Minuet in G major

About this piece

One of the best-known first pieces. It comes from Anna Magdalena Bach’s music notebook of 1725, and today it is credited to Christian Petzold. Each half is played twice. Keep the quarter notes even and the eighth notes smooth, and let the left hand move calmly underneath.

What it practices

• 3/4 time
• G major (key signature: one sharp)
• moving the hand along a scale
• repeats

Where the notes come from

Mutopia Project edition of BWV Anh. 114 (entered by Allen Garvin from the Bach-Gesellschaft edition; public domain), compared with this file note by note by our checking script. The ornaments in that edition (mordents, a trill and a grace note) are left out. Attribution from Wikipedia.

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).