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Arabesque No. 2

by Claude Debussy (1862–1918) · Early modern · Advanced

Versions

VersionLevelKeyLength
Advanced · Level 44 of 5G major3:38

The player above plays the first 20 seconds. Learn all 3:38 of Arabesque No. 2 in the PianoKite app: every version, both hands or one at a time, Wait mode on every bar, play-along at 50, 75 or 100% and per-bar feedback. Get early access.

Era
Early modern (1890–1930)
Mood
Joyful · bright and lively
Versions
1

About this piece

Written by Claude Debussy (1862–1918), Arabesque No. 2 is upbeat and sunny, in the early-20th-century style. It is rated level 4 of 5, advanced, and takes about 3:38 to play in G major. In the app it belongs to the Dreamy collection. It is one of the 100 most popular pieces in our library.

About Claude Debussy (1862–1918): French composer whose new harmonies opened the 20th century. Clair de lune, the two Arabesques and Children's Corner are his best-known piano pieces.

How to play Arabesque No. 2 on piano

  1. Expect weeks, not days. Learn it section by section and keep a list of the hardest passages to practise first in every session.
  2. Slow practice is the fastest way forward: loop the difficult bars at 50% until they are clean, then 75%, then full speed.
  3. Decide on fingering early for fast passages and write it down; changing fingering later costs more time than it saves.
  4. Aim for a soft, singing tone and smooth connections between notes. Change the sustain pedal with each new harmony so the sound doesn't blur.
  5. Short daily sessions beat one long weekly one. Ten focused minutes a day is enough to make steady progress.

In the PianoKite app you can learn it with your own digital piano over Bluetooth or USB, or with any piano through the microphone: the score scrolls past a playhead, the keys light up, and every bar gets a score so you can see what's learned. See how it works. New to the piano? Start with the beginner lessons. Get early access.

License and credits

Typeset by Knute Snortum for the Mutopia Project. License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. Source: Mutopia Project.

The source file may be shared and adapted, also commercially, with credit to the typesetter and adaptations under the same license; the preview on this page is an excerpt of it, under that license.

Text events such as lyrics were removed; the notes are as published. The player on this page plays the first 20 seconds.

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