Invention No. 1 in C major

About this piece

Bach wrote the Inventions to teach playing two independent lines. The whole piece grows from the short idea in bar 1 (C D E F D E C), which passes back and forth between the hands and is sometimes turned upside down. Practice each hand alone, then put them together slowly.

What it practices

• two independent hands
• counterpoint
• sixteenth notes
• a theme turned upside down

Where the notes come from

Mutopia Project edition (Jeff Covey, from the Bach-Gesellschaft edition; the typesetting is CC BY-SA 3.0, the music public domain), compared with this file note by note by our checking script. The trills and mordents in that edition are left out.

How to practice with it

1. Listen first. Press Play and follow the moving line with your eyes. The lit notes and keys show what sounds right now: blue is the right hand, orange the left.
2. Slow it down. Use − and + to set the tempo. 60% is a good place to start.
3. One hand at a time. Choose Right or Left, learn that hand, then put them together.
4. Wait for me. Turn it on and press Start. The lit keys show what to play, and the music waits until you play them, on the screen, on your computer keyboard or on a MIDI keyboard.
5. Loop the hard part. Turn on Loop, pick the bars, and play them a few times in a row.

Click a bar in the music to start from there. Space plays and pauses. The computer keys A S D F G H J K play C D E F G A B C (press ⌨ Computer keys under the music to see them on the piano).