Polonaise
The polonaise (French “danse polonaise”, Polish dance) is a festive processional dance in three-four time. The music for it is in triple time with the stress on the first beat. The archive holds two polonaises from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach.
- Word
- French polonaise (danse), “Polish (dance)”
- Time signature
- 3/4
- Character
- festive processional dance at a moderate tempo
- In the archive
- Polonaise in F major and in G minor
A processional dance in triple time
The polonaise is a festive processional dance in 3/4 time that was popular as the opening of balls. The word is French (“danse polonaise”, Polish dance). The couples walk through the hall at a moderate tempo, and the music is in triple time. The first beat carries the stress. The two pieces in the archive are piano pieces; the notation alone does not tell us how close they are to the dance.
A rhythm like the beginning of the G minor polonaise
An original example with the rhythm of the first two bars of the Polonaise in G minor: bar 1 has a dotted eighth note, a sixteenth note and two quarter notes, bar 2 an eighth note, two sixteenth notes and a half note. Counted out, each bar comes to three quarter notes.
For comparison: the beginning of Petzold’s minuet
An original example with the rhythm of the first two bars of Petzold’s Menuett G-Dur: in the first bar a plain quarter note falls on beat one, followed by four eighth notes; the second bar has three quarter notes. Here too each bar has three quarter notes, but the dotting on the first beat that the G minor polonaise shows is missing.
The rhythm at the beginning
In the G minor polonaise in the archive, the first bar begins with a dotted eighth note and a sixteenth note on the first beat, followed by two quarter notes. This dotted figure appears once more at the start of bar 5, where the second part begins. The F major piece begins differently, with eighth and sixteenth notes without dotting. This shows you that not every piece called “polonaise” begins with the same figure. You will find more about dotting on the page for the dotted note.
| Polonaise in the archive | Time signature | Key signature | Start of the first bar | Structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polonaise in F major, BWV Anh. 117b | 3/4 | one ♭ | eighth and sixteenth notes without dotting, ornament signs | Part 1 bars 1–8, part 2 bars 9–16, both repeated; fermata at the end |
| Polonaise in G minor, BWV Anh. 119 | 3/4 | two ♭ | dotted eighth and sixteenth notes on the first beat | Part 1 bars 1–4, part 2 bars 5–16, both repeated; fermata at the end |
Polonaises from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach
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Polonaise F-Dur from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach (1725), BWV Anh. 117b; the sheet names Johann Sebastian Bach · piano · 1 page
Time signature 3/4, one ♭. The repeat signs are between bar 8 and bar 9, and the second one, with a fermata, is at the end of bar 16. Many notes carry ornament signs, and there are small grace notes.
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Polonaise g-moll from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach (1725), BWV Anh. 119; the sheet names Johann Sebastian Bach · piano · 1 page
Time signature 3/4, two ♭. Bar 1 begins with a dotted eighth note and a sixteenth note, and the same figure appears again at the start of bar 5. A repeat sign comes after bar 4, the next before bar 5, and the last after bar 16 with a fermata. The piece ends on G.
Polonaise and minuet
Both dances are in three-four time, and the archive pieces of both have two repeated parts. Their origins differ: the minuet is a French dance, the polonaise a Polish one. On the page, what stands out in these examples is the beginning: Petzold’s minuet starts with a plain quarter note, the G minor polonaise with the dotted figure. The counting is the same, only the rhythm on the first beat is different. For exact counting, the page on three-four time helps.
Common mistakes
- Playing the dotted eighth note too long or the sixteenth note too early: The sixteenth note belongs just before the second beat, not on it.
- Overlooking repeat signs: Both polonaises in the archive have two repeated parts and a fermata at the end.
- Telling minuet and polonaise apart by time signature alone: Both are in 3/4. What decides is the title, the rhythm and the character.
Continue on Maikstrings
Related terms
MinuetThree-four timeDotted noteRepeat signFermataWaltzDanceMordentGrace note
Editor: Maik Krohm · reviewed on 3 October 2026
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