Gymnopédie No. 2 · piano sheet music & MIDI file
The second Gymnopédie as a free piano MIDI: the famous sway with a stranger light. Playable preview, file and sheet music PDF below.
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.
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: 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 Gymnopédie No. 2 MIDI and sheet music
Two files are waiting for you: the Gymnopédie No. 2 piano MIDI file (4 KB, opens in Pianovera or any MIDI player) and the Gymnopédie No. 2 piano sheet music PDF (57 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 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.