Should I practice some J.S. Bach for piano technique and where should I start?

Question

I want to know if playing J.S. Bach would improve my overall piano technique. I look for pieces that help me to become better. I usually play romantic composers. I have played pieces such as

1. Chopin's "Nocturne op.9 No.2"
2. Chopin's "Waltz No.14 in E minor posthm."
3. Schubert's "Moments musicaux nr. 3"
4. Mendelssohn's "Songs without words op. 30 nr 1".

The most difficult pieces I attempted was "Fantaisie-Impromptu" and "Etude Op. 25. Nr 2." which I can play unfortunately only badly.

So I wonder if playing some "2/3-part Inventions" or the "WTC" would actually also improve my overall playing, or would I just become better at counterpoint music? I played 2 Bach pieces so far, they were the Kempff transcriptions of "BWV 1031 Siciliano" and "BWV 639 Ich ruf zu dir...."

And if I should play some Bach, should I do the "Inventions" or should I jump directly into the" WTC"? I usually play romantic pieces around Henle levels 4-6. But level 6 is still quite difficult for me.

I do enjoy some Bach, but I enjoy Schubert for instance a little bit more. So my main motivation is piano technique.

Answer 1

So I wonder if playing some "2/3-part Inventions" or the "WTC" would actually also improve my overall playing

I say YES! I don't know exactly what you call "counterpoint music". Is it "music that has counterpoint" or "music composed entirely based on counterpoint" (like a lot (not all) of Bach's) ?? Because it will indeed improve not only you counterpoint, that is useful to a lot of pieces, but also independence of the hands in general, which piano is all about, right?

Take for example Schumann's Träumerei. It's romantic, but it's an amalgam of voices and phrases and counterpoints. Is it "counterpoint music"? I don't know, but if you are great at WTC fugues it will be so much easier. Of course it's a completely different style, but since you are familiar with Romantic, it should be easier for you to transpose your skills, the counterpoint (an important matter in this case) would be a technical barrier you won't have anymore.

Talking about "non-counterpoint music", as I said, independence of the hands is always useful for piano. Even melody + accompaniment becomes easier, and also almost every piece has a little counterpoint here and there.

And if I should play some Bach, should I do the "Inventions" or should I jump directly into the" WTC"?

This one seems easy. Start with the Inventions, when you're doing well, or if you feel like you're not being challenged, jump to WTC. You're not in a hurry, are you? Also, I think it's a good idea to start slow. WTC has 3, 4 and even 5 voice fugues. How can you play that if you didn't even try 2 voice Inventions?

Answer 2

wtc and inventions are both very useful. it always depends what will be your goal. if you want to profit by studying or if your purpose is to perform this music in front of a public. I always make music for me and my pleasure - this doesn't mean that I don't imagine myself playing for friends or a big audience.

you have to look at the difficulty:

as I already mentioned in another post of this SE site the prelude in C of the wtc will be easier to achieve than the inventions. there are also some very easy pieces in the little preludes.

when I started playing piano I was at first confronted with the inventions in C, am, dm, gm, F, Bb. this doesn't say it would be good for all the same (actually I don't believe that it was perfect for me)

If you like to play them slow also the preludes in dm and in D will benefit a lot and spend you great joy.

as the sheet music of Bach is all available for free you should look for it.

Answer 3

It is good and very valuable to expose yourself to a multitude of styles, composers and eras. However, if it is technique you are after, technique is all in your head. It is the knowledge of proper movement and what movements not to do.

For instance, if every time you bend over to pick up a piece of paper off the floor you throw your back out, bending over more won't fix your back. It needs no more strengthening. The solution is to pick things up by bending from the knees. Ergonomics.

If crossing the thumb under the palm causes ulnar or radial deviation of the wrist and corrupts your speed, then use the arm and elbow to place the thumb instead of flexing it and tying up your extensors.

If trilling causes your fingers to cramp, quit trying to play from the finger muscles (which don't exist) and play from the pronator and supinator.

If your hands feel sore after an hour of playing, go with gravity instead of trying to manhandle it. Gravity just is, you can't strengthen it. Like petting a cat, pressing harder doesn't increase the enjoyment for the cat.

So if you have technical difficulties or mountains you can't ascent, if you get cramps, fatigue, pain, you don't need more technique or more practice, you need proper movement. Something is either wrong or getting in the way.

Your teacher should be addressing the laws of physics in your lessons. If not, they probably don't know and it might be time to graduate to a new teacher.