I was back in around 5 minutes. He handed me back the music, looked thoughtful for a moment, then proceeded to whistle, with perfect accuracy, the right hand part, then the left. If I‘d been given an hour or so, I’d like to think I could have done the same. But 5 minutes? I was astonished. Clearly, I had work to do.

Over the next few years I practised memorising away from the piano. Sometimes I’d give myself a simple piece to memorise on the train to London (about 45 mins in total). It was a great feeling to get to the college and a piano, then slowly stagger through a little piece I’d just managed to get into my head. Grade 1 pieces became quite manageable, but I found it difficult to graduate upwards. 

Several years later, during a holiday in the beautiful town of Richmond , Yorkshire, I spent a couple of hours each day sitting in the main square, attempting to commit to memory Bach’s Fugue in A major. It was extremely difficult and after a whole week, I’d managed no more than a couple of bars. I decided I would have to return to my usual way of memorising fugues in my Bach journey, about which, more in the next post. For now, memorising away from the piano had been a fascinating challenge.

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I was sitting in my cosy lounge one evening after a long day of teaching, listening to my Barenboim CD by candlelight. I remember being very tired, almost dozing, when I was brought abruptly awake by the penultimate cadence of the great C sharp minor fugue. I could hardly believe what I’d heard. As if to make the remarkable dissonance shocking to 21^st century ears (as it must have appeared to Bach’s contemporaries), Barenboim had added an extra octave in the bass and reiterated the most dissonant note (marked with a tie in the score). He also played the whole chord fortissimo, concluding the final bars with a very affecting diminuendo. I’d heard the piece several times before, but for the first time I was aware of it having a powerful structure, and the ending a striking inevitability.

There were many other instances where I found that, in Barenboim’s hands, Bach was speaking to me in a voice I could understand and appreciate. I found myself, by turn, moved, amused, shocked and astonished at the drama or profound beauty of this sublime music.

Now that I had been shown a way in which I could really appreciate Bach’s keyboard music, I found I was able to greatly enjoy masterful, and perhaps more authentic interpretations of the WTC by pianists like Andras Schiff, and Angela Hewitt. I also discovered a wonderful account on YouTube by the little-known Evelyne Crochet.

In the printed cycle of preludes and fugues, today’s B major prelude comes after the haunting B flat minor fugue. Heard in that context it is, for me, like seeing the clouds lifting after a period of dark and unsettled weather; simple and understated but expertly structured. The 4-voice fugue is also short but challenging to play. By contrast it is rather ebullient, announcing itself with assured self confidence.

Prelude and Fugue in B major:

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I’m now 10 years into my project to learn, memorise and perform all 24 of Bach’s preludes and fugues from Book 1 of the Well-Tempered Clavier.When I began, back in October of 2012, I thought 2 years would be be about right. I planned to give a performance of the whole book to coincide with my 50th Birthday in 2014. But the challenge soon turned out to be a bit bigger than I’d anticipated…

Since learning the inaugural E major I’ve managed to get, for a short time at least, another 17 under my fingers and into my brain. At the time of writing, I’m halfway through the E flat major, and still have C, B flat and A flat majors, G and E flat minors left. My new target is 2024, when I’ll be celebrating my 60th. I think I can manage the remaining 5 and a half by then, but knocking all the others back into shape at the same time is going to be the tough part.

So, as I have almost 24 months left, I thought to help with my preparation, I’d aim to post one prelude and fugue every month until September 2024. This month’s update is the G major. I first learned it 36 years ago when I was studying at the Royal Academy of Music. I re-learned it in 2017 and again this year, but haven’t done any performing since somehow, getting through Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata at the City Lit three years ago.

So, I’ve been trying to video a decent recording of this comparatively tiny piece, and it’s been amazingly scary. A couple of times, I put some tidy clothes on, got the camera angle I wanted and pressed ‘record’. But I couldn’t get what I wanted. This morning however, before getting properly dressed, I was enjoying my practice, and decided to strike while the iron was hot. Apologies for the dressing gown. I’ll try Covent Garden next time…

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Now, 10 years later, I have managed to learn 18 of the total twenty-four. Memorisation has been successful for some, but it’s an on-going project, as is learning the remainder of the book. I am enjoying the most amazing piano-journey in which I have discovered far more about piano-playing than I believed existed. I am endlessly indebted to Johann Sebastian Bach for putting this remarkable collection together for people like me, who wish to develop their keyboard-playing.

I wanted to try a variety of ways of learning the pieces; to listen to the advice I’d heard over the years from many great teachers, but never quite got round to putting into action.

Like most of Bach’s music, the Well-Tempered Clavier, or Forty-Eight Preludes and Fugues, as they are often known, were not published during his lifetime, although a few hand-written copies were in circulation. They were composed in two separate books, for the benefit of students of the keyboard who wished to improve their playing, and also to demonstrate a new tuning system that made it possible to play in each of the twenty-four keys without needing to re-tune the instrument. Each volume contains one prelude and one fugue in each key. Book 1 was written almost three hundred years ago, and Book 2, some twenty years later.

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This is one of the more interesting. Gig No.59. After reading my account you’ll probably think twice about booking me and I wouldn’t blame you. Interestingly, I’ve never known a wedding breakfast to be at the home of the bride, but for some reason that’s the address I copied down in my diary…

Halstead, Essex
Wedding breakfast
July 2009

Perhaps the hottest day of the year – at least 25˚C. And humid. One of those days you can stand outside a pub at 10 o’clock of an evening and enjoy a pint with some friends.

Anyway, straightforward drive to the address in Coggeshaw, Essex. Arrive just as coverage of the 2^nd Lions test against South Africa begins on my car radio. I’ve made such good time I decide to try a pub nearby.

“Are you showing the rugby?”, I ask the barman, trying to sound totally calm.

“You’re about the ninetieth person to ask me that.”

“You should be showing it then, shouldn’t you” suggests a helpful chap drinking at the bar.

Try another pub. Again, no luck. I listen in the car. Lions doing very well. 13-5 up now. Maybe there’ll be a tv at the venue.

No answer at the address. No sign of anyone. Call the bride on her mobile. Surely she’ll be able to help, but then again, she’s probably at the altar now. Try the door of nearly every neighbour. Everyone’s out. Finally someone answers. “Do you know the couple at No.10?”

“No. Just a minute. I think the young chap’s getting married today”. Fantastic. I’ve got an hour before I’m due to start. “I know he works at The Compasses pub.”

Call the pub. Someone there knows the village the wedding’s at. It’s 5 miles away. But I’m still far more concerned about missing what sounds like a fantastic rugby match. 13-8 now.

Get to Greenstead Green. Knock on a door. Sounds like the entire village dog population is behind it. Thankfully it stays shut and I walk across to the garden opposite. The gentleman cutting the lawn can’t help, sadly. Can’t speak either. Not to worry, dog woman appears. “I heard the dogs barking” Yes, you and the rest of the village. She has some vague recollection of the bride’s family but directs me to the village shop, a converted stable. Lots of delicious cakes on show, but sadly I have to ignore them. Find a woman who, quite fortunately, knows exactly the information I need.

So, with directions, I set off again. On the way, I pass a bride and groom sitting pretty on an open coach pulled by horses. Bride looks absolutely gorgeous, having the time of her life. Groom looks slightly uncomfortable. I’m pretty sure it’s my wedding couple, so I wind the window down.

“Hello”, I shout, “Who’s the bride?”

“It’s Jade.”

“I’m Gary.”

“OK” as if to say, very happy for you, mate.

Arrive at the venue. It’s sweltering. I’ve got half hour to get my gear out of the car into the marquee, set up and change. This will take 25 minutes in the best possible conditions, but I still want to see some of the rugby. Discovering this is a bit disconcerting, but I can’t help it. Find a tv in the summer house, but can’t manage to switch it on. Time to get moving!

All goes well until I find there’s no power point for me. But I sort something out with the help of the chef. 8 minutes to go. I’m still in my shorts and tee-shirt, sorting leads out. Bride’s mum pops her head around the doorway. Scans the room. Everything looks beautiful. Looks at me. “You should be playing”.

One quick change later and I’m happily playing away. All goes splendidly. Food is delicious, but not enough. Some lovely comments from people and no shortage of offers to help me get my gear back into the car. Lovely chat with the beautiful, beaming Jade.

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“I don’t know how you can say that! She practices lots; she’s always at the piano”

This was how a mother responded when I dared to suggest that her talented daughter needed to practise more.

A ‘practice’ session can so easily turn into a ‘play through all the bits I know already’ session. Enjoyable? Yes. But will we have made any progress?

Practising is working on our weaknesses, or practising the bits we can’t yet play, or play as well as we’d like. It needs focus – a level of concentration that might feel like hard work. If we want to seriously move our playing forward, we need to confront the things we know we’re not good at.

This takes courage. And determination

For example, we may know we can’t play that bit on line 4, but simply can’t face working on it; “It’s just so hard” we reason. Well, yes it probably is hard. But look at it properly. Try to work out exactly what’s difficult, and what’s required to master it. We might just sort out the problem.

Playing the piano is one of the greatest joys in the world, and to do it well, we need to work at it.

Maybe, after a stressful day, all you feel like doing is playing some pieces you already know. If you’re feeling low, stressed out or exhausted, this might be just what you need. It can often be very cathartic, and calming. But don’t call it practising. It’s playing.

How to start practising…

Ok, so we’ve accepted that we need to work a bit harder and we’re ready for a proper practice session. But how to start…

Advice often goes:  start with a few scales, warm your fingers up, play through a few tunes you know. In other words, ease your way in. But if we are going to get the most out of our time, we need to concentrate, and not be thinking about a conversation we had earlier, or an appointment we’ve got tomorrow. Try starting your practice with something you find difficult. Something that requires mental focus. For example: 10 minutes singing the melody of a piece. Or if that’s easy, sing the melody whilst playing the left hand. Or it could be working out the Timing of a bit you never seem to get right.

Making the most of your time requires some organisation

So let’s say we’ve mentally prepared ourselves to do a bit of work. The following suggestions maybe helpful:

1. Have a timer to hand and set a time-limit to your practise session, even if you’ve got plenty of time. Choose a timer with a gentle sound, not a clockwork mechanism with a loud bell. Great for a noisy kitchen, not so good when you’re trying to zone-in at your piano.
2. Get a ‘practise notebook’. Find something you like the look of, something you’ll enjoy writing in, rather than a spiral-bound jotter from the local shop.
3. Decide on a task, write it down, with date and time, and set a time-limit. For example, ‘last 2 lines, LH’ or ‘contrary motion scales. 5 mins’.
4. Save playing through something you already know until the end. Finishing a session on a positive note makes us want to do more the next time. As opposed to finishing when you’ve had enough or get a bit fed up.

Be warned: When we organise our practise session, time can often pass very quickly. But don’t take my word for it. Get planning!

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