7.1 Hear a change of key
Study Bach’s Invention in D major, BWV 774. G sharps from bar 6 take it to A major, the dominant, and A sharps in bars 16–24 to B minor, the relative minor, before it comes home to D: find the cadence that confirms each key. At the keyboard: play a cadence in a related key.
- Technique
- C major mordent, hands separately: main note, the note above, main note, evenly before quicker
- C major turn, hands separately: the note above, the main note, the note below, the main note
- D major scale, hands together, 2 octaves
7.2 Map a sonata exposition
Study the first movement of Beethoven’s Sonata in G, Op. 49 No. 2. Map its exposition: the first theme in G, the second theme in D, the dominant, from bar 21, and the repeat sign; then find where the opening returns in G. At the keyboard: transpose a short opening motif.
- Technique
- G major scale, hands separately, 2 octaves
7.3 Follow a subject and answer
Study Bach’s Invention in E minor, BWV 778: the right hand states the subject and the left hand answers it half a bar later, an octave lower. Follow the opening idea through bars 1–9; its left-hand reply is octave imitation, not the dominant answer of a fugue. At the keyboard: play an entry and sing its answer.
- Technique
- E harmonic minor scale, hands separately, 2 octaves
7.4 Resolve the diminished seventh
Study Beethoven’s Für Elise (Bagatelle in A minor, WoO 59). Find its diminished-seventh chords, the most tense sound in the piece, and hear where each resolves. The Phrygian-half-cadence card (iv6–V with the bass falling a semitone) prepares Baroque slow movements to come; Für Elise has none. At the keyboard: resolve a diminished seventh in two ways.
- Technique
- A harmonic minor scale, hands together, 2 octaves
- A melodic minor scale, hands together, 2 octaves
7.5 Keep the pulse under rubato
Study Chopin’s Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4: a long melody over left-hand chords that slip down by semitones. Keep the chords’ pulse steady and let the melody give and take time above them. At the keyboard: play a melody freely over a steady bass.
- Technique
- E harmonic minor scale, hands separately, 2 octaves
7.6 Explore jazz harmony
Study Autumn Circle Etude, an original study in G minor. Follow its rootless left-hand guide tones around the circle of fifths: they suggest Cm7–F7–B♭maj7, a ii–V–I into B flat major (bars 1–3), and D7–Gm7, a V–i into G minor (bars 6–7). Bar 5 has a G–C pair and E natural in the melody, not the E flat needed for Am7♭5: this is not a complete minor ii–V–i. The minor-blues card shows another form these chords live in; this etude is a circle of fifths, not a blues. At the keyboard: voice a ii–V–I progression.
- Technique
- G harmonic minor scale, hands together, 2 octaves
7.7 Connect four-note chords
Study the first movement of Beethoven’s Sonata in G minor, Op. 49 No. 1. First reduce its left-hand harmony to block chords, changing chords wherever the harmony changes, then play the written accompaniment and hear how its dominant sevenths, four-note chords, lead to the next harmony by small steps. At the keyboard: connect four-note chords with small movements.
- Technique
- G harmonic minor scale, hands together, 2 octaves
- D major cadence in four-note chords (I–IV–V7–I), hands together
7.8 Read voices on separate staves
Study Bach’s Invention in F major, BWV 779: two voices, one on each staff, that chase each other. Read each staff as its own line. The cards on transposing instruments and alto and tenor clefs take the same skill to orchestral and choral scores; this invention uses only the treble and bass clefs. At the keyboard: read two voices on separate staves.
- Technique
- F major scale, hands separately, 2 octaves
7.9 Harmonise a bass scale
Study Bach’s Invention No. 11 in G minor, BWV 782. Play its bass line alone in bars 19–23, distinguish structural notes from passing notes, and hear the final dominant–tonic cadence. Compare this moving contrapuntal bass with the stepwise bass on the rule-of-the-octave card: the invention is not a literal demonstration of the rule. At the keyboard: harmonise an ascending bass scale.
- Technique
- G harmonic minor scale, hands together, 2 octaves
7.10 Plan a polished performance
Prepare a polished performance of Granados’s La huérfana, Op. 1 No. 9. Plan where the phrases breathe, voice the melody above the accompaniment, and listen back to a recording before the final run. At the keyboard: play a cadence and improvise an answering phrase.
- Technique
- B harmonic minor scale, hands together, 2 octaves
7.11 Keep a lullaby melody above its rocking accompaniment
Study Burgmüller’s Berceuse, Op. 109 No. 7, a study from his characteristic studies. Let the right-hand melody sing above the gently rocking accompaniment, keep the accompaniment even and soft, and shape each phrase to its end. This is the level’s second study, beside the Autumn Circle Etude.
- Technique
- F major scale, hands separately, 2 octaves
