# I've got a problem



## aszkid

I've always been scared of this moment. Having advanced comfortably in a piece, and encountering such a problem: my hand!

So, i can accomplish the octave perfectly well, and the ninth with a bit more difficulty, but i can. But above that, there's no way i can get it.

It's from the Art of the Fugue, the Counterpoint I, it's such a fun to play and learn. I've taken a look at the rest of the piece, and i see no more complications on that subject.

What should i do? Drop one of the voices an octave below/above? Abandon the piece (no way)? Get a medieval torture device and widen my hand?

Thanks for the help!


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## PetrB

A simple re-assignment of the tenor line you've blue penciled in those vertical marks connecting to the bass will solve your problem. Play them with the right hand - the half rest in the first bar of your score section allows a ready shift of fingering, and you should be able to accommodate the notes and your hand readily enough 

The art of the fugue was composed as a completely abstract exercise in counterpoint, a working out and display of all Bach had surmised from his lifetime of composing. Bach never designated any of those exercises (models) for any instrument or instruments.

Though the Keyboards of Bach's time had slightly narrower keys than keyboards in the present, to think the art of the fugue will fit readily under the hands is a wrong assumption. Time, therefore, for some creative fingering!


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## aszkid

Thanks PetrB, i had also thought of re-assigning one of the voices during that chords. I remember that in the 13th bar i also reassigned a single note, that was just a pain in the a** to play with the right hand.

Thanks!


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## PetrB

aszkid said:


> Thanks PetrB, i had also thought of re-assigning one of the voices during that chords. I remember that in the 13th bar i also reassigned a single note, that was just a pain in the a** to play with the right hand.
> 
> Thanks!


It is not atypical to get stuck thinking that any line or part on one stave must be played by the hand most used to playing that stave, i.e. Bass Clef = L.H.

Remember that middle C, the two clefs, are notational conventions and for convenience (would you rather, at the piano, read three or four staves with one line on each? A good exercise -- read a four- part chorus from the vocal score,)

At the keyboard, don't get mind / finger-trapped by what sits where on either clef.


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