Debussy for kids: his life, his music, and what to play first

Claude Debussy was a French composer who lived from 1862 to 1918. His music sounds soft, hazy, and full of color. He wrote pieces about moonlight, the sea, and falling snow, and he wrote a set of piano pieces for his young daughter. The best first piece for a child is “Clair de lune,” which means moonlight.

His name is said “deb-yoo-SEE.”

Quick facts

• Born: 1862, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, France
• Died: 1918, in Paris, France
• Era: Modern
• Played: piano
• Known for: “Clair de lune,” Children’s Corner, La mer, and Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

The life in short

Nobody in Debussy’s family was a musician. His father ran a china shop for a time. A piano teacher noticed the boy’s talent, and at ten he entered the Paris Conservatory, the leading music school in France.

He stayed for more than ten years. His teachers found him gifted and stubborn. He liked chords that broke the rules, and when asked which rule he followed, he said he followed his own pleasure.

In 1889, Paris held a world’s fair. Debussy heard a gamelan there, a group of gongs and metal bars from the island of Java. Its ringing sound and its scales stayed with him.

He made his living by writing music, teaching piano, and writing about concerts for newspapers.

In 1905, his daughter was born. Her name was Claude-Emma, and the family called her Chouchou. When she was small, he wrote Children’s Corner for her, a set of six piano pieces about her toys and her days.

Debussy died in Paris in 1918, in the last year of the First World War.

What the music sounds like

Earlier music often marches toward a goal. Debussy’s music floats. Chords hang in the air, and tunes drift in and out.

He used scales that were rare in European music at the time, including a five-note scale that a child can play on the black keys of a piano.

People call his style Impressionism, after the painters of his day who showed light and water with soft dabs of color. Debussy disliked the label.

Four pieces to play first

“Clair de lune.” Soft piano notes fall, slow and far apart. It lasts about five minutes and suits bedtime.

“The Snow Is Dancing,” from Children’s Corner. Light, quick notes fall like snowflakes outside a window. It never gets loud.

“Jimbo’s Lullaby,” from Children’s Corner. Jimbo was Chouchou’s toy elephant. The tune starts low and heavy, at the bottom of the piano, as the elephant nods off.

“The Girl with the Flaxen Hair.” A short, gentle tune for piano, under three minutes long. Flaxen means pale yellow.

Things to do together

Black key song. At a piano or keyboard, play only the black keys, slow and soft, with the right pedal held down. The notes blend in any order. That is the five-note scale Debussy liked.

Paint with water. Play “Clair de lune” and paint with watercolors. Let the colors run into each other, the way his chords do.

Snow watch. Play “The Snow Is Dancing.” Drop small bits of paper or cotton and watch them fall while the music plays.

Toy music. Ask your child to pick a toy and say what its music would sound like: high or low, fast or slow. Debussy did this for his daughter’s elephant and her doll.

Print and play

Print the Debussy fact sheet. It has the story, three pieces, and room to write and draw. For more quiet pieces, see calm classical music for kids at bedtime.

Next, meet another French composer of the same years in Ravel for kids. For all 24 composers by era, see classical composers for kids.