If we as teachers are absolute in our thoughts, embracing an unchanging perspective about a composition, then there’s absolutely no room to grow or gain new insights about phrasing, interpretation, etc.

Yet in this piece of video shown below, I became ever more convinced that the motif or subject of Bach Invention 1 had a curvy contour that threaded through the composition in one form or another. It needed an internal aural image that could be realized by a particular physical approach.

When the subject’s inversion occurred in measure 3, the curvaceous character remained and required a certain playing consistency.

This is such a miraculous composition that journeys through many keys in its two economical pages, yet the nuances of the modulations cannot be overlooked. I love the transition to D minor, where one can dip the C# in Measure 10, coming under it with a lesser dynamic..in a subtle way to herald the key change.

In any case, this is how the lessons played out: (Still a partial sample of what we worked on)

Shaping the Subject:

The Inverted Subject: (with slight overlap from preceding video)