J.S. Bach: Invention No. 9 in F minor (Teaching & Performance Videos)

[@mitraalizadeh3941]

Your last words were such a healing ... you put light on this piece.. I am in grief for the loss of my brother.. and I was practicing this piece for him .. 😢 which I accidentally saw this video.. thank you so much 😢🙏

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Hello Mitra, thank you for your beautiful comment about the last words I said. I am very sorry about the loss of your brother. Bach understood this kind of grief and it is reflected in this invention. I hope you find comfort playing this piece for yourself and for your brother. I send my condolences and best wishes to you. 🙏

[@eduardoleon5964]

Thank you so much for posting this excellent class!. So helpful to understand the different layers, the ornamentation in measures 15 and 16. The way you analyze and fragment the score is really helpful to learn. Thank you!.

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Hello Eduardo, thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful words! I really appreciate hearing that my analysis and new layout chart formatting of the phrases is helpful in learning and understanding the piece. I wish the best to you and with your playing. 🎵

[@tonybayliss8530]

These videos are wonderful, so so helpful. Thanks Sally

[@SallyChristianMusic]

+Tony Bayliss Hi Tony, and thank you for your kind words! Best wishes to you!

[@ViRrOorR]

Transcending the instrument I love that. Ive actually visualised conversations of sadness and even arguments at times not with words but with bachs music its so wierd

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Hello ViRrOorR, thank you for your thought provoking and powerful words. I agree that great music such as this invention communicates through sounds what we cannot fully say with words. It takes our conversations to new levels and depths. "That of which we cannot speak" is where transcendence begins. Best wishes to you.

[@zdravkominchev4780]

Thank you so much for all your videos on Bach's inventions! Any invention I've started to learn so far I first watched explained and demonstrated by you in this great, profound and really inspiring manner. I've learned so many things about the structure and the emotional side of Bach's musical universe. Don't stop teaching!

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Hello Zdravko, thank you for your thoughtfulness and generosity of spirit. I am very touched by your words, and appreciate you letting me know that the videos have been helpful & meaningful for you. I wish you much joy playing Bach's wonderful Inventions, and hope they will be a source of enrichment throughout your life!

[@hollyavillella554]

Youre a wonderful teacher and pianist! I appreciate your understanding of Bach and great appreciation for his music. Tfs your amazing analysis of his compositions. Just discovered this Invention yesterday evening! Profoundly beautiful! Bless you! ❤💐

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Hello Holly, thank you so much for your wonderful words about the Bach videos. I really appreciate your acknowledgements about the content, playing, and the analysis pdf included in the chart package. The lessons and charts are labors of love to make, and your words mean a great deal to me. 🙏 I wish you all the best with your playing and with your musical journey. 💕🎵

[@hollyavillella554]

@@SallyChristianMusic 💖

[@carlosdublanc]

fantastic tutorial! loved it

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Hello Carlos, thank you so much for your wonderful and much appreciated wordsl Very best wishes to you! 🎵

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Hello Carlos, I am so happy to see you now have your chart to work from! I wish you much fulfillment playing this beautiful and profound invention. 🎵

[@carlosdublanc]

@@SallyChristianMusic thank you Sally, I always had wanted to know more about this so intimate and profound invention. I used to play it long ago and recently I am revisiting the invention series which are all magnificent and this in particular. So useful your tutoring material to understand the harmony and geometries. Some of the passages I find very pleasant to the ear and incredible bodily experience of playing polyphony.

[@SallyChristianMusic]

@@carlosdublanc Hello Carlos, thank you for your insightful words about Bach's geometries and harmonies and the "incredible bodily experience of playing polyphony." I think this is beautifully expressed and mirrors the phenomenon of the "mind-body-heart connection" when we play music. I also very much appreciate your kind words about the Bach Inventions series videos I have made. 🙏 With all best wishes to you and with your playing. 🎵

[@krPeter2010]

your piano is so beautiful.

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Thank you, Peter! I feel very fortunate to have such a beautiful Yamaha piano to play!

[@TheWheatgrassboy]

that was a great performance and very helpful teaching material !

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Thank you for your wonderful comment! I'm really happy the lesson was helpful, and that you liked the performance. This is such a profoundly beautiful piece! :-)

[@joserobertosalazarbay3215]

Such a great teacher!

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Hello Jose, thank you so much for your very kind words! All best wishes to you and with your playing!

[@panamazura3071]

This was so so helpful! You're an amazing teacher. I always come back to your videos while learning the inventions :D

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Hello panamazura, thank you so much for your kind and generous words! I really appreciate hearing that the teaching videos are helping you. Best wishes to you and with your playing!

[@midbus]

same here!

[@midbus]

It helps me

[@SallyChristianMusic]

@@midbus Hello Henry, thank you for your kind words! I appreciate your comment, and am very happy the video is helping you, too! Best wishes to you and with your playing. :-)

[@josephososkie3029]

Sally, you're a good teacher. And when I see you struggle for words to describe a phrase or a theme, it makes me listen all the more. I hope you continue/ revisit the Bach series.

[@claudiasanders8372]

Is there a reason you play the first measure rhythm differently than the way it's written at 5:45?

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Hello Claudia, thank you for your comment. I played the video at 5:45 and was also surprised by the excessive pause on the first note. This lesson was recorded almost ten years ago in 2013. While it is difficult for me to even remember recording this lesson, I think the reason for the long pause was partly due to having just been talking and not taking a moment to establish the tempo clearly in my mind before starting to play. Were I to record this lesson today, I would absolutely play the 16th notes evenly as they are written. Over the last 9 years, I completed teaching videos, charts, and analyses for all 15 Bach Two-Part Inventions and half of the Sinfonias. In doing the study and preparations for these intensive projects, I learned a great deal more about Bach. My playing changed as well which you can hear by listening to any of the more recent Bach tutorials from the last several years.

[@claudiasanders8372]

@@SallyChristianMusic Thanks for your reply. I wasn't sure if it was meant to emphasize a point. What you say about talking and playing makes sense. There's so much to consider when making these videos I'm sure. Thank you for doing them. I'm looking forward to starting this Invention. I'll check out your other Bach tutorials.

[@SallyChristianMusic]

@@claudiasanders8372 Hello Claudia, thank you for your kind words and for your understanding about the variables involved in making a cohesive teaching video. As with anything else, there is a learning curve. With study, practice, and a desire for excellence, we do improve. Thanks for checking out some of the other Bach videos, and I wish you all the best with your playing! 🎵

[@bailey932]

Thank you for your brilliant tutorial

[@ItziSMartin]

Brilliant. Thank you so much.

[@sinophilia]

Thank you so much! I couldn't learn inventions without your help.

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Hello sinophilia, thank you for your wonderful words of acknowledgement! I really appreciate hearing that the lessons are helping you to learn these important and foundational inventions. :-) Best wishes to you as you learn and master them!

[@emilyhartman8255]

It’s so hard to find explanations for baroque ornaments - thank you!

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Hello Emily, thank you for your kind words. I'm glad you liked the ornament explanations. :-) Best wishes to you.

[@addyd.3140]

I love your analysis so much. Inspiring me to learn this one better. And your interpretation is unique, even if unconventional for baroque music. One question, you hold the bottom note briefly when making a leap in one of the voices, at first it distracted me from the purity of a two voice piece, but it's growing on me. Do you have a personal reason for this practice?

[@addyd.3140]

Which could just be your pedaling choices too.

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Hello Abraham, thank you for your nice words about the analysis, and also for your question regarding my holding of certain notes. This lesson was recorded four years ago. At the time, my reason was to replicate the breath a singer might take before placing a large interval. Were I to record this piece today, I would use less pedal and rubato, and would maintain a more even tempo throughout.

[@Be3Al2]

can you please make teaching and performance video for Chopin Bb Minor Sonatina no.2 funeral march & Schubert der müller und der bach please and thank you i hope you see my comment take care

[@pilkyunjung6976]

Thank you, thank you and thank you all the way from South Korea! This lecture was really helpful for me to understand and accept this sad, gloomy piece.

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Hello Pil Kyun Jung, thank you for your very kind and much appreciated words! I'm so glad to hear that the lesson helped you to better understand this inward and somber piece. With best wishes to you from San Francisco to South Korea. 🎵

[@crashrr2993]

As a beginner, just struggling to hit the right notes, it's easy to lose sight of the depth of music in these 'early learning' pieces. No chance of that with your lessons! 👍

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Hello Crashrr, thank you for your wonderful and thoughtful words! It means so much to me that the lesson helped to convey the emotional and spiritual depth of this music. Thank you, ...you made my day! All best wishes to you with your playing and your musical journey. :-)

[@fancybach]

Please continue. This Bach series is helping me so much. Best lesson I've seen online

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Thank you for telling me this! I'm so happy the Bach series is helping you. The Bach Inventions and Sinfonias are really such gems, aren't they! :-)

[@Be3Al2]

hi again could you also please make a video for Bach Sinfonia no.9 bvw 795 please?!

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Hello Beril, and thank you for your requests which I have put in the queue for future teaching videos and charts to be made. My plan is to continue first with making available many more Bach Inventions and Sinfonias, which you will see coming in 2017. The F minor Sinfonia No. 9 is one of the most profound, and I am very much looking forward to including this one as well. Best wishes to you, and thank you for your interest!

[@Be3Al2]

thank you for your quick reply back take care

[@musicalgenie480]

Hi you use a lot of pedal. Just curious, why do use pedal for this Bach invention?

[@SallyChristianMusic]

Hello musical genie, this lesson was recorded 7 years ago in my first years of making teaching videos. I used the pedal liberally at that time, especially for the slower inward pieces of Bach. I felt this gave more sustain and warmth to the long singing lines. In the last several years of making Bach teaching videos, I have chosen to use less pedal and less rubato.

[@musicalgenie480]

@@SallyChristianMusic it's so interesting how one's interpretation of a piece can change over time.

[@SallyChristianMusic]

@@musicalgenie480 Absolutely! It's like layers of an onion; with commitment, hard work, and perseverance, we go deeper and deeper with our understanding and our excellence!

[@wimvanherk3374]

To romantic unfortunately

[@ampac]

Depends. This piece leaves plenty of room for interpretation, especially if you look at it as written for a singer or for a bowed instrument (Sally mentions the cello on the video). We will never know for sure, but pieces like this were very likely not played metronomically in their time. Just listen how different players group the notes, especially the groups of sixteenths, and approach the suspensions and anticipations.