Bach WTC Prelude in C Major, practice updates

 This post is intended to be a collection of my thoughts, ideas, experiments, reflections, mistakes, improvements, and so on, during my practice of Bach WTC Prelude in C Major. Whatever I think would be valuable to look back in the future will be recorded here. So, this post won't have a 'final' version; instead, it will be revised, updated; a renewing company for my musical engagement with Bach that this will be. 

[Technique]

Technique-wise, I found a wonderful way to play the RH arpeggios: subtle, tender rotation of elbow, which powers relaxing wrist, which rotates tenderly would transfers gentle power to the fingers for musical touch. This approach produces nice legato effortlessly. In comparison, if focusing on finger tips as the starting point for touch, both the music and muscles will feel tensed.  

Taubman Approach works better. Moving elbow and wrist too much isn't efficient. Focus on rotation of forearm with slightly in-and-out motion.

[Tips of practicing challenging points]

Isolating first four notes in each bar to practice. This is a good practice to smooth out bar change.

Isolating the right hand arpeggio in each bar to practice, keeping beat counting continuously. When the RH is in rest in the first two beats, lift and relax it. The key of success is mental mapping of key positions.

[Practice Relaxation]

Ruth Slenczynska suggested a way to practice relaxation and confidence in her autobiography.  She wrote, "Whenever hands are raised off the keyboard for rests or phrase endings, wrists should be up with the hands handing in order to insure relaxation. If this becomes habitual you will have endurance even in a difficult composition." BWV 486's right hand phrases as great opportunities to test it. So I tried and it did make the playing much more relaxing. I will incorporate this technique into my practice. 

Bach Prelude in C Major, BWV 846, bar by bar studies

Bar 1. C major chord 

Bar 2. Henle Urtext suggests for the left hand fingers 2, and 1(thumb) while Czerny edition 3 and 2. I prefer Czerny. Henle uses Schiff's fingering, which makes the left hand and the fingers too busy. That violates the peaceful, at-ease spirit of the music. 

Bar 3. 

Czerny fingering is preferred. 

Bar 4. same phrase as Bar 1.

Bar 5. First time encountering hand spanned over an octave, A to A. 

Bar 6. D Major 7 chord.

Henle suggests right hand for the F-sharp note. That's too much a jump. Czerny uses right hand thumb, which, though putting thumb on a black key, feels quite natural. 

exercise flash point: moving the right-hand thumb to the F-sharp accurately. It's not that difficult. The fifth finger on D would not bump with the edge of the key of C if the knuckle bridge is kept in natural arch.