Musette in D major (BWV Anh. 126)
A musette is a dance that imitates a bagpipe, so the left hand keeps a steady drone of low octaves (mostly D, later A and E) while the right hand twirls a bouncy tune above it.
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 55 seconds, 48 bars
- Hands
- Both hands
- Time and tempo
- 2/4 at about 104 BPM
- Range
- D2 to A5
Background
The musette was a small bagpipe, blown by bellows squeezed under the arm, that became fashionable among the French aristocracy in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Like every bagpipe it had drones, pipes that sound one low note without stopping, and composers borrowed the effect. A musette in keyboard music is a cheerful piece over a bass that keeps returning to the same note, in imitation of those drones.
This one comes from the 1725 notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach. Its composer is unknown. It was once credited to Johann Sebastian Bach and is now listed in the appendix of his catalogue as BWV Anh. 126. Its bright D major tune and bouncing octaves have made it a favourite with young players.
How to practise it
In this arrangement the musette is 48 bars long in 2/4. Bars 1 to 8 are heard twice, as bars 1 to 16; a second section in A major (bars 17 to 28) is repeated as bars 29 to 40. Finally the first eight bars return to finish in D.
The left hand is the bagpipe. For most of the first section it jumps between a low D and the D an octave above in steady eighth notes; later the drone moves to A and then E. Use fingers 5 and 1, let the hand rock from side to side rather than lifting it, and keep the octaves light so they don't drown the tune.
The right hand has two homes: the same five-finger position on D to A, an octave apart. In bars 1 and 2 it plays high, starting on the A above the staff; in bars 3 and 4 it drops down, and the left hand plays the same notes an octave lower.
Practise the moves between them on their own: from the D that ends bar 2 down to the F sharp that starts bar 3, and from the D that ends bar 4 back up to the high A.
The second section brings D sharp and G sharp, which belong to the new key. In bars 21 to 24 the right hand also has a syncopation, a D that starts halfway through a beat and is held over the bar line:
Count "1 & 2 &" aloud: play the D on the second "&" and keep holding it through the next "1". The leaps here are wide (from D sharp down to the lower E, then up to D), so practise them slowly with your eyes on the keys first.
Speed: 52, then 72 and 88, then the full 104 beats a minute. Keep the quarter notes in the tune short and springy; this is a dance for a village green, not a slow procession.
Another piece from the same notebook is the Minuet in G major, BWV Anh. 116.
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Quick tips
- Keep the left-hand octaves light and even like a drone. The opening eight bars come back at the end, so the piece finishes on D, where it began.
- 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 D major every F and C is sharp: play F♯ and C♯, the black keys above F and C.
- Written at about 104 BPM, but start near 62 BPM (60% speed) and speed up only when two clean plays in a row feel easy. Count 1-2 in a steady, marching pulse.
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).