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.
Satie marked the third Gymnopédie "slow and grave", and it's the most nocturnal MIDI of the triptych: where the first floats in soft light, this one walks under an overcast sky, in minor nearly throughout. Debussy loved it enough to orchestrate it, which did a lot for the trio's fame.
It shares its sisters' technical simplicity: the challenge is never in the fingers, it's in the color. Playing dark without playing loud, keeping the sway alive at a very slow tempo, letting the melody detach without pushing it. A beautiful tone laboratory for a patient beginner.
Gymnopédie No. 3: the first notes
Right hand, in letter names (C4 = middle C): A4 G4 A4 G4 A5 A4 G5 F5 E5 D5 E5 F5 E5 D5 C5 E5 G5 G5 D5 A4 D5 A4 C5 F5… The rest scrolls in the preview above, with the fingering, and the sheet music PDF has the whole piece.
Play Gymnopédie No. 3 on the virtual piano
Here are the Gymnopédie No. 3 virtual piano notes, in computer keyboard letters: the first two phrases 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: 26 notes
YTREWEREWQ
ETTWW
QRTYWERMNBN
▶ 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
A dark color made with touch, not volume
A very slow tempo held without stiffness
Deep bass notes, round and grounded
The melody floating free of the background, effortlessly
Playing Gymnopédie No. 3 on piano with Pianovera
Nudge the reverb up in Pianovera's sound settings for this one: its cloud side blooms. In Wait mode, let each chord fade before you play the next; the piece was written for exactly that.
Open Gymnopédie No. 3 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. 3 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. 3 hard to play on piano?
We rate it beginner: 326 notes over 3:00, spanning G1 to A5. The first thing to work on: a dark color made with touch, not volume.
Where can I get the sheet music for Gymnopédie No. 3?
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. 3 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.
