Piano Guidance
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What is the level of Clair de Lune?

Cheat sheet Artist Claude Debussy Difficulty level Intermediate Instrument Piano Key(s) Db major Meter 6/8 4 more rows

skoove.com - Clair de Lune piano sheet music - Skoove
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Claude Debussy was a French composer who developed a unique harmonic style, pushing music into the contemporary 20th century style in much the same way that Beethoven pushed classical music into the romantic era. He wrote for orchestra – perhaps his best known orchestral piece is La Mer, but it is his piano music that is most popular today. “Clair de Lune” is perhaps his most famous piece of piano music and it is the 3rd movement of a suite of 4 pieces under the title “Suite Bergamasque”. He began composing the work around 1890 but fine-tuned it until it was published in 1905.

Cheat sheet

Artist Claude Debussy Composer Claude Debussy Release Year 1905 Genre(s) Impressionism Difficulty level Intermediate Instrument Piano Key(s) Db major Meter 6/8 Techniques Playing in thirds, more advanced tied notes

The piano chords of Debussy’s Clair de Lune

Clair de Lune was written by the brilliant pianist Claude Debussy and features commonly in many contemporary films, advertisements, plays, and is often even sampled by electronic musicians. The Clair de Lune piano chords are supremely beautiful, and quite difficult to play. Skoove has created a way to play the Clair de Lune piano chords in such a way that even a beginning pianist can learn to play this incredible song. The complicated time signature changes and triplets have been removed in favor of simpler, easy to read sheet music – so anyone now can play the chords of Clair de Lune.

Tips for playing the song

The time signature of the song is 6/8, which means there are six eighth notes in each measure, be sure to count them all carefully Notice the melody in the right hand is played two notes at a time, these notes are an interval of a third. Be extra careful about the fingerings for thirds!

The key is Db Major, which has 5 flat keys

When notes are tied over the barline, make sure to let the notes hold until they’re all the way finished Pay attention to how the left and right hand trade, with the left hand often playing before the right hand.

Master the Clair de Lune piano chords with Skoove!

Interesting fact

The majority of established composers around in Debussy’s day were highly critical and resistant to Debussy’s “new” style of music and rejected it. However, Debussy refused to conform to old harmonic rules and eventually his style inspired other French composers like Olivier Messian and Lily Boulanger, and jazz pianists like Bill Evans. Learn to play ‘Clair de Lune’ on piano step by step with Skoove

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Why are there no black classical musicians?

The lack of diversity is also reflected in the type of music that orchestras perform. Banks, who has played with The Cleveland Orchestra, said the problem stems from the fact that music written by Black composers is often not studied in music conservatories, which means that it will not likely be played professionally.

ithaca.edu - Panel Discusses Lack of Black Musicians in Classical Music | IC ...

“One of the things that makes me disgruntled now is we seem to be rehashing the same issues,” Allen said. Yet what has changed, he added, is the ability for Black classical musicians to band together to discuss the issue. “We didn’t have the ability to do that partly because we had no contact with each other,” he said. Anthony McGill, the principal clarinetist and the only Black musician currently in the New York Philharmonic, said that because orchestral musicians are typically not outspoken about political issues such as racism, progress is never achieved. “The environment that you’re in in an orchestra is very much one where you do not want to stick out,” McGill said. “So for a young Black musician, it’s especially hard because that’s exactly what you’re doing — you’re hiding in plain sight. You don’t want to speak up and say anything because people will think you’re being very radical.” The lack of diversity is also reflected in the type of music that orchestras perform. Banks, who has played with The Cleveland Orchestra, said the problem stems from the fact that music written by Black composers is often not studied in music conservatories, which means that it will not likely be played professionally.

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