Bach – 6 Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin: the order I learned

When do you start learning Bach – Solo Sonatas and Partitas for violin?

You can prepare for Bach’s unaccompanied works by practicing double stops and chords which can be seen in Kreuzer 42 Studies no.32 and on. One can use Dont 24 Studies “Preparatory for Kreuzer and Rode” op.37, no.19 and on, as well.

I started studying Bach when I was working on Kreuzer No. 32 or so (around the time I met my new teacher). As you can see below, I learned one by one from the end of Partita No. 3, made two laps with my teacher, and then proceeded to Ysaye.

I was always interested in Bach and I was so excited to be able to start learning them, since my former teacher never allowed me to do so, because “it is too difficult”.

I was guided by my new teacher in the following order, but I found that there are some teachers who introduce the Bach movements which do not contain double-stops and chords at the beginning, and then the others movements, without relating the movements in whole works, at a rather early stage of violin study.

However, I think there are very young students who cannot find phrases and cannot shape them, even with the teachers’ guidance. Also, some students cannot play with “musical” fingerings, if they are not exposed to enough materials before going into Bach. I would guide my students as I was taught. I wait until my students go through many repertoires for young violinists (there are so many beautiful, musical works for young violinists which can be found in Suzuki Books and Solos for Young Violinists) as well as standard etudes, and have them develop their technique and musical understandings first. Then, when they get to the Kreuzer level, I start to introduce Bach’s 6 Sonatas and Partitas in the order I had learned them, except for those times when the students needs to go through an audition which have certain requirements for Bach.

According to ASTA

At ASTA (American String Teachers Association), Bach’s unaccompanied works will appear at Level 8, along with the examples of music suitable for Level 8 to be Beriot concerto no.9, Beethoven Romance F Major, Dvorak Four Romantic Pieces, Haydn Concerto in C major, Wieniawski Legend, etc. As you can see from the chart below, I think it is easier, beneficial and enjoyable for both students and teachers to start Bach’s 6 Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin around the time students reach this level, both technically and musically.

Also, before studying Bach’s unaccompanied work, I learned some of Telemann’s 12 fantasies.

Difficulty levels in other organizations

The chart below shows two organization’s placement of the difficulty levels of Bach’s solo works.

		The Royal Conservatory of Music Examination Syllabus, Introductory through ARCT(Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto)	USA (state unknown) All-State Orchestra Solo Repertoire List (out of 20)
Partita no.2	Giga	Level 8	12/20
Partita no.3	Bouree
	Minuet I and II
	Gigue
Partita no.1	Corrente	Level 9 (Viotti concerto no.23, Mozart concerto in G Major k.216 etc)
Partita no.2	Allemanda		8/20
	Corrente		15/20
	Sarabande
Partita no.3	Gavotte en Rondeau
Sonata no.1	Adagio
Sonata no.3	Allegro assai
Sonata no.1	Siciliana	Level 10 (Kreuzer, Fiorillo, Dont op.37)
	Presto	(Viotti concerto no.22, Kabalevsky, Conus, Beethoven Romance in G Major, Wieniawski Legende etc)	10/20
Sonata no.2	Andante
	Allegro
Sonata no.3	Adagio
	Largo
Partita no.1	Allemanda and Double
	Sarabande and Double
	Tempo di Bourree and Double
Partita no.3	Preludio		16/20
	Loure
Sonata no.1	Fugue	Performer’s ARCT
Sonata no.2	Fugue
Sonata no.3	Fugue
Partita no.2	Chaconne		19/20

What is the easiest movement of Solo Bach?

As you can see below, I think the easiest movement is Giga (Gigue) of Partita no.3 in E Major, then, Bouree in Partita no.3. It seems like many other teachers consider Allemand in Partita no.2 can be very accessable (as you can see above lists), but I think this movement takes more understanding of phrasings.

The order of the movements of Bach – Solo Sonatas and Partitas I learned

As I mentioned earlier, I changed my teacer while I was studying the Kreuzer 42 Studies, and that was the time I started learning Bach’s unaccompanied works. The previous teacher prevented me studying it because it was “too difficult,” so, it was a great pleasure for me to be able to finally start learning them with my new teacher. It’s certainly a difficult works, but it takes time to learn the notes, and search for the musical expression as well as researching on them. Thus, it’s good to start now, if you/your teacher think you are ready for them. This is the order I learned:

Partita No. 3 Gigue

Partita No. 3 Bourrée

Partita No. 3 Minuet I & II

Partita No. 3 Gavotte

Partita No. 3 Loure

Partita No. 3 Prelude

Partita No. 1 Allemanda and double (double means variation)

Partita No. 1 Courrente and Double

Partita No. 1 Sarabande and Double

Partita No. 1 Tempo Di Bourea and Double

Partita No. 2 Allemanda

Partita No. 2 Corrente

Partita No. 2 Sarabande

Partita No. 2 Giga

Partita No. 2 Ciaccona

Sonata No. 1 Adagio

Sonata No. 1 Fugue

Sonata No. 1 Siciliano

Sonata No. 1 Presto

Sonata No. 2 Grave

Sonata No. 2 Fugue

Sonata No. 2 Andante

Sonata No. 2 Allegro

Sonata No. 3 Adagio

Sonata No. 3 Fugue

Sonata No. 3 Largo

Please let me know how you learned them at below comment section 🙂

Here’s another Bach:

More link: Violin Etudes Repertoire List

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