3-Part Inventions, BWV.787-801
Baroque Invention Piano solo ~30 min
In brief

These three-part inventions require a clear, conversational texture: each voice must emerge within tight polyphony where imitative entries follow quickly, demanding precise timing and contrasting articulation. You will specifically face the Bass clef reading (Lecture clé de fa, 3.1/5), which requires tracking and sustaining the bass line with the left hand while keeping the other voices independent, and Baroque ornaments (Ornements baroque, 3.1/5), which call for short, clean execution of embellishments so they do not obscure the counterpoint. The set belongs to the Baroque period and is part of Bach's pedagogical, contrapuntal pieces intended to develop hand independence and keyboard contrapuntal technique.

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MusicCoach difficulty
47/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 40–54/100
Confidence : 81% · high confidence
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
On the syllabus: Grade 6 ABRSM

Official level, taken from the exam syllabus.

Other syllabi : AMEB Grade 6 · LCM Grade 5 · RCM Grade 5

Difficulty estimate by MusicCoach on a scale of 1 to 100.

Where this work sits
050100

Most works cluster between 45 and 65: a small score gap often marks a real step. The highlighted bar shows this work among those for the same instrument.

The MusicCoach difficulty measures a work's overall demands (technique, reading, stamina) on a shared 0-100 scale, consolidated from editorial and pedagogical reference points (Henle, exam syllabuses, curation) and our own analyses. It measures neither musical value nor the practice time YOU will need: two musicians of the same level can experience the same work very differently depending on their strengths (hands used to octaves, quick sight-reading…). The confidence reflects how many reference points sit behind the score and how well they agree — a lightly documented score is flagged “to validate”. For a truly personal bearing, the diagnostic and your space compare each work to YOUR estimated level, which the score alone cannot do.

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Difficulty sources
Henle Verlag
4
38/100 normalised · 5 obs.
Combined exam syllabi
Grade 5
43/100 normalised · 3 obs.
ABRSM (syllabus)
Grade 6
55/100 normalised
Combined exam syllabi
Grade 6
55/100 normalised
MusicCoach curation
Grade 6
55/100 normalised
Relative difficulty
40%
Among Johann Sebastian Bach
31%
Era Baroque
83%
Genre
Estimated skills
Reading
Bass clef reading
1
Ornaments
Baroque ornaments
1
Style
Baroque style
1
Technique
Hand independence
1
Technique
Legato
1
Technique
Two-voice polyphony
1
What to play next?

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