 The other day my 6th grade student was sight-reading Bach's two-part invention No. 10 in G major, BWV 781 (hands separately). In the middle of this delightful little gem is an episode where the left hand plays eighth-note arpeggio figures and the right - long trills. Then the hands switch and the trill is placed in the left hand. My student had a difficult time playing those trills evenly. I have to say that there are many shorter mordents in this invention which my student executed fine (it was probably the result of our long-term study of Baroque music in historical informed manner). But the long trills were still a problem. If you play a similar piece on any keyboard instrument (including organ) - and there are many examples of long trills in Bach's music - my recommendation is to know exactly how many notes of the trill will fit in one eighth-note. Usually it's 2 or 3. Make sure you emphasize the beats so that you won't get lost with the trill. In the case of G major invention, I suggested 2 notes - basically the trill would be played in sixteenth-notes with a little bit of an accent on every other note. This practice makes the performance look slightly automatic but for a lot of people who don't have a good hand coordination it is very helpful at the beginning. After you get used to it, feel free to play it more musically and add more freedom. Ausra's Harmony Exercise: Transposing Sequence in C Minor: i-iv64-ii42-i 
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Drs. Vidas Pinkevicius and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene Organists of Vilnius University , creators of Secrets of Organ Playing. Don't have an organ at home? Download paper manuals and pedals, print them out, cut the white spaces, tape the sheets together and you'll be ready to practice anywhere where is a desk and floor. Make sure you have a higher chair. |
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