Pianoforall - 'Classics By Ear' - Bach Preludes

Name: Pianoforall - 'Classics By Ear' - Bach Preludes
Rating: 4.9 (580 reviews)

Learn to play two beautiful classical piano pieces by ear - from the creator of best selling piano course Pianoforall

Created byRobin Hall

Last updated 8/2020

English

What you'll learn

You will be able to sit down at any piano and play 2 stunning classical pieces by ear
You will be able to play the pieces without any performance anxiety
Your sight reading will improve dramatically
You will understand how to deconstruct any piece of classical music to make it easier to play and memorise

Course content

4 sections • 39 lectures • 4h 44m total length

Introduction4:24
Explore Bach preludes through ear-based piano instruction with video lessons, keyboard diagrams, and printable cheat sheets to reinforce listening and sight-reading skills.

Getting to know the notes on the keyboard5:10
Identify middle C on the piano and the repeating white and black key pattern. Learn white-key names A to G and use the black keys to locate sharps and flats.
'Play First - Read Later'3:36
Explore play-by-ear training and later sight-reading via video instruction and keyboard diagrams, using a four-chord progression (C, a minor, F, G) with both hands.
What do all the lines, dots and symbols MEAN?9:45
Learn basic musical notation: read staves, treble and bass clefs, middle C, bars and beats, rests, and note values like crotchets and quavers; memorize lines and spaces to sight-read preludes.
Some Useful Additional Information8:25
Explore how key signatures guide note spellings and tonal centers, from C major to Bb, and learn time signatures, natural symbols, ties, dynamics, and basic sight-reading concepts.

#1 - First let's listen to the Prelude in C major2:58
Don't forget to download the 'Essential Reference Pages PDF' from the RESOURCES of this lesson. It contains the sheet music, keyboard diagrams and cheat sheets for both preludes.
#2 - A 5 note pattern runs through every bar8:12
Uncover the five-note arpeggiated broken-chord pattern that runs through every bar of the Bach preludes, built from a C major arpeggio across both hands.
#3 - Amazing Cheat Sheets8:00
Discover cheat sheets for Bach's Prelude in C major: a five-note arpeggio pattern mapped to bars and a diagrammatic view. Practice reading distances, look ahead, and memorize five-note patterns.
#4 - Using 'Memorable Elements'5:30
Learn to memorize Bach preludes by ear using memorable elements and patterns, aided by keyboard diagrams and a cheat sheet as a visual map, enabling memory-based performance without sheet music.
#5 - How to Practice Effectively8:00
Listen to recordings hundreds of times to embed the piece in your brain. Practice small sections repeatedly, using muscle memory, analytical memory, visual patterns, and cheat sheets.
#6 - Bars 5 to 11 - Part 1 - Hands Separately8:30
Explore bars 5 to 11 of Bach preludes in hands separately, tracing left-hand step-down patterns, octave spans, and right-hand fingerings 3-1 and 3-2 toward a D to G resolution.
#7 - Bars 5 to 11 - Part 2 - Hands Together6:59
#8 - Bars 12 to 19 - Part 1 - Hands Separately10:20
#9 - Bars 12 to 19 - Part 2 - Hands Together12:01
Practice hands together from bars 12 to 19, locating notes with the keyboard diagram, and follow tight and wide chord patterns across two octave spans to the two-bar ending.
#10 - Bars 20 to 24 - Part 1 - Hands Separately10:20
#11 - Bars 20 to 24 - Part 2 - Hands Together8:30
Play both hands together with precise fingering, moving from bar 19 C chord through C7 tones, F, and the walking bass. Visualize the cheat sheet and practice from memory.
#12 - Bars 25 to 32 - Part 1 - Hands Separately7:40
Explore the G bass note section (bars 25–32) in hands-separate practice, noting the constant G in both hands and the bar 29 Eb with a black-key top note.
#13 - Bars 25 to 32 - Part 2 - Hands Together9:30
#14 - Last four bars - Bars 33 to 3610:41
#15 - Adding Expression12:22
Learn to add expression to Bach preludes by emulating a favorite rendition, then practice in small sections, record yourself, and refine pedal, articulation, dynamics, and rubato.
#16 - Complete Prelude with Expression2:54

#1 - First let's listen to the Prelude in C minor1:50
Listen to Bach's prelude in C minor to begin ear training for classical piano through the classics by ear approach.
#2 - A 6 note pattern runs through every bar8:15
Learn a six-note arpeggiated pattern that repeats in almost every bar of the Bach preludes, using C minor, F minor, and B diminished chords with one-octave hand patterns.
#3 - Amazing Cheat Sheets10:00
Apply Bach Prelude in C minor’s six-note arpeggio pattern using two cheat sheets: a chord-style reference and a diagrammatic view to simplify bars 1–6 and guide memorization.
#4 - Using 'Memorable Elements'4:30
Master memorable elements to learn Bach preludes by ear, using chord patterns and shapes to memorize bars 1–6 without sheet music, aided by a cheat sheet and memory tricks.
#5 - How to Practice Effectively6:40
Practice effectively by looping recordings of preludes to embed the piece in your ear and brain, then tackle passages to build muscle memory backed by analytical memory and nine sections.
#6 - Memorising the Sections3:45
Memorize Bach's prelude sections by using keyboard diagrams and a chord-focused cheat sheet, including diminished seven chords in the minor, to map each bar visually.
#7 - Bars 7 to 128:30
Master the bass run (bars 7–12) in C minor. Use Cm middle inversion tones; shift the bottom note from G to A in bars 11–12, mirroring left-hand C and Eb.
#8 - Bars 13 to 189:00
Explore the hand jump section in Bach prelude bars 13–18, where left-hand jumps connect four chord shapes (Gm, Eb, Cm, D7) to the right-hand; practice with the cheat sheet.
#9 - Bars 17 to 217:56
Learn bars 17–21 of Bach's prelude in the d bass section, with left-hand D‑A‑D patterns and ascending right-hand chords, reinforced by cheat-sheet visualization and memory-based practice.
#10 - A quick look at Diminished Chords5:09
Explore diminished seventh chords through three distinct shapes that let you play any diminished seventh chord, using geometric patterns to aid sight-reading and memorization in the C minor prelude.
#11 - Bars 22 to 279:24
Explore Bach prelude section five (bars 22–27), featuring downwards diminished seventh chords, a tight left-hand pattern around D bass, optional Eb bass in bar 23, and a two-page cheat sheet.
#12 - Bars 28 to 327:52
#13 - Bars 33 to 367:08
Explore section seven of the Bach prelude, bars 33–36, with a G bass and a shift to G major in bar 34, and diminished 7 chords with F# and Eb.
#14 - Bars 37 to 417:02
#15 - Bars 43 to 434:07
Explore section nine of classics by ear Bach preludes, bars 42–43, featuring two-bar ending with left-hand G and right-hand G chord then A diminished 7, concluding on a held G.
#16 - Adding Expression12:30
#17 - Flexible Tempo with Acoustic Guitar voice2:20
Discover how to apply flexible tempo and balance acoustic guitar voice while learning Bach preludes by ear, blending rhythm and tone for expressive classical performance.
#18 - Fun with different Keyboard Instruments4:21
Explore fun with different keyboard instruments and engage with Bach preludes through the classics by ear approach.

Requirements

Basic sight reading is helpful but not essential.
A knowledge of chords is helpful but not essential.
If you have no prior knowledge of piano you need to be willing to put in lots of practice

Description

A New Way to Learn

For over a decade, Pianoforall has taught over 300,000 people worldwide how to play amazing pop, jazz, blues, ballads and improvisation, and now we’re going to teach you how to play INCREDIBLE Classical pieces in the same way.

These courses are for ADULT BEGINNERS who would love to build a repertoire of great classical pieces but who don’t have the time (or the inclination) to learn the ‘traditional’ ‘hard’ way.

This Classics By Ear Series will teach you a NEW way to learn classical piano – from the ‘inside out’.

Instead of painstakingly learning complicated sheet music one note at a time by memory, you will learn how to take a piece of classical music apart bar by bar, section by section, and understand how it was all put together: from the musical ‘form’ – distinct sections and subsections – to the underlying chord structure, visual clues, patterns and repeats.

So not only do you learn how to play – the pieces but you UNDERSTAND what you are playing and this makes it SO much easier to memorise and perform.

No more performance fear

This really helps if you feel nervous performing in front of others. If we rely solely on ‘muscle memory’ we can have a fear of ‘forgetting our lines’ but if we have a deep understanding of a piece from many different angles – chords, sections, patterns, repeats and memorable elements – then we go beyond muscle memory until it feels as if we have written the piece ourself!

And you will learn everything in a refreshingly NATURAL way – the way we all learn to speak or read as kids: we first LISTEN to others, then we imitate them and SPEAK what we hear – and ONLY then do we attempt to READ words or sentences that we can already say. And so it makes so much more sense.

Similarly with Classics By Ear you will learn to play the pieces by following the videos, keyboard diagrams or ‘cheat sheets’, and then you will find it MUCH easier to follow the sheet music – because then it will all make perfect sense!

No Cliched Beginner’s Pieces!

The pieces you will be learning aren’t the usual cliched beginner’s pieces (like ‘Fur Elise’ or ‘Minuet in G’). We have especially chosen pieces that sound more advanced (watch the Promo video to hear the pieces) yet they are actually deceptively EASY to play – which means your audience will think that you have been playing for YEARS!

The course is perfect for those people who read a little music but aren’t very advanced – or those who play by ear but want to play some beautiful classical pieces.

If you have no prior knowledge you can still follow the lessons if you are prepared to put in lots of practice, but I suggest you also study sections 1 to 5 of my main Pianoforall course, which will teach you basic sight-reading and chord theory. Section 2 of this course also teaches BASIC SIGHT READING in just 18 minutes! It will give you enough knowledge to follow the rest of the lessons.

Like Pianoforall – these Classics By Ear courses come with exceptional and comprehensive supplementary PDF ebooks that you can print out and set on your piano or keyboard.

Who this course is for:

Perfect for those who read a little music but aren't very advanced
People who want to play some beautiful Classical Pieces 'by ear'
People who are VISUAL learners

Pianoforall - 'Classics By Ear' - Bach Preludes

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction1 lecture • 4min

Basic Sight Reading in 30 minutes4 lectures • 27min

Prelude No.1 in C major16 lectures • 2hr 12min

'Little Prelude' in C minor BWV 99918 lectures • 2hr

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: