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Securing a Fast Passage

The other day I was practising Chopin’s 3rd Scherzo, a piece I have played regularly over the years. Because I

haven’t touched it in a while, I found it needed a bit of dusting off and soe cobwebs reoving before I could get

it bac! into shape and find the spar!le and security it needs for perforance.

The obvious thing was to go bac! to soe slow practice, and this is great of course. But because slow practice is

only part of the story, I decided to wor! on the coda "fro Tepo # below$ by i%ing up slow practice with up&to&

speed playing. I’ll e%plain in a oent how this wor!s.

'ith e%tended fast passages such as this coda, it’s not (ust finger control we need but of also control of rhythm.

It’s so iportant to !now, and to feel, where the first beats of each bar coe ) even if we don’t want to end up

ephasising or accenting the as such. In usic in fast triple tie, we often feel each bar as one beat of a larger 

*&bar unit. 'e can of course count it +13, 13, 13, 13-, etc. "fine at slower tepos$ but at speed it is ore

natural to feel +1 "3$, 2 "3$, 3 "3$, 4 "3$ or "ore siply$ +1 2 3 4+.

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/ere are the stages I recoend0

#. 1t a slow speed, count aloud each crotchet "2uarter note$ beat, ephasising the first beats.

. 1t a medium speed, count aloud the first beats of each bar according to the longer phrase structure "+1 2

3 4+$, ephasising the #s.

3. 'hen this is easy, begin alternating two tepos ) fast and half speed ) in a controlled and ethodical

way. Be ultra&precise about the change fro one tepo to the other, this needs to happen without any

fubling or loss of control whatever. se a etronoe if this helps you.

• 4ne bar fast, the ne%t bar half that speed "2uavers becoe crotchets$.

• 4nce this is cofortable, reverse it so that you start with the slow bar "one bar half speed, the ne%t bar

fast, etc.$

• Two bars fast, two bars at half that speed "and then the reverse$

• 5our bars, etc.

6lay the fast bar"s$ lightly, the slow bars ore firly and deliberately.

There are two ain benefits to practising this way0

•  1s you change fro one tepo to the other, you are deliberately challenging and interrupting "and

thereby strengthening$ otor s!ills.

• 7eep learning tends to happen when the ind is focussed and engaged in what we are doing. This type

of practice deands our full concentration ) we won’t be able to daydrea.

 1part fro reviving old pieces, this process will wor! for any suitable piece you !now well. I don’t recoend it

for the note&learning stage but use it when you want to build up speed, endurance and control. 1s with everything

we do at the piano, a!e sure it feels and sounds good.

I’ll leave you with the agisterial 1rtur 8ubinstein playing the wor! fro a live studio recording "the coda begins

at 90*$ https0::www.youtube.co:watch;v<'w8B612t=>o 

For advice on using accents and different rhythms in practice, follow this link to my post On Passagework 

4n 6assagewor!

There are innuerable e%aples in the piano repertoire of what is coonly !nown as +passagewor!, a string

of fast notes that lasts either a few bars, a whole section, or an entire piece. The function of this passagewor!

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ay be decoratively elodic "rather li!e the singer’s coloratura$, but is ost often associated with bravura

display.

>ven though I don’t really li!e the ter, let’s stic! with it as we all !now what we ean by it. It is hardest to bring

off at either e%tree of the dynaic spectru, loud or soft, but I thin! the difficulties are copounded by the

saeness of the rhythic value. If the passage were interspersed with slower or faster note values, this would

act as terrain in an otherwise flatter landscape. >%tended passages played fast and loud, or fast and soft,

deand considerable control.

I thin! iediately of two opposite e%aples fro Chopin, the finale of the 5uneral ?arch Sonata "fast and soft,

the difficulties copounded a hundredfold because both hands are in unison for the entire oveent$0

and the 6relude in B flat inor "the right hand would be hard enough, but Chopin adds insult to in(ury with the left

hand leaps$0

 1s a guiding principle, the finger plays fro the surface of the !ey and releases to the surface "and not a

s2uilieter higher$. The e%ception to this is martellato or when the passage "or eleents of it$ is controlled by

forear rotation. 'hile theend result is that the fingers should be e%treely close to the !eys ) in contact with

the !ey surface ) the practising dictates that we ight regularly and deliberately use a raised finger.

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In the central nervous syste, reciprocal relations e%ist between fle%ors "bending uscles$ and e%tensors

"straightening uscles$. The intense e%citation of fle%ors will call forth intense inhibition of e%tensors, and vice versa.

Since the inhibitory process is wea!er than the process of e%citation, a slight raising of the fingers "intense e%citation of

e%tensors$ before their descent into the !eys appears to be a valuable eans for strengthening wea! inhibition of

fle%ors. The tendency to rush, to accelerate passages is observed ostly aong students who are not used to raising

their fingers while practicing. @ow we see one ore reason for the re2uireent of raising fingers in slow

 practicing. "Aeorge =ochevits!y0 The Art of Piano Playing , p. $

This will have been passed down to all of us in one for or other, it’s one of those things that piano teachers tell

their students. 1nd yet, in the #st century, piano pedagogues are generally loo!ing to counteract the shadow

side of raised finger playing ) tendonitis, 8SI, and so on ) the shadow side of THAT being +no fingers and a

wea! and insipid sound. I a convinced a happy ediu is possible here.

oo!ing at the pictures in those old ethod boo!s of a finger raised in that croo!ed way a!es e cringe, this is

surely as tension&producing as a deep&fried ?ars bar is calorific, but any pianists were trained in this way "it

often a!es e wonder how any of the great pianists succeeded despite their training, rather than because of

it$. If we are going to raise our fingers, there is an alternative way that is uch ore natural "concoitant with the

body’s echanics, rather than opposed to the$. 'e lift the finger straight "naturally rather than ilitarily so$ and

bring it down curved. "It goes without saying that the result will be 47D 1s any piano student will be able to tell

you, the faster the !ey speed, the louder the sound.$ This was the ethod preferred by at least two of the great

piano teachers in the odern age, ?aria Curcio and 1dele ?arcus. 'e need to a!e sure that finger raises as

independently as possible fro the other fingers. Thus, if we are preparing the nd finger to play fro a raised

position, thub, 3, * and pin!y reain "ideally$ on their respective !eys, or at !ey surface.

The secret is to release effort instantaneously, the oent we feel the !ey bed. This lightning&fast reaction

needs to be developed early on, and the principle of effort&release is the cornerstone of an advanced piano

techni2ue. i!e any otor s!ill, it first needs to be very conscious before being relegated to the status of refle%.

 1s fast as the photographer’s flashgun, it is over as soon as it has startedE release follows effort in the blin! of an

eye. I li!e to train this by having the student play the passage 2uite e%traordinarily slowly, where the sei2uaver

of the passage in 2uestion is entally e%panded into a seibreve. The uscular e%penditure happens on the first

crotchet beat, the reaining three beats having to do with consciously releasing all effort in the hand, ar and

body, sensing the iniu re2uireent needed to hold the !ey"s$ ) very often the natural weight of the finger"s$

in e2uilibriu with the rest of the body. I devote a whole three beats to this so we can coand this state of

affairs as well as relish the physical sensations and en(oy the feeling of control over our body and the instruent.

In the ensuing stages we shorten the aount of tie allowed for the effort to a seiheideisei2uaver

"apologies to y 1erican readers, I uch prefer the logic of your syste$ which will, hopefully, ean that our

recovery tie can be shortened as well.

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The whole point of this is to ai to send each !ey down e%treely fast, with a range of otion deliberately in

e%cess of what we are going to use. The tepo is very slow, yet the speed "of finger, of !ey, of ind$ very fast.

'e need to content ourselves with doing this for a while, over the course of a few days.

@e%t coes the process not of doing this increentally faster as coon sense ight dictate "although this is a

ploy open to us also$, but of grouping the notes fro atos to olecules to cells. /ere is where the traditional

approach to practising in rhyths coes in. Thin! about it ) a dotted rhyth e2uates to two notes played fast,

each pair separated by a long note. If, during this long note, we can consciously coand the effort:release

principle our results will be infinitely greater than if we had anaged a perfunctory and echanical +dah de&dah

de&dah, etc., with the ind soewhere else. Thus the +effort part of the e2uation coprises two notes, but y

gripe is that people ignore the +release, probably because seeingly nothing happens on it. 7o not assue that

pausing on a note and lu%uriating in the sensations of uscular and ental looseness e2uates to sloth. Instead

of the usual dotted 2uaver&sei2uaver dotted rhyth, I prefer to start this ball rolling with double dotted crotchet&

sei2uaver0

5ro a cell of two 2uic! notes, you can progress to three 2uic! notes, one paused note and so on. 1s I outlined in

y previous post on this "related$ sub(ect, thin! of a note with a fermata prefaced by an acciaccatura "then with

two acciaccaturas, then three, etc.$0

Accents

 1nother way of practising is to play evenly in tie, but placing accents on the ain beats. Thus, in a passage in

sei2uavers in coon tie, we can firstly accent every other note, then the first note of every beat, then everyhalf bar, then every bar, etc., gradually filleting these out until we play with none.

Finger Staccato

It is great practice to ta!e each note of the passage and play it as staccato as possible, fro the fingertip with no

involveent of the ar "this is a pulling or flic!ing otion of the finger towards the pal of the hand$. The tepo

can be very slow, but the !ey speed will be e%treely fast. I recoend this wholeheartedly as a suppleent to

the above.

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Silent Practice7 The Art of 'nner Listening

Soewhat reluctantly, I have (ust sold on y Firgil 6ractice Clavier , having watched it gather dust and ta!e up

space for the past few years. 5or those of you too young to reeber Goseph Cooper’s duy !eyboard on the

BBC panel show +5ace The ?usic, a Firgil is a practice piano with ad(ustable sprung and weighted !eys, and

the only sounds it is capable of producing are clic!s as the !eys go down, and:or clic!s as the !eys coe up "you

can select the up&clic!, the down&clic!, both clic!s or neither$. If you turn the spring to its a%iu, you get a !ey

resistance that would challenge even 6opeye on spinach day, or you can set it to an effortless +light "and with all

degrees in between$. The clic!s are supposed to indicate rhythic accuracy, or "if you have both up and down

clic!s switched on$ how precise your legato is "if the up&clic! and the ne%t down&clic! coincide, then you will have

ade a te%tboo! !ey connection$. 6anelists on the show would have to guess what piece was being played (ust

fro the rhyth of the clic!s "the audience at hoe helped along by a soundtrac! that would fade in after a

while$.

SI>@T 681CTIC> @4. #

7ue to force of circustance, I once had to learn a substantial recital prograe of usic for cello and piano"including the Chopin Sonata$ on one of these devices. I was staying soewhere with no piano, and this portable

contraption could be oved into y roo easily by two people. To y surprise, I found the wor! very congenialD I

was able to hear in y head the sounds y fingers would have been a!ing, and in soe ways this ade e

listen ore. I was never troubled by hearing any wrong notes, and I wasn’t preoccupied with tone, balance and

sound in the way that ost of us pianists are ost of the tie. I could iagine the perfect sound in y inner ear

and never have this disturbed. I had the odd oent on an anti2ue and uch&battered Broadwood in the local

church once or twice a wee! so I could actually hear the fruits of y labour, then it was off to 5rance to rehearse

and play the concerts. >verything cae out better than I anticipated, and I a convinced the Firgil helped a!e a

virtue of a necessity.

SI>@T 681CTIC> @4.

Soe years later, on y onthly trips to @ew Hor!, I would get up soe tie before y host and because it was

too early to a!e any noise, I discovered I could put in a couple of hours of 8>1H profitable practice on the

surface of the !eyboard. I didn’t realise how useful this was until it was 4= to a!e sounds and I discovered y

hands were incredibly loose and well wared up, and y fingers very uch in control. ?ore so, actually, than if I

had spent those two hours practising norally. In y post on practising softly, I discuss the greater control

needed to send the !ey down slowly fro the surface to the !ey bed, observing that it is uch ore s!illful to

play pianissimo than fortissimo. To cause a !ey not to spea! at all is actually 2uite difficult, because you have to

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inhibit the full range of the !eystro!e with every single note you touch. 1s in the duy !eyboard wor!, you can

hear the usic internally and you becoe very sensitive to the feeling of the fingers on the !eyboard and the

lightness of the ar. If a finger should be veering off course fro dead centre of the !ey to the crac!s in between

the !eys, you feel this ore acutely too. 6ractising li!e this ta!es an awful lot of self control, and you have learn

to delay gratification, but I coend it to you ne%t tie you want to practise in the iddle of the night.

SI>@T 681CTIC> @4. 3

'hen I was a student, I had teachers who e%tolled the virtues of silent practice, the sort where you sit with the

score and study the structure, the haronies, and so on, in your head. In those years I was reluctant to consider

this a part of y practising ) I’d do it, but on the train. @ow, I thin! it is copletely indispensable. 'ithout a

thorough understanding of the coposer’s structure and essage, how are the fingers supposed to !now what to

do; The ind has to be one step ahead of the hand, always. I’ve discussed this in depth in a previous post

"along with Aina Bachauer’s 2uote$ so I won’t bang on about it again here, but the good news for those still not

sold on the idea is that scientists now !now that inwardly hearing a score, and iagining the fingers e%ecuting

their tas!s 1CT1H ST18TS T/> 684C>SS 45 548?I@A @>81 61T/'1HSD

5or the sa!e of copletion, here are two ore practising suggestions that see to belong here0

SI>@T 681CTIC> @4. *

?I?I@A0 The act of deliberately preventing !eys fro spea!ing either by touching the surface of the !ey or by

depressing it partially. This can be done for ear& or finger training purposes. Soe e%aples0

• 6lay one hand as written while iing the other. This is beneficial in a different way fro erely playing

the one hand alone because you are usingnearly all the uscles and refle%es of the two&handed version

"i.e. it is not so far off the whole neurological picture$. This will reveal all the warts, bleishes and

inaccuracies that ight be being covered up when both hands are sounding their notes. This is especially

good when you really want to hear how controlled the / actually is, since it is the hand we are not

usually listening to actively. >%pect a few surprises when you try this for the first tieD

• 6lay the top part in a chord strea while iing the lower notes, or play the elody line while iing the

accopanient. This develops independence of the fingers better than anything else. It is useful to play

the top first by itself "with no uscular reference to anything else$ before adding the ie, aiing to

achieve e%actly the sae sound "this is not easy$.

• ?ie one selected voice in a fugue while playing the others "e%traordinarily challenging$.

SI>@T 681CTIC> @4.

61HI@A 4@ T/> 51B41870 The act of leaving greasy fingerprints all over the fallboard in a good cause.

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If I a trying to get across a particular choreography to a student who is self conscious about teporarily

sacrificing note accuracy during the process of learning these unfailiar oveents, I will close the piano and

have the get the general gist of it in a situation where you can’t play any wrong notes ) on the fallboard "a table

would do too$. The fine otor s!ills involved in achieving the precise version on the !eyboard are not called for

here, which allows the grosser otions to be practised first.

The aro8ue #rte9t Score 0367 Articulation

 1rticulation in usic is understood to ean the way notes are connected or grouped ) this involves accentuation

and, to soe e%tent, rhythic inflection. 'hile 5ranJois Couperin was an obsessive control frea! in this regard, it

was only fro Beethoven onwards that coposers routinely ar!ed articulations into the score. 4pen a score of

Beethoven and you will see at a glance how he wanted the usic to be articulated. Hou will find a few dots and

slurs in Bach’s !eyboard usic, but for the ost part we have to a!e our own decisions.

/ow; 4n what basis do we decide; I don’t thin! this can be done cosetically, by which I ean I don’t thin! we

can add slurs and staccatos willy&nilly "+4h, I haven’t had a staccato for a while, better stic! one in on this note$.

The articulation should enhance phrasing, help pro(ect rhyth and show the design features of the theatic

aterial.

The long legato line is a #Kth century concept ) #Lth century phrasing was based ore on the articulation of

shorter units, at the discretion of the player. ong legato lines are (ust as out of place "and boring$ as

long staccato ones, and the still&prevalent idea that 2uavers in baro2ue usic should be detached is (ust not

correct.

@ow for soe e%aples. The first is the sub(ect fro Bach’s B flat a(or Invention, for which I have given three

possible articulations "scribbled, soewhat clusily, one on top of the other ) clic! on the iage to enlarge$.

There will be other possibilities, but these were the first that occurred to e0

I would say it is iportant to stic! with the sae articulation in the second half of the bar as you use for the first

half, because the second half is an inversion of the first half "it is therefore the sae usic, to be treated the

sae$. @otice that all three articulations put a staccato dot on the first 7 of the third beat "and the first note of the

second bar, etc.$ because it stri!es e as a priority to clarify the two phrases, the original and its inversion, by

separating the. In the upperost articulation, I would a!e the tiniest of brea!s at the phrase ends, with the

finger and certainly without lifting the ar. This will have the effect of introducing a consonant after the brea!

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"such as +ta&la&la&la$ and shows the ain beats. The second articulation, with the slur and two staccatos on the

sei2uaver groups adds a spring to the step, if you want it soewhat bouncy, whereas the lowest e%aple "note

the tenuto ar!s rather than staccato on the sei2uaver groups$ would sing ore.

In y second e%aple, I include y articulation for the sub(ect fro the Aigue fro the A a(or 5rench Suite.

The two short slurs are for rhythic pro(ection, and the longer one at the end is for a elodic oent as the

notes now ove by step0

?y feeling about an articulation, once settled on based on the structure of the otive or the sub(ect, is that it

should be articulated identically wherever it appears. This is because the various sub(ects or otives are building

bloc!s and aintaining their integrity sees ore iportant than the actual articulation itself "given that there is a

wide variety of possibilities$. The analogy that springs to ind is of an architect who has designed windows in the

facade of a building, each with a surround of tiles that are separate fro the bric!wor!. 'hether they are

terracotta or slate, s2uare, oblong or isosceles trapezoid is iaterial ) the only andate is that these tiles

atch each other "the actual choice left to the good taste and (udgeent of the pro(ect anager, within reason$.

T"#H

The harpsichordist’s control of touch is second to none. It ranges fro subtle use of legatissimo "overholding$ to

varying degrees of separation "although the very short staccato is avoided as a rule$.

In a series of li!e note values, I ight prefer to show that the first of each group is iportant "soehow stressed$,

therefore I could either linger longer on it "an agogic stress$ or slur it to the ne%t note, or group of notes. Thus, for

a sooth, elodic articulation I ight siply a!e the tiniest separation between the last note of one group and

the first of the ne%t group. 5or a ore rhythically sprung articulation, I could slur the first note to the ne%t, then

play the reaining notes in the group detached.

Soe definitions0

• Legato0 1 vanilla legato is where the previous finger releases the !ey as the ne%t one is being put down.

• Legatissimo0 The previous finger releases the !ey only after  the ne%t one has been put down. Therefore

the two tones overlap, and there is a brief oent where they are sounding together. /owever, the ear

will not perceive this as disssonance, because the overlap doesn’t last long enough. 'e hear it rather as

a blending of the two tones as the attac! of the second one is as!ed by the renants of the first. It is

even possible to overlap a series of notes, !nown as finger pedalling. In a haronic conte%t this is

perhaps ore obvious, as we are controlling selected dapers by eans of the finger rather than by

eans of the foot "in conventional use of the sustaining pedal$. If done s!illfully, this can be done in scale

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passages, as long as the offending tones are released before the ear has had a chance to perceive the

effect as dissonant, which would obviously be offensive.

7egrees of separation "percentages are obviously appro%iate, to give the general idea$0

•

staccato0 "bog standard$ MN sound:MN silence

• staccatissimo0 :

• mezzo staccato :

• tenutoportamento0 KM:#M

 1s a general rule, the greater the separation before a note, the greater the sense of accent. Instead of a generic

slur, the gap can be alost iperceptible.

.E)E&AL .#'*EL')ES

• Separate before a syncopation

• 6atterns of notes in con(unct otion tend to be ore legato, dis(unct otion less legato.

• The larger the interval, the greater the separation

• In dotted rhyths in sharply rhythical pieces, the dot ay becoe a rest.

This post doesn’t feel 2uite finished "no surprise ) this is a vast sub(ectD$. I thin! I will revisit it as new thoughts

coe to e. 1s ever, feel free to add your own in the coents section.

F"& F#&THE& &EA*').

8ichard Troeger0 6laying Bach 4n The =eyboard "6opton 6lains, @GE Cabridge0 1adeus, MM3$.

Anatomy of a FUGUE

http://www2.nau.edu/tas3/fugueanatomy.html 

Anatomy of a Fugue

Visit the Fugues of the Well-Tempered Clavier (Flash or  Shockwave), where all of the

techniues discussed on this page are illustrated in interactive h!permedia"

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I. Denition of a Fugue

Polyphonic procedure inoling a speci!ed num"er of oices in which a

motie #su"$ect% is e&posed' in each oice' in an initial tonic/dominant

relationship' then deeloped "y contrapuntal means.

II. "Form" of a Fugue

# fugue generall! consists of a series of e$positions and developments with no fi$ed num%er of

either" #t its simplest, a fugue might consist of one e$position followed %! optional development"

# more comple$ fugue might follow the e$position with a series of developments, or another

e$position followed %! one or more developments" Fugues that are tonall! centered will e$pose

the su%&ect without venturing out of an initial tonic'dominant constellation" ecause its outline is

so varia%le, it is prefera%le to speak of the fugue as a process rather than form per se"

III. The fugal purpose, method, character, and essenceefore form, the fugue is metaphorical* its  purpose is to reveal connections %etween seemingl!

unlike things" +ts method  is to develop an idea in never precisel! the same wa!" +ts character  is

to demonstrate relationships, unveiled %oth in terms of new ideas %orn of old, %ut also in

counterpoint with the old" The fugal essence is e$perienced in discover! of the new to %e of the

stame stuff as the old"

IV. Parts of a Fugue

A. Main Idea of the Fugue and o! It Is tated 

(. u#$ect% )elody that comprises the primary melodic/rhythmic materialof the fugue. *u"$ects typically hae two parts: the +head+ is calculatedto attract attention either "y unusual rhythmic or interallic emphasis'while the +tail+ is typically more con$unct' rhythmically uniform' andsometimes modulatory. ,he head and/or tail itself may employ ariationof one or two smaller moties or !gures...each comprised of acharacteristic rhythm and/or interal.

2. Ans!er% *u"$ect imitation which immediately follows the !rststatement of the su"$ect: in a di-erent oice and usually !fth higher.Answers are a su"class of su"$ects which "ear certain interalcharacteristics in relationship to the su"$ect as it was originally stated.

o Tonal Ans!er% An answer that typically #though not always% stays

in the same ey as the su"$ect. ,o do this it is necessary for theinterals of the su"$ect to change somewhat. n a tonal answer+do+ and +sol+ switch places: ,he position occupied "y +do'+ in thesu"$ect' "ecomes +sol+ in the answer and ice ersa. Analytical

technique: Subjects having many skips (disjunct) that focus uponthe tonic and dominant scale degrees lend themselves to a tonalanswer.

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o &eal Ans!er% An answer that is a transposition of the su"$ect to

another ey' usually the dominant. Analytical technique: Subjectshaving mostly steps (conjunct) that dont focus upon !do! and!sol! lend themselves to a real answer.

3. 'ountersu#$ect% *u"stantie !gure that sometimes recurs

immediately following the su"$ect or answer #in the same oice%.0ountersu"$ects sere as counterpoint to su"$ects #or answers%sounding simultaneously in a di-erent oice. 1ot eery fugue will haea countersu"$ect. *ome fugues may hae more than onecountersu"$ect.

. False u#$ect% *ome people use the term +false su"$ect+ to descri"ean entry of the su"$ect #or answer% that "egins "ut neer !nishes. ,histerm should "e resered for instances where the su"$ect appears to

enter' "reas o-' then follows immediately with a complete statement.)ost other instances of incomplete su"$ects are deelopmental andshould "e termed +imitation.+

(. Main ections of the Fugue

(. )*position% Portion#s% of the fugue consisting of su"$ect#s% with at leastone answer' and possi"ly countersu"$ect#s%. ,o ualify as an e&position'the su"$ect #or answer% must appear in all oices and answers must "ein the proper relationship #tonal or real% to su"$ects. ,he e&position

normally concludes immediately after the su"$ect #or answer% appearsin the last oice. E&positions may defer the cadence until aftera codetta. 4i-erentiation "etween e&position su"types is "ased uponthe order in which oices enter #as compared to the !rst e&position% andwhether or not the su"$ect has changed.

o &e+)*position% An e&position' following the initial e&position' in

which the oices enter in the same order as the !rst e&position.

o

'ountere*position% An e&position following the initial e&positionin which the oices enter in a di-erent order than they did in the!rst e&position' or the su"$ect of the new e&position is acontrapuntal ariation of the original.

o Dou#le )*position% E&position utili5ing a "rand new su"$ect #i.e.

not contrapuntally deried from the !rst%. f the new su"$ect isuniue' then the fugue is a dou"le fugue #or' in the case of threesu"$ects' triple fugue%.

2. Deelopmental )pisode% *ection in which moties from thee&position are treated in seuence' modulation' contrarymotion' dou"le counterpoint' stretto'augmentation/diminution' pedal'

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etc. Episodes are generally terminated "y a cadence and may followone after the other. 4eelopmental episodes characteristically "egin "ydeparting from the su"$ect' to fragment or ary it in some way' "utgradually "uilding up to a restatement of the su"$ect in at least oneoice. ,hese statements of the su"$ect are typically not in thetonic/dominant relationship of the e&position and are called +middle

entries+ #or in German "urchf#hrung%. Episodes typically do notenunciate the su"$ect in all oices.

3. 'oda or 'odetta% 0oncluding segment of a section #codetta% or of theentire fugue #coda%. 0odas and codettas often sound as if they aresomething added after the structural end of the section or wor. ,hefunction of codettas is often modulatory #to return the tonality to theey of the su"$ect after an answer at the dominant%. 1ot all fugues haethese.

V. 'ompositional Techni-ues of the Fugue

A. Tonal Variation

(. Modulation% 6epetition of a motie in another ey. 7ach typicallyarranges his fugues around closely related eys #ma$or and minor eysimmediately ad$acent to each other on the circle of !fths%.

2. Mutation also called "change of mode"/% *tatement of the su"$ector answer #or any other primary material% in the opposing mode. A

su"$ect !rst stated in minor and later stated in ma$or is said to hae+mutated.+

(. 'ontrapuntal Variation

(. tretto% Entry of a motie in a second oice "efore the !rst oice has!nished its statement. )otie canmean su"$ect' answer' countersu"$ect' or any other su"stantiemelodic/rhythmic entity in imitation.

2. Augmentation0Diminution% *tatement of a motie in rhythmicdurations that are proportionately dou"led or haled.

3. Pedal Point% *uspension of one pitch' often the "ass' in such a mannerthat it is alternately consonant then dissonant with the chordprogression. Fugues often conclude with episodes of pedal point.

. &etrograde% #rare% *tatement of the motie8s pitches in reerse order.

9. Melodic Inersion% #0ontrary )otion% *tatement of a motie whereinteral directions hae "een made to moe in the opposite direction of

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the original motie. f the uality of the interals is presered themotion is said to "e the +mirror inersion.+

. e-uence% 6epetition of a motie at another pitch leel' usually up ordown a step. Each repetition is called a +leg.+ *euences in which eachleg itself contains a seuential pattern are said to "e nested. 7ach8s

seuences tend to "e of this latter ariety' with the oerall seuencecomprised of two or three legs' each leg comprised of two su"sidiaryunits. For e&ample: study the seuences in the mirror fugues of Art of$ugue. *euential episodes seldom appear in fugal e&positions "ut arefreuent accouterments to deelopments.

;. 'ontrapuntal Inersion% #4ou"le/,riple 0ounterpoint% 6eappearanceof a pair of oices #dou"le ctpt.% or trio of oices #triple ctpt.% in whichregisters hae "een reassigned in such a way that the oices hae

crossed and the interal relationship "etween oices is fundamentallyaltered.

a. Types of 'ontrapuntal Inersions%

o At the 1ctae% Fourths "ecome !fths' unisons "ecome octaes'

etc. <hile parallel ths sound !ne' they do not inertcontrapuntally' and dou"le ctpt. at the octae aoids them. *eethe %anon per Augmentationem in contrario &otu from the Art of$ugue for an e&ample of dou"le counterpoint at the octae.

o At the Tenth 2a34rd/% Parallel motion tends to "e aoided

altogether. ,his is "ecause interals that parallel accepta"ly in onete&ture #e.g. 3rds = ths% "ecome unaccepta"le when inerted#>as = 9ths%. *tudy the %anon alla "ecima of the Art of $ugue.

o At the T!elfth 2a35th/% <ith the e&ception of 3rds #which

remain 3rds%' accepta"le parallels "ecome unaccepta"le wheninerted at the (2th. ,hus' in the %anon alla "uodecima of the Art

of $ugue #which features this type of dou"le ctpt.% the composeruses many parallel thirds.

#. o! to 'alculate Type of 'ontrapuntal Inersion%

o 4etermine interal that the lower oice has "een moed UP

o 4etermine interal that the higher oice has "een moed 4?<1.

1ote: if the oices hae not e&changed registers' the higher oice"ecoming the lower and ice ersa' then contrapuntal inersion

has not occurred.

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o f steps ( and 2 are each octaes' then the dou"le counterpoint is

at the octae. ?therwise' add the results of steps ( and 2' thensu"tract (.

c. o! to 'alculate 6hat Interals (ecome After Inersion%

o 4ou"le counterpoint @>a: *u"tract the interal #"efore inersion%

from to get the interal after inersion. For e&ample: a th"efore inersion will "ecome a 9th after inersion.

o 4ou"le counterpoint @(Bth: *u"tract the interal #"efore

inersion% from (( to get the interal after inersion. For e&ample:a th "efore inersion will "ecome a ;th after inersion.

o 4ou"le counterpoint @(2th: *u"tract the interal #"eforeinersion% from (3 to get the interal after inersion. For e&ample:a th "efore inersion will "ecome a th after inersion.

For Practice% &ecogni7ing 'ontrapuntal Inersions

 ,he following e&amples of contrapuntal inersion are designed to "e played

from the )usica Antiua Coln #Archi 3( ;BD2% recording of the +Art of

Fugue+ 7< (B>B. ,he !rst system' in each e&ample' is paired with the

analogous measures' in dou"le counterpoint' seeral "ars later. Answer the

following uestions:

(. n what direction and how far is each part moed in analogous sections

2. <hat happens to ertical interals "etween analogous sections

3. <hat is the "asic interal of contrapuntal inersion

. <hat types of motion #parallel' contrary' o"liue% characteri5e eache&ample

)*change of &egisters contrapuntal inersion/ in

'anon per Augmentationem in contrario Motu

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Exchange of Registers (contrapuntal inversion) in

Canon alla Decima

Exchange of Registers (contrapuntal inversion) in

Canon alla Duodecima

+f !ou are contemplating the anal!sis of a fugue, see ow to #nal!e a Fugue for step-%!-step

instructions"

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o! to Analy7e a Fuguehttp://www2.nau.edu/tas3/analy5efugue.html 

7efore creating a timeDline you will need to analy7e your fugue. ,he

following uestions and techniues are intended to facilitate such an

analysis. A thorough and accurate analysis will sae time and e-ort when

you come to the timeDline phase of the 04 0ounterpoint 0ompanion. ,his

document contains many lins to the Anatomy of a Fugue that you might !nd

helpful to hae read !rst.

• o! many sections are there and in !hich measures do these

sections #egin and end8  Analytical 'echnique: look for cadences.

(. 1ot eery cadence represents the end of a section' "ut eerysection ends in a cadence.

2. *ections typically cadence in eys that are closely related to thehome ey. 0loselyDrelated eys di-er "y no more than one sharp orat.

3. n the conte&t of the (>th century fugue' authentic cadences #D%predominate' half #D% and deceptie #Di% cadences appear lessoften' and plagal cadences #D% appear seldom.

. Fugal cadences are diHcult to recogni5e "ecause the composerdoes not pause on the cadence chordI contrapuntal and harmonicmotion normally continues directly into the ne&t section. 0adencesare often elided #the cadence chord seres dual function ofconcluding one section and "eginning the ne&t%.

• 6hat is the function of each section8  Analytical 'echnique:

determine if the section eposes develops or concludes material.

(. )*position: Analytical 'echnique: mark all instances where the

main idea is stated or answered.

7ecause the e&position +e&poses+ new material' all fugues

"egin with an e&position. n the sense that it consists of thesu"$ect stated and answered in all oices' the e&position isthe most predicta"le and formDde!ning section of the fugue.

 ,he su"$ect #or answer% may appear in any order' "ut in7ach8s fugues the "ass oice will often tae the last entry.

<hen the su"$ect is answered in a second oice' the !rst

oice may continue with a countersu"$ect. 1ote all instancesof countersu"$ect.

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Fugues may hae more than one e&position. ,o ualify as an

e&position the su"$ect must appear in all oices and in theprescri"ed su"$ect/answer relationship #tonal orreal%. n a reDe&position' the prior su"$ect is oiced in the same orderI ina countere&position' the prior su"$ect is oiced in a di-erentorder. A +dou"le e&position+ consists of the e&position of asecond su"$ect #tripleDe&position J third su"$ect' etc.%

2. Deelopmental )pisode: Analytical 'echnique: note allinstances of contrapuntal elaboration.

*ections that ela"orate upon the su"$ect "y contrapuntal

means are called +deelopmental episodes.+ <hile the

primary function of a deelopment is to ela"orate uponthe su"$ect' deelopments often contain statements of thefugue8s su"$ect outright' and these su"$ects areoften answered.

Possi"le contrapuntal ela"orations

include: augmentation/diminution' melodicinersion #contrary motion%' contrapuntal inersion #dou"lecounterpoint%' pedalpoint'modulation' seuence' stretto' canon' simple imitation'rhythmic and melodic permutation' fragmentation#separation of the su"$ect8s head from its tail' etc%' truncationof the su"$ect' anticipatory statements of the su"$ect8s head#false su"$ect%.

3. 'oncluding ections: Analytical 'echnique: listen for sectionsthat sound as if they are bringing things to a close.

A section that concludes an interior e&position or

deelopment is called a +codetta.+ 0odettas sound as if theyare appended after the structural close of a main section.0odettas seldom last more than two or three "ars.

)ore common is the +coda'+ which designates the conclusion

of the entire fugue. 0odas often modulate to the ey of thesu"dominant. 0odas often contain stretti' often isit thesu"$ect one last time #usually in the "ass oice%' and oftenemploy pedal point.

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o! to 9se the 'ounterpoint 'ompanion

to 'reate an Animated Fugue Timeline

1ote: ,his page refers to o"solete software' ,he 0ounterpoint 0ompanion' a Kypercard stac

that allows you to create animated timelines of fugues' chorale preludes' and inentions. t is

retained here amidst continued rumors' as late as 2BB' that Apple is going to create an onlineplayer for Kypercard applications. <hile completed timelines will run on Kypercard Player' the

full programmer8s ersion of Kypercard is reuired to create new timelines. ,he 0ompanion

creates timelines "y prompting the user to enter information' such as how many parts' how

many measures' etc. Animated timelines are cali"rated to the 04 of your choice and "egin

playing in the measure you clic. ,he timeline animates the repositioning of oices that are

contrapuntally' or melodically' inerted. Lou can do!nload the 'ompanion from my

homepage. 7efore creating a timeline you will need to hae analy5ed your fugue or chorale

prelude. f you hae not done this' study the following page: Analy7ing a Fugue.

http://www2.nau.edu/tas3/howtocreatefuguetimeline.html 

0KE0CM*,: 7asically you will "e looing for the following structures which

the computer will as you to identify in the following order. 6emem"er that

not eery piece of music contains eery one of theseI if yours doesn8t $ust

clic +none+ when gien the option:

(. Kow many oices are there

2. Kow many measures are there in each section

3. Kow would you descri"e each section: e&position deelopment orconcluding passage #coda or codetta% 6emem"er that a coda ends theentire worI if you choose to call a section a +coda+ the computer willterminate the creation of new sections after it.

. Kow many entries of the su"$ect and comprising what measures ninentions' how many entries of the +motie+ n chorale preludes' in

what measure and oices does the cantus !rmus appear

9. n fugues' how many entries of the countersu"$ect #if any%' and in whatmeasures

. n what measures does primary material appear in contrary motion#melodic inersion%

;. n what measures do seuences appear *euences are of two inds:ascending #sym"oli5ed "y ///% or descending #NNN%

>. <hat measures participate in canon

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. <hat measures contain primary material in augmentation

(B. <hat measures contain primary material in diminution

((. <hat measures contain pedal point

(2. <hat measures are empty

(3. <hat measures contain contrapuntal inersion ,his is tricyO Loumay not want to try this.

(. ,he computer will allow you at this point to nudge measuresforward or "acward slightly. would adise that you sip this feature asit sometimes maes the measure collapse' neer to "e seen againO

7e adised that most of the steps within each section of the instructions #A'

7' 0' etc.% are e&ecuta"le only one time. f you mae a mistae in the

creation of your timeline #section A%' for e&ample' it is not possi"le to

continue the process. Lou will hae to start oer from a fresh copy of the 04D

companion. *ection 7 is the most forgiingI it allows u""ed cali"rations to

"e reDdone. t also allows for the cali"ration of timelines to three di-erent

performances.

#fter !ou have created !our timeline, save a cop!" When !ou are read! to cali%rate !our timeline

to a compact disk recording (section ++), %e sure to work from that cop! and not the original" This

wa!, if !ou encounter a s!stem crash while cali%rating, !ou can return to the timeline and startover"

+t is !our responsi%ilit! to e$ecute the following instructions properl!" +n view of the fact that

there are ./ students in the class, !our instructor will not have time to de%ug or custom-make

!our program"

To 'reate the Time+:ine%

(. ?pen the 0ounterpoint 0ompanion "y dou"le clicing on it.

2. Pull down the +Edit+ menu to +1ew 0ard+

3. Pull down the +4esign+ menu to +0reate time line+

. ,he computer will wal you through from there. Lou must hae analy5edthe fugue in order to respond to the computer8s uestions.

To 'ali#rate the Timeline to a 'ompact Dis;%

(. Pull down the +4esign+ menu to +0ali"rate to compact dis.+ 7efore youdo this' study the 04 $acet to estimate #in minutes and seconds% the

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elapsed time from the "eginning of the dis to the "eginning of yourfugue. Enter that elapsed time as a whole num"er representing theminutes separated from another whole num"er #representing seconds%separated "y a comma: e.g. +2'(9+ means you would estimate thefugue to "egin 2 minutes and (9 seconds into the dis.

2. ,he computer will step you through the cali"ration process. At theconclusion of the cali"ration the computer will as if you want to insertthe "eginning and ending timings for a related moement. f you areanaly5ing a fugue from the *ell 'empered %lavier for e&ample' it would"e nice to hear the accompanying prelude. As in step (' study the 04

 $acet to estimate #in minutes and seconds% the elapsed time from the"eginning of the dis to the "eginning of the prelude. Follow thecomputer8s instructions from there.

To Add an Annotation% optional step for Mus 4<4 pro$ect/

(. Pull down the +*tudy+ menu to +*how annotation.+ ,he !rst time youshow this !eld it will "e unloced so that you can type in yourannotation. ,hereafter the !eld will "e loced. ,o edit a loced !eld'clic in it with the shift ey depressed.

To Add a =raphic of the Fugue>s )*position% optional/

(. 0reate a Prose or Finale rendition of the fugue8s e&position

2. ,ae a picture of the e&position "y depressing apple/shift/3

3. ?pen superpaint. f your computer has the +simple te&t+ application itshould "e possi"le to dou"le clic on the +Picture+ icon #destop% andsip steps 3D.

. Use the +open+ menu in *uperpaint and naigate to the last Picture onthe destop.

9. 0opy the picture

. f you wish to add la"els or other items' paste the picture into*uperpaint then edit it.

;. 0opy the picture one more time then uit *uperpaint

>. ?pen 6esEdit and naigate to your 0ounterpoint 0ompanion. #)aesure' at this point' that you are woring from a copy of your 0ompanion.A mistae at this point could spell disasterO

. 4ou"le clic on the 0ounterpoint 0ompanion icon and paste in thepicture.

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(B. 4ou"le clic on the picture and gie it a name. 6emem"er thename...the computer will as for it shortlyO

((. uit 6esEdit and open your 0ounterpoint 0ompanion.

(2. Pull down the +*tudy+ menu to +*how score.+ Follow the directions

from there.