Editing Fugue (section)

===False entries===
At any point in the fugue there may be "false entries" of the subject, which include the start of the subject but are not completed. False entries are often abbreviated to the head of the subject, and anticipate the "true" entry of the subject, heightening the impact of the subject proper.<ref name="Verrall-1966-p12"/>
{{Image frame|content=<score sound="1">
\layout {
  \context {
    \Voice
    \consists "Horizontal_bracket_engraver"
    \override TextScript.font-size = -2
  }
}
\new PianoStaff <<
  \new Staff \fixed c' {
    \key c \minor
    <<
      {
        bes8 g'16 f' g'8 b c' d'16 ees' f'4~ |
        8 ees'16 d' c' bes aes g f8 aes' g' f' |
      }
      \\
      {
        g16 a bes8~ 16 ees f g
        aes g f ees d8 \override NoteHead.color = #red c'16\startGroup_"false entry" b |
        c'4\stopGroup \revert NoteHead.color r r8 f' ees' d' |
      }
    >>
    \bar "||"
  }
  \new Staff {
    \clef bass
    \key c \minor
    R1 | r8 \override NoteHead.color = #blue c'16^"\"real\" entry" b c'8 \revert NoteHead.color g
    aes c'16 b c'8 d' |
  }
>>
</score>|align=center|caption=Example of a false answer in [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J.S. Bach's]] Fugue No. 2 in C minor, BWV 847, from the [[Well-Tempered Clavier|''Well-Tempered Clavier'', Book 1]]. This passage is bars 6/7, at the end of the codetta before the first entry of the third voice, the bass, in the exposition. The false entry occurs in the alto, and consists of the head of the subject only, marked in red. It anticipates the true entry of the subject, marked in blue, by one [[quarter note]].}}