Green notes: right hand, blue notes: left hand. 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.
Everyone knows the first Gymnopédie; the second is her sister who lost the way home. Same pendulum tempo, same floating melody, but in this MIDI the harmony wanders further, pauses on chords you didn't expect, sets off somewhere else. Satie marks it "sad and grave".
Musically it's the most intriguing of the three, and technically nothing changes: a bass, a chord, a melody. If you've built the first one, this reads almost at sight, and chaining two (or all three) makes a concert moment of total softness.
Gymnopédie No. 2: the first notes
Right hand, in letter names (C4 = middle C): G4 A4 G4 A4 G5 G4 A5 G5 F5 E5 F5 G5 D5 A4 G5 G4 A5 G5 F5 E5 F5 G5 D5 C5… The rest scrolls in the preview above, with the fingering, and the sheet music PDF has the whole piece.
Play Gymnopédie No. 2 on the virtual piano
Here are the Gymnopédie No. 2 virtual piano notes, in computer keyboard letters: the first 8 bars of the melody, after the 4-bar introduction. One key per note, read left to right; dark keys are the sharps, and a thin line marks each bar. The melody sounds an octave lower than written, so it fits on the keyboard.
Letters for a QWERTY keyboardYour keyboard: 17 notes
TYTRERTW
TYTRERTWQ
▶ Play on the virtual pianoThe piano opens with this piece loaded: the key to play lights up and waits for you.
What you'll be working on
The bass-chord sway, twin of the first Gymnopédie
Wandering harmonies to listen to, not count
The melody crossing registers without accent
Giving each Gymnopédie its own character
Playing Gymnopédie No. 2 on piano with Pianovera
Load all three Gymnopédies in Pianovera; the site library has every one. In Wait mode, No. 2 deciphers in a single session if No. 1 is already in your fingers.
Open Gymnopédie No. 2 in Pianovera: the notes fall toward an 88-key virtual piano keyboard, each hand gets its color, and Wait mode is there if you're starting out. On a PC, it's falling notes piano software for Windows, with video export up to 4K.
Free, with no time limit and no ads: 30 pieces (10 in full, 20 in a simplified version), the first 10 lessons and 10 minutes of 3D hands (then 15 seconds per piece). Premium opens all 651 pieces.
Download the Gymnopédie No. 2 MIDI and sheet music
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 Gymnopédie No. 2 hard to play on piano?
We rate it beginner: 371 notes over 3:15, spanning A#1 to C6. The first thing to work on: the bass-chord sway, twin of the first Gymnopédie.
Where can I get the sheet music for Gymnopédie No. 2?
Right on this page: the "View the sheet music" button opens the PDF (57 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 Gymnopédie No. 2 MIDI file really free?
Yes. Erik Satie died more than 70 years ago, so the work (1888) is public domain. This MIDI engraving is public domain too: download it and use it freely, videos included.
