Musette
The musette is originally a French bagpipe. In Baroque music a piece or dance that recalls it is also called a musette: beneath the melody lies a drone bass that imitates the sound of the bagpipe. The archive holds a Musette in D major from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach.
- Word origin
- French musette, from Old French muse, “bagpipe”
- Meanings
- French bagpipe; dance and piece of music of the Baroque
- Characteristic
- Drone, Pedal point
- Time signature of the archive piece
- 2/4
Bagpipe, dance, piece
The word has several meanings. Two of them are the French bagpipe of the 17th and 18th centuries and a slow dance that this bagpipe accompanies; the word comes via French from Old French “muse”, meaning bagpipe. It also names a short oboe and a French folk dance of the late 19th century. Here the subject is the piece of the Baroque era: a piece of music and a dance in the style of the musette de cour, a particularly refined form of the bagpipe.
The musette is closely related to the pastorale, which in the Baroque, however, was mostly associated with the birth of Christ and the Christmas season.
The drone in the score
You recognise the drone in the left hand. It is a bass note that stays beneath the melody or is struck again and again, as with the drone pipes of the bagpipe. The table sets side by side how the musette is described and what the archive piece shows.
| Description of the musette | Musette in D major in the archive | |
|---|---|---|
| Bass | characteristic drone bass, usually a long-held pedal point; it can also be struck again at regular intervals | Bars 1–2 and 5–6: the left hand alternates in eighth notes between D and the D an octave higher; in part 2 between A and the A above it, later between E and the E above it |
| Time signature | not uniform: dance in 3/4 or 6/8, but also musettes in duple and triple metres; no uniform dance form | 2/4 |
| Tempo and character | tempo usually moderately slow, character sweet, peaceful, idyllic | no tempo marking on the sheet |
The time signature stands out: some descriptions name 3/4 or 6/8, others duple as well as triple metres and regard the musette as a form with no uniform definition. Bach’s piece is in 2/4. The bass, by contrast, matches the description exactly: a note struck again at regular intervals.
Drone bass struck on every eighth note
An example of our own in D major. In bars 1 to 3 the lower part jumps twice in every bar between D and the octave above, like the left hand at the beginning of the Musette in the archive; the last bar ends with a quarter note on D. The upper part moves in eighth notes through notes of D major.
The same melody over a held bass note
The melody is the same, but the bass lies as a half note through every bar. This form is regarded as the most usual one. Listen to the difference: the struck bass in the first line pulses, the held one is calm and steady.
The musette in the archive
Piano
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Musette D-Dur Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) according to the sheet, from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, BWV Anh. 126 · piano · 1 page
2/4 time, two sharps in the key signature, 20 bars. Part 1 runs from bar 1 to 8 and ends with a fermata on D and a repeat sign. Part 2, bars 9 to 20, is enclosed by repeat signs and ends on A; there is no “Da capo” in the score. In bar 1 the right hand has a quarter note and four sixteenth notes, while the left hand plays eighth notes that jump between D and the D above.
When the name is Bach, the number deserves a closer look: the addition “Anh.” after the BWV number marks the appendix of the catalogue of works, which holds pieces of doubtful authenticity. The sheet names Bach as the composer.
Common mistakes
- Playing the bass too loudly: It accompanies and should not drown out the melody.
- Forgetting the repeat: The sign before bar 9 and the one at the end after bar 20 belong to part 2; part 1 has its own at the end of bar 8.
- Skipping over the fermata in bar 8: There you hold the final note of part 1 longer before going back for the repeat.
Continue on Maikstrings
Related terms
PastoraleDronePedal pointBagpipesTwo-four timeFermataRepeat signGavotteDanceBaroque
Editor: Maik Krohm · reviewed on 3 October 2026
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