Minuet in G major (BWV Anh. 116)
Another bright G major minuet from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, with quick eighth-note flourishes in the right hand and a left hand that dances along.
About this easy piano piece
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
- Level
- Easy · Stage 3: Little Classics
- Difficulty
- 3.8 on Pianuvo’s scale (1 is your first notes, about 9 is Debussy)
- Length
- about 65 seconds, 40 bars
- Hands
- Both hands
- Time and tempo
- 3/4 at about 112 BPM
- Range
- D2 to A5
Background
Anna Magdalena Wilcke was a professional singer when she married Johann Sebastian Bach in 1721. In 1725 he gave her a bound notebook, and over the following years it filled up with music written in several hands: two of Bach's own keyboard partitas, songs and arias, and many short dances for the family to play and learn from.
This minuet is one of those dances. It was long printed as Bach's and is listed in an appendix of his catalogue as BWV Anh. 116, but its composer is still unknown. The same notebook contains the two better-known minuets by Christian Petzold, in G major and G minor.
Its tune is built almost entirely from the chord and scale of G major, a good way to get to know the key.
How to practise it
This arrangement is 40 bars in 3/4. The first half, 16 bars, ends in G. The second half, 24 bars, passes through E minor and D major before the opening tune comes back.
Bar 1 starts with a G major chord broken upwards over an octave, followed by a leap down to A and up again to F sharp. Lay the hand over the chord first: thumb on G, then fingers 2, 3 and 5 on B, D and G. For the A and F sharp, use 1 and 4.
The drop from the high G to the low ones in bar 2 is a whole octave; look once, then trust the distance. Bars 3 and 4 repeat it exactly.
The left hand mixes held notes with broken chords. In bar 2 it spreads the G chord out in eighth notes, up to the thumb and back:
Two places squeeze a quick three-note run into one beat: A, B and C at the start of bar 15, and F sharp, G and A at the start of bar 23. Play each as a triplet, three even notes to the beat, and give them room rather than crushing them.
In the second half, watch for D sharp in bars 17 to 24, which takes the music into E minor. In bars 29 and 30 the left hand rocks between two notes above a D while the right hand repeats low Ds.
How to put it together:
- Right hand alone, one eight-bar phrase at a time, at 56 beats a minute.
- Left hand alone for the same phrases.
- Hands together, phrase by phrase.
- Raise the speed through 76 and 96 to the full 112.
Feel one strong beat in each bar, with beats 2 and 3 lighter, and keep the eighth notes smooth and even.
The sharps, scales and G major unit uses this minuet for listening, with an ear on the F sharp that makes G major sound bright.
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Quick tips
- Learn the right hand first, then add the left hand one phrase at a time.
- It covers a wide D2 to A5, so look ahead for the big moves and keep your arms relaxed. Both hands play: learn each hand on its own first, then put them together slowly. In G major every F is sharp: play F♯, the black key just above F.
- Written at about 112 BPM, but start near 73 BPM (65% speed) and speed up only when two clean plays in a row feel easy. Count 1-2-3 with a gentle lean on beat 1, like a waltz.
In the Academy
Not yet part of the Academy course. You can still play it any time from the song path. See the Academy course outline for what Year 1 covers.
More songs to try
Source. The music is in the public domain. This version is from Mutopia Project, released as Public Domain (source page).