Gymnopédie No. 1 is a slow, quiet piano piece by the French composer Erik Satie. He wrote it in Paris in 1888, when he was 21. It lasts about three minutes. The left hand rocks between a low note and a chord, and the right hand plays a tune that seems to drift.
Quick facts
- Composer: Erik Satie, who lived from 1866 to 1925
- Written: 1888, in Paris
- Length: about 3 minutes
- Played by: one piano
- Beat: three slow beats in a bar
- Part of: a set of three Gymnopédies
What the title means
“Gymnopédie” is said “zhim-no-pay-DEE.” The word comes from ancient Greece. It was the name of a festival in the city of Sparta, where young men danced.
No one is sure why Satie chose it. He liked odd titles, and he gave his later pieces names such as Three Pieces in the Shape of a Pear.
A young pianist in Paris
Satie left the Paris Conservatoire without a diploma. His teachers had called him lazy. He earned his living as a pianist in the cafes of Montmartre, a hill in Paris where painters and poets gathered.
Other composers of the day were writing long, loud, complicated music. Satie went the other way. He wrote three short, slow pieces that stay calm from start to finish.
What to listen for
| Part | What happens |
|---|---|
| The opening | The left hand plays alone: a low note, then a chord, back and forth. The pattern never stops. |
| The tune | The right hand enters with single notes. The tune floats down, rests, and floats again. |
| The middle | The tune climbs a little higher and sinks back. |
| The second half | The whole piece begins again, almost the same. |
| The ending | The last chords turn darker, and the music fades. |
Why it sounds that way
- It stays calm. There is no race and no big finish.
- It is in three. The low note falls on beat one, and the chord falls on beat two and holds.
- The chords do not sound finished. Each one seems to hang in the air and wait for the next.
- Satie asked for it. At the top of the music, he wrote that the piece is to be played slow and with sorrow.
Read time signatures explained and tempo words in music.
The orchestra version
Satie’s friend Claude Debussy arranged the first and third Gymnopédies for orchestra. That helped people notice them.
Debussy swapped the numbers. In the orchestra version, this piece is called the third. Read Debussy for kids.
Where you may have heard it
The piece plays in films and advertisements, and it is on many playlists of calm music. Some people know it without knowing its name.
Things to do together
Slow motion. Move around the room in slow motion while it plays. Take one step to each bar.
Rock with the left hand. Sway to one side on the low note, and to the other side on the chord.
Float a scarf. Toss a light scarf up on a long note, and watch it fall.
Draw the tune. Draw one long line that goes up when the tune goes up and down when it goes down.
Piano or orchestra. Play the piano version, and then Debussy’s orchestra version. Ask which one your child likes more.
Two kinds of three. Play The Blue Danube, and then this piece. Both have three beats in a bar. One spins, and one drifts. See The Blue Danube guide.
Questions to ask
- Is this music sad, calm, or both?
- What color is it?
- Where would you be if this music were playing?
- What changed at the end?
Words to know
- Gymnopédie: Satie’s title, taken from the name of an ancient Greek festival
- Chord: three or more notes played together
- Tempo: the speed of the music
- Arrange: to rewrite a piece for different instruments
Print and play
Draw what you hear on a listening journal page. Find the slow beat with the metronome for kids. Read Satie for kids and calm classical music for bedtime.
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This article is part of Classical music listening guides for kids: famous pieces, one at a time.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.