Arabesque No. 1 · piano sheet music & MIDI file
Debussy's First Arabesque as a piano MIDI: playable preview, free download and sheet music PDF gathered on the same page.
Preview played right in your browser with the app's real piano (lightweight version). Inside Pianovera: full multi-layer sound, fingering display and Wait mode.
Debussy was 26, years before La Mer and the Préludes, when he wrote the two Arabesques that already announce everything: the First unspools garlands of triplets flowing from hand to hand as if the keyboard itself were rippling. No drama anywhere in this MIDI, just light and curves.
It gently introduces the challenge that returns all over Debussy: two against three. The duple melody has to float above the triplets without being pulled into them. It's more approachable than Clair de Lune, and frankly the best place we know to tame that polyrhythm before going further.
What you'll be working on
- Two against three in comfort, without counting out loud
- Triplets flowing between the hands with no seam
- A pearled sound, light pedal, nothing pressed
- Long phrase arcs (think in lines, not bars)
Playing Arabesque No. 1 on piano with Pianovera
Slow Pianovera down to 60% and watch the grid: the triplets and the duplets draw two visible patterns crossing each other. Seeing the polyrhythm before playing it is exactly what paper scores never give you.
Open Arabesque No. 1 in Pianovera: notes fall toward the keyboard, each hand gets its color, and Wait mode is there if you're starting out.
Try Pianovera for freeDownload the Arabesque No. 1 MIDI and sheet music
Two files are waiting for you: the Arabesque No. 1 piano MIDI file (13 KB, opens in Pianovera or any MIDI player) and the Arabesque No. 1 piano sheet music PDF (131 KB, printable). Both come from the same engraving: what you read on the score is exactly what you hear in the preview.
The work itself is in the public domain, and this MIDI engraving was placed in the public domain by its typesetter on the Mutopia Project. Use it freely, videos included.
About this piece
Is Arabesque No. 1 hard to play on piano?
We rate it intermediate: 1448 notes over 2:56, spanning E1 to G#6. The first thing to work on: two against three in comfort, without counting out loud.
Where can I get the sheet music for Arabesque No. 1?
Right on this page: the "View the sheet music" button opens the PDF (131 KB), engraved by the Mutopia Project from the same source as the MIDI file, Public domain license. View it, print it, keep it.
Is the Arabesque No. 1 MIDI file really free?
Yes. Claude Debussy died more than 70 years ago, so the work (1891) is public domain. This MIDI engraving is public domain too: download it and use it freely, videos included.