Taught by renowned instructor
Derek Remeš
Pianists play Bach. Some even specialize in his music. Yet the musical education most pianists receive would have been utterly foreign to Bach. How did Bach understand harmony and composition at the keyboard, and what can pianists learn from his way of thinking?<br><br>In this course, pianist and Professor of Music Theory at the Music Hochschule in Lucerne, Derek Remeš, explores 18th-century harmony and composition at the keyboard, particularly as it relates to J. S. Bach and his circle. Whether you're a beginner or a more experienced pianist, this series will help you establish a theoretical foundation for understanding music in Bach’s day. This will have an impact on the way you perform, improvise, and compose music in baroque and classical styles.
Introduction: What would Bach do?
In this introduction to his course on 18th-century harmony and composition, Derek Remeš reveals the significance of thoroughbass – the practice of realizing harmonic and contrapuntal textures from intervals above a given bassline, which Bach himself said was at the core of his creative process. Whether you're a beginner or a more experienced pianist, developing a foundation in thoroughbass will help you take a walk in Bach's shoes, impacting the way you perform, improvise, and compose music in baroque and classical styles.
Understanding Chord Content
In this first of three lessons on Harmony and Composition in J.S. Bach's Circles, Derek Remeš focuses first on understanding chord content. You’ll learn to play and hear chords as constellations of intervals over a bass scale degree. Remeš draws from Vol. 3.1 of his edition of J.C. Kellner's treatise on the basics of thoroughbass, in which he has added the soprano line as "training wheels" to simplify the realization process and get you started practicing like Bach.
Voice Leading Patterns & Neighboring Keys
In this second of three lessons on Harmony and Composition in J.S. Bach's Circles, Derek Remeš expands his analytical perspective to show you how to combine chords to make voice-leading patterns, and how to combine voice-leading patterns to make pieces. Continuing with exercises drawn from Vol. 3 of his edition of Kellner's thoroubass treatise, this lesson will help reveal how Bach and his students internalized a kind of musical grammar allowing for fluency in composition and improvisation.
Four-Part Realization & Basic Counterpoint
In this third and final lesson on Harmony and Composition in J.S. Bach's Circles, Derek Remeš addresses more advanced topics in thoroughbass practice, beginning with four-voice realization and basic contrapuntal principles, and culminating in fugues. The "training wheels" are now off, as Remeš turns to Vol. 2 of his edition of Kellner's thorougbass treatise where you will learn to realize four-voice textures with proper voice leading and no upper voice to guide you.
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Unlock Course →Pianist and theorist Derek Remeš is known internationally as one of the leading authorities on 18th-century keyboard practice.
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