1. Hold the melody while another voice moves
Purpose: preserve two lines with different rhythms in the same hand. Preparation: identify which notes belong to each voice by their stems, rests, and durations. Start without pedal.
The RH upper voice moves in half notes. The lower voice mostly moves in quarters. Each lower change must leave the half note sounding until its written release; the upper line is not a series of accents attached to the lower line.
Learn each release as well as each attack
- Play the upper line alone: A–G–F–E. Count its full two-beat durations.
- Play the lower line alone. Notice its final half note, which ends with the upper E.
- Combine the RH at a slow pulse. At the middle of a held half note, only the lower finger changes.
- Add the LH after the RH can maintain the durations without stiffening.
The lower voice uses the thumb on neighboring notes in bar 2. Make a small lateral adjustment; do not hold the previous lower note past its duration in pursuit of perfect finger legato. The upper F is sustained while that lower move takes place.
Check: stop after the first beat of a half note and name what must remain down. Then continue without making the pause part of the finished exercise. This inspection is a temporary repair, not the final rhythm.
2. Give the left hand the same responsibility
The LH now carries a half-note bass beneath moving quarters. The higher LH voice uses the thumb and neighboring fingers while the little finger changes the bass every two beats.
Prepare the bass change without losing the upper line
Play the bass D–C–C–B♭ alone. Then play the upper LH quarters alone. Combine them while listening to the moment at beat 3: the bass changes, but the upper line continues its own quarter-note rhythm.
The fingering changes between bars to accommodate the new shape. Test it slowly and watch whether a held bass makes the rest of the hand rigid. It should remain supported with no more effort than needed to keep its key down.
Two useful reductions
Hold plus one change: sustain the first bass D and play only the first two upper quarters. Release the entire hand and repeat once. Add the next bass only after the upper change is easy.
Two lines in two hands: temporarily give each voice to a separate hand. This helps establish the intended sound before restoring the one-hand distribution. Keep the printed pitches and durations unchanged during this listening reduction.
Check: the bass must not pulse with every upper quarter. Conversely, its release must not cut short an upper note. A short recording without pedal makes these errors easier to hear.
3. Choose a workable connection
Two written voices do not require every interval to be stretched or every note to be connected by the fingers at any cost. Begin with the written durations and musical roles, then decide how the physical connections can be made comfortably.
A practical order of decisions
- Locate notes that genuinely must continue sounding. A tie carries one sound; a repeated note requires a new attack.
- Mark the moving line and its destination. Choose fingers that allow the next change, not merely the first sonority.
- Test the most awkward overlap slowly without pedal. Adjust the hand’s position before adding speed.
- Where a literal one-hand connection is impractical, consider redistribution, substitution, a controlled release, or appropriate pedal in context. Mark any change deliberately.
Finger substitution can help in some sustained passages, but changing fingers on a depressed key is itself a skill. Introduce it separately; do not add it automatically to every long note. Nor should pedal conceal an accidental early release while you are learning the voices.
Listen for two phrase shapes
Once the durations are secure, play the upper line gently toward its destination while the lower line remains level. Then reverse the listening emphasis as a diagnostic experiment. The quieter line still needs direction and rhythmic definition.
Ready to move on: play either printed study with both lines audible, correct holds, and an easy release afterward. You should also be able to play each line separately from memory while counting the other line’s rhythm.
The next chapter applies this work to Bach’s actual three- and four-voice textures. Its stems show voices, not a rule that every upward stem must be played by the RH. Hand distribution may need to serve the line.