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Clair de Lune

Why does Debussy's Clair de lune float instead of march? Read its key (D flat major, five flats) and its meter (9/8, three groups of three), hear how rubato, pianissimo and colourful chords blur the beat, and play a floating texture of your own.

In this lesson you'll

  • Read the key signature of Clair de lune: five flats, B E A D G, and the second-to-last flat names the key, D flat major.
  • Feel 9/8 as three big beats split in three, and count it against 3/4, where the same three beats split in two.
  • Play a floating arpeggio over Db – Bbm – Gb – Ab (or C – Am – F – G), first strictly in time, then with rubato.

Music in this lesson

  • Clair de lune (Suite bergamasque, III)Claude Debussy · 1905

Remember

D flat major has five flats: five of its seven notes are black keys, which gives a soft, rounded sound on the piano.

9/8 is three groups of three; with a very free tempo (rubato) the sense of a strong beat blurs, so the music floats rather than marches.

Pianissimo and impressionism: colour and atmosphere instead of strong tension and release, chords chosen for their sound, not their pull.