# Playing Bach



## Jord

I've recently started to attempt some Bach pieces but i'm using the sustain pedal, is this something that will develop into a bad habit and i should stop using it now or is there nothing wrong with it?


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## hreichgott

Before you get slammed with historical performance vs. modern piano responses: Plenty of excellent pianists play Bach with pedal. Plenty of excellent pianists play Bach with zero pedal. There is a stylistic range.

Just be careful that you don't overdo the pedal, and do know why you're using it whenever you choose to use it. You don't want to have the pedal all the way down all the time, changing only at the chord changes, because that covers up the detailed moving lines and that's the best thing about Bach on the piano. Using occasional half-pedal for color, to add a little extra resonance in rolled chords, or to give some extra subtlety to a single-note line (like the slower of the F# minor fugues in the WTK, the book 2 one I think), is all fine. Definitely do not use pedal to cover up problems with finger legato, or problems remembering which notes to hold down and which to let go/when to let go. That's just cheating (and pedaled legato sounds different from finger legato anyway).

If it comes out sounding like Chopin you have a problem.

It would be a good idea to go hear some Bach performed on piano if possible, or listen to a few recordings online (youtube/spotify/etc. easily available). Let me see if I can find some examples.


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## hreichgott

Perahia using pedal on Bach partita no. 6 in E minor.
They don't film his feet, but keep your eye on the row of dampers visible in the first 15 seconds and whenever that camera angle comes back. When they all come up, he's putting the pedal down.





Hewitt using no pedal on Bach invention no. 1 in C major. once again, watch the dampers.
This actually looks like an interesting lecture-recital and she might even talk about pedal use at some point.





These are not just two very different pianists, by the way, but two very different Bach pieces - the Partita does more to try to create the atmosphere of an orchestra while the Invention is all about the two lines. That goes into pedaling choices too.


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## worov

Stick with it. If you're going to play Bach on a piano, I think you should use all the ressources of the piano and that includes the pedal. If you don't, you could use a harpsichord as well.

Could you imagine this prelude without pedal ?

[video removed by youtube]
I couldn't play this piece without pedal. Maybe that's just me.

Listen several interpretations of the piece you play. Listen to as many as you can find (there are plenty). You will see that many performers use the pedal in Bach's music (Tureck, Hewitt, Nikolayeva, Richter, Arrau, Perahia, Koroliov, Fischer). Some performers don't (Gould, Schiff are notable exemples).


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## musicphotogAnimal

This is the Angela Hewitt, I remember from the 1990 recording of the Italian Concerto that I had in my original classical collection before the whole darned collection got stolen by a VIOLIST...no less. ~snarl~










I'm getting old.


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## KenOC

Andras Schiff, in his new recording of the WTC, doesn't touch the pedal for the entire 48! Works very well for him -- in my book, this joins Gould at the top of the piano WTC heap.

http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Well-Tem...375769640&sr=8-1&keywords=bach+clavier+schiff


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## Forte

Here's the way I look at it - when you play Bach on the piano, there's no way to be _absolutely_ historically correct. Some people try to mimic the sound of a harpsichord or clavichord better by not using the pedal, and that is completely fine because there have been spectacular recordings done that way e.g. Glenn Gould. On the other hand, other people use the pedal, and that to me isn't wrong either because it's like mimicking a pipe organ in a way. If the pedal is used to sustain sound in the same way that an organ does, I don't think that should be a problem.

The problem is if the pedal is used in a way to romanticize Bach so that it is played how one might play Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Liszt, etc. Then I think Bach's original intentions are obscured by the Romantic intentions of the performer, if that makes any sense. Plenty of great Bach players use pedal, and plenty don't, so get in the habit of experimentation. Listen to everything and decide for yourself which option you like better. Just make sure the counterpoint is done justice, that is probably the most important thing.


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## DavidA

You have to bear in mind what instrument Bach wrote for and adapt the playing accordingly.

Else try Busoni's arrangements!


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## hreichgott

The thing is, Bach wrote for multiple instruments at once.
Keyboard instrument (Klavier) could include both clavichord and harpsichord, which are radically different from one another.


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## Pantheon

I think it entirely depends on what your intentions are  
The aria of the Goldberg Variations is a hard one when it comes to choosing pedal or not for me.


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## BaroqueOrgan

The question that people run into is historical performance vs. modern performance of Bach. When I play Bach on the piano, I always use the sustain pedal for "color" - only as much as to smooth the notes out and make the lines flow. It may be worth learning the pieces without pedal so you get used to the way they sound, and besides, being able to play melodically without the pedal is a great skill! (It will also be useful if you ever get on a harpsichord!) I would say, if it sounds good to you and you like it, go for it!


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## ClassicalGuitarist

Listen to some of Glenn Gould's Recordings. He was a master at playing Bach. He's my favorite pianist of all time.


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## Jonathan Wrachford

Well, If you really wanted my opinion, I don't exactly recommend playing Bach with pedal at all. But if you insist on using it, I would make sure that you always be VERY sparing with it!


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