Green notes: right hand, blue notes: left hand. Preview played right in your browser with the app's real piano (lightweight version). Inside Pianovera: full multi-layer sound, fingering display and Wait mode.
If the first prelude of the Well-Tempered Clavier is a prayer, the second is a machine set loose. Non-stop sixteenths in both hands of the MIDI, an obstinate C minor, and that final presto acceleration that bursts out as if the instrument lost patience, before settling on a major chord.
It's a piece of motor discipline: the same figure spins for pages, and your only judge is evenness. We recommend it right after the C major prelude, when your fingers finally want speed. Hidden bonus: it memorizes itself, the harmonic logic carries everything.
Prelude in C minor BWV 847: the first notes
Right hand, in letter names (C4 = middle C): C5 D#4 D4 D#4 C4 D#4 D4 D#4 C5 D#4 D4 D#4 C4 D#4 D4 D#4 G#4 F4 E4 F4 C4 F4 E4 F4… The rest scrolls in the preview above, with the fingering, and the sheet music PDF has the whole piece.
Play Prelude in C minor BWV 847 on the virtual piano
Here are the Prelude in C minor BWV 847 virtual piano notes, in computer keyboard letters: the first 3 bars of the melody. One key per note, read left to right; dark keys are the sharps, and a thin line marks each bar.
Letters for a QWERTY keyboardYour keyboard: 48 notes
I;W;Q;W;I;W;Q;W;
6RERQRER6RERQRER
UR;RWR;RUR;RWR;R
▶ Play on the virtual pianoThe piano opens with this piece loaded: the key to play lights up and waits for you.
What you'll be working on
Strictly even sixteenths in both hands
Staying loose inside repetition (tension never survives three pages)
The final presto: faster, not louder
Hearing the harmony shift underneath the machinery
Playing Prelude in C minor BWV 847 on piano with Pianovera
Pianovera's Scroll mode is perfect here: start at 60% and add 5% per clean pass. The note column is so regular that any unevenness shows on screen before your ear even catches it.
Open Prelude in C minor BWV 847 in Pianovera: the notes fall toward an 88-key virtual piano keyboard, each hand gets its color, and Wait mode is there if you're starting out. On a PC, it's falling notes piano software for Windows, with video export up to 4K.
Free, with no time limit and no ads: 30 pieces (10 in full, 20 in a simplified version), the first 10 lessons and 10 minutes of 3D hands (then 15 seconds per piece). Premium opens all 651 pieces.
Download the Prelude in C minor BWV 847 MIDI and sheet music
The work itself is in the public domain, and this MIDI engraving was placed in the public domain by its typesetter on the Mutopia Project. Use it freely, videos included.
About this piece
Is Prelude in C minor BWV 847 hard to play on piano?
We rate it intermediate: 1090 notes over 1:19, spanning C2 to G#5. The first thing to work on: strictly even sixteenths in both hands.
Where can I get the sheet music for Prelude in C minor BWV 847?
Right on this page: the "View the sheet music" button opens the PDF (94 KB), engraved by the Mutopia Project from the same source as the MIDI file, Public domain license. View it, print it, keep it.
Is the Prelude in C minor BWV 847 MIDI file really free?
Yes. Johann Sebastian Bach died more than 70 years ago, so the work (1722) is public domain. This MIDI engraving is public domain too: download it and use it freely, videos included.
