Johann Sebastian Bach (1685~1750) is one of the greatest musicians in the history of human music. He is known as the "Father of European Music" and "Classical Master" by future generations. His music art is one of the most important components of world culture. There is such a comment: "Bach is so great that he makes people feel that he is not a person, but a powerful creative laboratory, in which all the musical creative skills, styles, tendencies and attempts of the time were exercised." Because of his It has effectively inherited and summarized the music phenomena of various European countries before the 17th century, including music genres, specific writing techniques and music styles of various countries, thus creating an eternal music art. Because of this, he is well-deserved as the "Father of Music".
Bach has many piano polyphonic works, and the pinnacle of Bach's piano polyphonic works - "Twelve Well-Tempered Clavier Pieces" is considered to be a masterpiece that fully embodies Bach's piano polyphonic works. A large encyclopedia of musical styles and musical images, it is a required textbook for piano players. In this work, his polyphonic skills and artistic skills have reached their highest peak. To this day, he has reason to become the highest example. This work confirms the superiority of the theory of equal law in terms of artistic creation. His fugues mark the high development of tonal functional thinking, and the entire collection of music marks the complete maturity of the major and minor system. In this sense, his progressive role is not limited to the development of piano music. Regarding his polyphonic works, some critics commented like this: "Without studying Bach, one cannot understand European music; without in-depth study of Bach's polyphonic works, a rigorous composer and pianist cannot be proficient in it." His expertise. After we fully understand and recognize the importance of Bach's polyphonic works, how to grasp the musical ideas and connotations of Bach's works, and even how to play Bach's polyphonic works correctly and accurately in the end The problem of teaching teachers' own understanding to students is clearly placed in front of us.
The polyphonic technology of piano performance itself makes us better in teaching. The study and performance of polyphonic music is regarded as one of the special topics. In addition to artistically reproducing the realm and connotation expressed by the unique and complete form of Bach's polyphonic music, more importantly, through the analysis of such works Through research and study, teachers themselves and even students can better master the playing methods of melody lines, the imitation and alternation of parts, the contrast and changes of sound levels, the criss-crossing, balance and coordination of each part in its development, As well as the establishment of polyphonic hearing, the cultivation of three-dimensional thinking hearing, good multi-part habits and other methods of playing and understanding polyphonic music. The improvement of piano performance technology depends on our cultivating students' finger flexibility and independence. When playing polyphonic works, this requirement is even more necessary, such as the finger control over the layered contrast of each part, the grasp of the direction of the melody line, the handling of the beginning and ending of phrases, the mutual coordination between the two hands, etc. etc. But the most important point is that in addition to finger ability, the player must be able to clearly hear what he is playing, that is, whether the various parts of the work can be clearly displayed under his hands.
The teaching of piano polyphonic works is a step-by-step process. Teachers should use appropriate teaching materials to gradually introduce students to the palace of music. For students who are exposed to Bach's polyphonic works for the first time, Bach's elementary level is a must. Piano music collection is a good choice. Through the study of basic Bach works, students can initially appreciate the connotation of Bach's polyphonic works and a new musical experience, and thus acquire the basic skills of playing Bach's polyphonic works. After students complete Bach's elementary piano collection and polyphonic works such as minor preludes and fugues, we select a large number of Bach's creative works as a means of further improvement. As for Bach's creative works, each one has its own characteristics. Technical requirements, music also has different moods and styles, which requires teachers to pay special attention to selecting music according to the time when teaching
these songs, which vary from person to person, and are solved through each piece of music Different questions of students. By learning such melody phrases, it is very helpful for students to master the natural breathing of the arms, the natural answer of the phrases, and the independent playing of the two creative songs. The continuous sentences, the unified rules of voice progression, the echo of themes and subtitles, and syntax, etc., are all practical trainings.
Bach's three creative pieces mainly involve playing three melodies with both hands. The increase in parts makes playing more difficult, but at the same time it also provides good training materials for training the independence and control of the fingers. Due to the different textures and structural components of each piece of music, the composer's handling of each part as well as the requirements for intensity and color are also different. In order to make the lines of the music clear, you can practice with one hand first, and then pop up the sentence naturally and calmly. You should listen carefully to see whether the strength of the connection between the two hands is even and comfortable. In Bach's polyphonic works, whether it is imitation, counterpoint or foil, the importance of each part also changes from time to time. While paying attention to the main part, you cannot ignore other parts. When playing, you must pay attention to how it comes in and how it develops and changes. This development and change makes the intensity and color of each voice have its own characteristics and differences, but they are also interconnected.
In order to control your fingers well to play logical phrases and to have good polyphonic hearing, it is very important to practice in different parts. After completing the study of Bach's creative works, you will enter the "encyclopedia" that embodies Bach's musical style and image, that is, the study of Bach's "Twelve Well-Tempered Piano Collection". "Well Tempered" is divided into two volumes, which are composed in the same form. Each prelude and fugue are independent works unified by a different key. The prelude and fugue are connected together, forming a contrast and complementing each other. The form of the prelude is relatively free and flowing, and the musical thinking is full of fantasy, while the form of the fugue is very rigorous, and the musical thinking is strictly concentrated. Bach's Prelude often serves as an introduction in "Well Tempered", but it also has its own independent significance. Generally speaking, preludes are divided into two types: one is musical in nature, its speed is usually faster, which is an excellent finger technique exercise, and its melody is also very strong. Fugue is the highest and most complex form of expression in polyphonic music. Its formation has gone through a long development process. Only in Bach's creation did fugue obtain its perfect expression. It is not only rigorous and compact philosophical, with endless changes in form, but also full of poetic feelings. A fugue is often composed of several independent voices. It is impossible to have less than two voices in a fugue. The most common works are three or four voices, and five or six voices. Very few. Bach's "Well Tempered" is non-title music. From the surface, it is not clear what the composer wanted to express. However, from the perspective of Bach's ideological characteristics and complete and unified image thinking, we can understand the richness contained in Bach's works. content. Since Bach lived in a complex era that was greatly influenced by religion, he often used religious themes to reflect the people's pain and express people's sympathy, sadness and praise for heroes. At the same time, Bach's works also reflect people's yearning and pursuit of light, while non-title music reflects people's lives and society from the side. There are also many works that express folk customs and the atmosphere of life in "The Equal Temperature". It can be seen that the essence of Bach's creation is: the combination of secular music and polyphonic music, the combination of religious thought and enlightenment thought, the combination of structure and melody. So, how to teach these ideas to students through specific techniques in teaching, so that they can play Bach's works better and more accurately?
Mastering the style of Bach's works is to play well The key to "Equal Temperament", specifically, is to pay attention to the following points: 1. Rhythm and speed. Bach's works are famous for their rigorous and steady rhythm. Since the work belongs to the music category of the Baroque period, it cannot be allowed to have a free, sometimes slow and sometimes fast rhythm similar to the Romantic performance techniques. Bach's works should be in a basic rhythm from beginning to end. Speed ??is one of the most important factors in determining style. When playing equal temperament, the speed should be consistent with the instruments at that time and the era at that time. The 18th century was an era with a slower rhythm. It would obviously be inappropriate to play this set of music very fast on the piano. So the playing of Equal Temperament should be relatively slow.
2. Key touch and intensity changes. There are many different methods of touching keys on the piano, but when playing Equal Temperament, the key touching should be consistent with the style of Bach's works. Generally speaking, in fast music, it is more appropriate to use non-legato or finger staccato to imitate the crisp effect on the clavichord. In slow lyrical singing music, the power must be transferred from the shoulders to the fingertips, the wrist must be steady, the connection between the sounds must be even, the sound must be pressed against the keys, and the sound must be kept round and full, so as to obtain a simple and elegant sound. Sound effects. In general, the intensity changes in Bach's works are relatively small and basically tend to be stable. But this does not exclude changes in intensity in certain passages. The intensity of Bach's works should be changed according to the content and structure of the music. In any case, the distinct pattern of light sounds can never be applied to all preludes and fugues.
3. Voices and lines. This is another extremely important feature of Bach's works. Through the training of these repertoires, we want to greatly improve the ability of fingers to control voices and ears to distinguish voices. In teaching, emphasis should be placed on maintaining the clarity of the voice levels. The theme voice should be particularly prominent, while other voices should give way to the theme voice, and the fingers should be properly controlled. However, in control, each voice should be clear and complete. To achieve this, it is necessary to extract each layer of melody parts and practice them separately, so that the mind can keep a clear understanding of each part, and then use a clear mind to direct the finger playing movements. Before playing Bach's polyphonic works, you should have a preliminary design of the lines to make them natural and flowing. Of course, the undulations of the music lines in the Baroque period cannot be as large as the undulations of the lines in Romantic music, but they must exist. Correct use of fast and slow will often give people a comfortable feeling, but misuse can be annoying. A singing, broad, flowing fugue is better suited to a crescendo at the end than a joyous, light fugue.
4. Decorative sounds. There are many types of Bach's decorative sounds, including echo, reverse echo, vibrato, lower tones, upper tones, etc. Each of them has its own special playing method.
On the other hand, because the ornamentation sounds suitable for the light and soft tone of the clavichord are not necessarily suitable for the thicker sound of modern pianos, Bach's ornamentation sounds should not be played too fast, too strong, too broken and too harsh. gorgeous.
5. Pedal. It seems to be unimportant in Bach's works, but in fact it is extremely important and extremely difficult to grasp. Examples of failure to play due to improper use of the pedal can be seen everywhere. In Bach's works, using too much pedal will make the sound unclear, and using too little will make the sound dry and tasteless. Both extremes are detrimental to Bach's style. I think the use of pedals should be determined according to the music. For example, if you encounter difficulty in connecting your hands during playing or a slow piece of music that needs to be extended, you can use the pedal, but you must listen carefully with your ears and proceed carefully.
In short, when playing Bach's works, you must conform to Bach's style characteristics. Of course, Bach's "Well-Tempered Music" and his other piano polyphonic works are so profound and profound. To truly understand and accurately master these masterpieces, it takes a lot of effort and time to do serious research. . However, mastering its main stylistic features and understanding the background of the times are the most fundamental requirements for learning Bach's works, and they are also the prerequisite and first step for playing Bach's works well.