridden subject matter (unusual for a US comedy) filtering into my ears was similarly based in sundry unsavoury comments upon the nether regions.

I think teddy wins though with the stuff about "going sailing and picking up bouys" - brilliant! :lol:

To steer back on topic, the issue of working out an effective fingering for certain keyboard parts took on a slightly different light many years ago. According to some players of early music, there was evidence to suggest that the thumb was rarely used in certain types of harpsichord/organ music which does provide a different view on how certain phrases and figures would have been played. I think it had something to do with the different keyboard lengths, ie, the fact that some early organs and harpsichords had a shorter keys than today's standard. I remember going to a concert of early music and seeing the harpsichordist turn her hand 90 degress, then literally "run" down the keyboard with the 2nd and 3rd fingers!
 
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