Prelude in C Major, WTC 1, BWV 846

About this piece

Prelude in C Major, WTC 1, BWV 846 is a piece for solo piano by Johann Sebastian Bach. The music is marked Allegro at 85 BPM, in 4/4 time, with a key signature of C Major / A Minor. The score runs 2 pages and is listed under Baroque. This sheet is free on Tissimo.

Practice with companion worksheets

For this analysis activity, use triads, seventh chords, Roman numerals and inversion figures. The worksheet supplies reference figures and an answer key.

To study the harmony in Bach’s Prelude in C, use the companion exercise’s 22 selected bars as block chords. Collect the note letters, stack them in thirds to find the root, then use the bass note to identify the inversion. Work through the home-key bars, the move toward G and the chromatic chords in separate rounds. The bonus asks you to identify the sustained bass note in bars 24–27 and name the pedal point. Source exercise and answer key

• Inside Bach’s Prelude in C

  Johann Sebastian Bach, Prelude in C major, BWV 846 (1722) — one chord in every bar

• Analyze the Prelude in C

  Every bar of Bach’s Prelude in C is one chord, broken into a pattern (Handout 377). Here are 22 of its bars stacked into block chords, every note at Bach’s own pitch. Name each chord in C major: stack the letters in thirds to find the root, write the roman numeral, then add the figure from the bass note. The small number above each chord is its bar in the piece.