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Have you learned how to play Clair de Lune? Or maybe you've been working on it and it's not there yet? Keep working! You WILL absolutely get there. If you want a little help along the way, go here- cornellmusicacademy.com/blackfriday
I adore this song as it feels like nostalgia and loosing a loved one. This one will always remind me of my cat who passed away, real cry cry material this song.
Claire de Lune was my grandfather's favorite tune and it was played at my wedding. My mother had recorded a version of her playing it on an 8-track tape back in the '70s for my grandfather for father's day. My mother passed away when I was 15, but I was able to borrow the 8-track tape and digitize my mother's version of the song. So when I walked down the aisle, it was my mother playing Claire de Lune.
I’m working on the next 2 measures which are way harder because the left hand has to move a lot more, but it’s so satisfying because I really feel like I’m becoming a far better player the more I practice it.
Clair de Lune was one of the first "real" pieces I've played and honestly I completely agree with you! It teaches a pianist so many important and nuanced things within technique which become invaluable in future playing. On top of that, it sounds beautiful. Truely an amazing piece of music
This is one of those pieces which shows that music doesn't need to be hard to be beautiful. And it doesn't have to be hard to be "hard", as in learning the flow, feel, and keyboarding timing/pressures that turn it from an exercise to an emotion.
Agreed. Feel free to watch (and rip to shreds) my uploaded YT video of my playing of this piece. It's something I could play forever and still not get perfect.
This is probably the most beautiful piano piece in my opinion. I have a deep personal connection to it and everytime I hear it somewhere, it alsways makes me sad and melancholic. It's just so beautiful
I love how Charles explors all the different corners of music from classical to jazz to your favorite theme songs. It's awesome what you're doing man keep it up.
Yeah, like what percent of music sales? Definitely less than 5%. Maybe even less than 1%. Did you miss my point or something? The audience has overlap. They're both "art music"
3:18 Wait! Fascinatingly, while you are right, did you know Debussy himself didn't intend the chords to be played perfectly together? He rolled them! In this piece, pretty much all of them. Regardless of the notation. This gives up on the "clarity aspect" you mention, but instead sets a different mood, and that's what he prioritized. We know it simply from... listening to his fantastic playing! There's a 100+ years old recording of his performance of that piece😮 now you know! Edit: The recording has been most probably MISATTRIBUTED to Debussy. I still love it though!
I believe this was a piano roll indeed! The tempo felt surprisingly natural in his interpretation. Perhaps because he never heard his piece played by an elevator.
I actually have found out that that video is a bit of a fraud. There is a comment that claims that the recording is by another pianist, because, while Debussy did record a couple pieces , he didn't record Clair de Lune
@@TheUltimateLegend7 I just did a little research... and indeed it seems like Clair de Lune was never recorded by him. Reliable lists of his piano rolls don't include it. Very sad. Thank you for that comment! I must admit though, I still love the free tempi and expressive rubato... and rolling, of course!
@meemaurice I also greatly appreciated the comment that shed light on that video. And, yes, I do quite like that interpretation, but it is unfortunate it is wrongly accredited to Debussy.
I've played piano and been self taught for 7 years. I always love watching your videos because I learn something new everytime. I never knew that "flamming" notes, so to speak, could fundamentally change the feeling of a phrase or entire song so much because of the natural undulation of ringing notes. Thank you so much! 🙏
thank you for alligning your hands with the green notes when you did, its less abrasive on my brain than the backwards look when youre facing the camera and showing the notes played beneath. 💖
Claire de Lune is THE song to remind me how happy I am to be alive. Like of all the ages of history, I was born in one where I can enjoy this wonderful song. I'm still working on learning it myself.
I remember playing this for the first time, i thought i wasn't ready for such a piece, but then i started playing it and it was easier than it seemed! It really opened the doors for me as a pianist and a musician.
For real? That's exactly how I feel right now. I don't think I'm ready for this piece, but all these encouraging videos are coming into my feed. And rn I feel way more confident to try this piece out
@@pats7427 it seems harder than it is. I had been thinking same as you before I tried to actually learn it. When I started for the first time I ended up on 1+ minute and coudlnt go further. But 3 weeks ago I sat to that piece again and changed few things about my training and I am already at 2:40 so it is really possible to learn. What you have to focus on while learning this piece is just to pracitice it really slowly and pay attention to how you put your fingers during playing some parts. Try it out it's worth it because playing thay piece gives you so much sattisfaction. Good luck.
@@pats7427 after fully learning clair de lune i think imma take a shot at chopin's ballade no. 1 but that piece seems impossible to me. But still imma try it because i love this piece
I recently discovered your channel. I do not play piano, and yet I watch your videos in absolute fascination. Music is so powerful. The way you explain the complexities of the music, the mechanics of playing it, but most importantly your passion and enthusiasm for it is what keeps bringing me back. I don't have the training, but I find such joy when I react the same way to the music as you do, and then I get to hear the explanation for why I recognized something that you pointed out without the understanding beforehand. Anyway, long winded way of saying I'm enjoying your videos as a fellow music lover. (Especially Jazz!)
I've been playing piano since I was 5, and I have a degree in Piano Performance, but I've NEVER before heard a good explanation for hitting notes at exactly the same time so they can ring in synchronous waves. Wonderful explanation!
This was one of my mother's favorite pieces, brings a tear to my eye every time. Means a lot to learn about the mechanics of why we both found it so beautiful, thank you Charles.
I learned this in high school, and I felt so “grown up” playing it. Playing this piece is very nostalgic for me even though it’s been many many years since and my piano skills have much decayed lol. Beautiful video.
I loved this from start to finish. I've worked on this piece in the past and got it to some sort of semi-reasonable presentability, but you've made me want to start again and really give it the attention it deserves. Your enthusiasm is very contagious.
This is what all piano students need! What a brilliant way to explain the mechanics of sounding good. So many classical pieces for Charles to explain and enthuse us with - the possibilities are endless!
For me - the ultimate Clair de Lune was played by Khatia Buniatishvili on her Motherland album, the tempo, the clarity, the soul - eeverything about those five and a half minutes is just utter perfection.
I’m in total agreement. She is an amazing pianist. So much depth and feeling in her playing. She is mesmerising. I place her up there with Argerich, Pires, and Marc-Andre Hamelin.
Clair de Lune is a beautiful piece not only because it is not complex and hard to play but also because it IS complex in the feelings it evokes. I am sure that if a baby were to listen to this piece, they wouldn't understand it beyond it being a beautiful piece simply because the song brings up something that can only be felt by living life a bit. Melody which could of course begin a beautiful discussion on how life - in its more than immense complexity - shows simplicity. How some straightforward conclusions can be drawn from the most complex events and vice-versa... But that's beyond the point. Its a great piece.
This is my all time favorite piano piece and one of the main reasons I even started to play the piano. Thx for covering that amazing piece of music Charles!
With it's odd time signature, this piece is so emotionally expressive. There's additional freedom to alter the pace and volume to add even more expression. My wife can be moved to tears when I play this, though I only learned the first half of it.
clair de lune is one of my all time favorite classical pieces. every time i hear it i get swept away with feelings of sadness and melancholy and i get teary-eyed. such a beautiful composition
I don't play the piano, and I wouldn't even attempt to learn this, but I can tell you that this magical song is my absolute go-to when I really need to find tranquility. To me, it is perfect. ❤
Amazing video Charles. I can feel your love and passion for this piece. I'm an amateur self taught on the piano and decided to learn the piece. I recently lost my Mother and decided to learn it for her. Every time I play it I'll remember her and she'll be with me. I look forward to learning. I've finally got myself a weighted midi piano to get better at playing.
I'd recommend featuring some of these exquisite pieces: Op. 10, No. 3 (Tristesse) - Chopin regarded it as having his finest melody. Ballade No. 1 or 4 - among his most intricate compositions, arguably some of the best for piano. Prelude in E minor delivers a a simple melody but decorated with a very clever and unique harmony. Prelude in F sharp minor. Mazurka in A minor. Prelude in B minor has a jazzy vibe with its complex melody and bouncy feel. Scherzo no 2. Nocturne in c minor. Wrong note etude. Finally, Nocturne in E-flat major stands out as Chopin's most renowned work.
Debussy is all about color. My introduction to Debussy as a young piano student was “Reverie” which is also an “easy” piece note-wise, but complex in getting the voicing, melody and finger sustain just right (don’t let the pedal make it mushy!). Debussy is probably my favorite composer, so thanks for doing this video.
I really recommend the Lang Lang’s version of this piece (the one where he’s on a boat). It’s my favorite version, his dynamics are insane and the slow flexible tempo he chose is perfect.
This is my favorite piece of all time. I played it for my piano recital in my freshmen year of high school, and afterward, my friend’s grandma came up to me and said that it made her cry, because it was her grandmother’s favorite song. From that point on, I never stopped practicing it.
Thanks for breaking this one down. It’s long been one of my favorites. I stopped playing piano about 30 years ago and I’m starting to pick it up again. This is one of the first songs I got the sheet music to since regaining my interest. Sitting back down to it recently made me realize how much I’ve lost in ability to read music, but conversely how much more I can play by intuition now than before. Seeing you break down all the difficult to read bits into “it’s just this chord” really helped.
I love Clare de Lune, unfortunately i’ve mostly forgotten how to play it. You’re right, there are many nuances that is difficult to pick up on, and it’s these nuances that if played correctly, make the piece incredibly beautiful. When i listen to the recording i made, it just doesn’t compare to a pro’s sound. Like Charles said there’s another level to it, just playing the notes isn’t enough.
If there is such a thing as a perfect song, a perfect piece of music, it’s Clair de Lune. It evokes so many emotions at once and can “mean” so many different things to different listeners without a single word sung.
When I first heard this piece in its entirety in a concert (because movies and tv shows always take snippets of it, but not the whole thing. I’ve “known” of it but not the full thing) in college when I was studying music (saxophone performance and music education) I was the guy trying to pretend that I wasn’t crying. Might quite possibly be my favorite piece of all time and it’s not really even close. The emotion that this piece elicits is absolutely astounding. Every chord, every note… just beautiful. Thank you for sharing this, makes me feel like I can maybe buy a keyboard and learn how to play it someday!
I think you should try and make videos about classical pieces more often! I would definetly watch haha, cause in that era obviously alot of stuff was different from modern, so i find it just so interesting.
Although I couldn't play a lick, I remember my mother playing this hauntingly beatiful piece, over and over again when I was a young boy, now 75 years ago. It still gives me goosebumps. Thank you for your.explanation of the simplistic but incredible complexity of this classic piano piece. My mother was a classically trained opera singer and an accomplished pianist. Sadly, I don't have any of her music. She was quite talented.
This is probably my most favorite classical piano piece ever. I think I have the musicality of it in my head as my mother used to play it masterfully when she was alive. I'm currently hacking through this piece. As a "newer" piano player it is quite the challenge. I expect it will be a year+ before I have it under my fingers, but there are many lessons inside of this one piece.
I studied Jeux d'eau few years ago, and it's very hard. But all the complexity of the piece has an amazing musical result, because the way Ravel construct the arpeggios make the music sound a lot with water. It's an amazing piece, love Gaspard de la Nuit too.
I was already in love with this masterpiece but your analysis makes me even more happy that someone like you is able to elaborate the same feelings that I'm having when i listen to Claire de lune. So good job dude!👏
You are a gem, Charles. As far as the twentieth century goes, impressionism was probably*the* most important movement within 'classical' music because it opened doors through which other composers and styles could step through. I love Sibelius, Vaughan-Williams, Bartok, Rachmaninoff, Gershwin, Shostakovich, Delius and many others but Debussy definitely is way up there. When I was a much younger man I went through several years of depression and panic attacks. I would play 'A l'apres midi d'un Faune' every night and be swept away, not to spectate on another world but to become an actual part of it. Over a period of time it played its part in my regaining some degree of control over my overactive and overwhelmed mind.
Hi Charles I HIGHLY recommend you watch and analyze platina jazz they are a band that makes jazz and big band covers of anime music and they are GREAT and I think it could be interesting for you to analyze how they changed and covered things you already listened to and to some things you haven't
In case you do decide to look into this i recommend you try listening to their galaxy express cover, their sailor moon cover and their evangelion cover for starters but all of their stuff is great
I have been playing piano off and on my whole life (never formally trained, however I was formally trained in trombone in elementary through the end of high school). I always wanted to learn the piano, so as of December 2023 I was given a fully weighted digital piano for Christmas and have logged over 700 hours of practice (it is June 15th 2024 today - I practice probably 3+ hours a day, most days). I have gotten my dexterity to a level that I finally feel comfortable trying this piece, and I've just made it to the key change and I am enjoying learning it so much. I've always wanted to play Clair de Lune! Just finished learning River Flows in You, and it was much easier haha. But this one just touches deep into my soul 😊 Thank you, Charles, for your videos. You've helped me immensely with teaching myself.
When I was in college I knew a guy who was a bit of a comedian mostly, but he could silence a rowdy frat house by playing 2 pieces: Claire de lune and the 1st mvt of Moonlight sonata. They may have been the only piano he could play, but he could silence the room.
I love how every pianist playing the intro to Clair de Lune has to do the "smell your own fart" face. You know, when the fart is your own, so you just want to rate it. (0:42)
As a music major that hated having to learn to play piano, I absolutely loved this piece. I marched in Drum and Bugle Corps (Phantom Regiment) and we played a version of this that made me love it even more. Really appreciated this break down. Well done!
I am so in love with this piece. I remember when my mother played it so beautifully when I was young- and I'm trying to tackle it now. So many lessons inside of each section. Can I have it down in a year?
This was the first proper piece I learnt in years. Looking back now, i probably learnt it too early, but it opened my love to classical piano and music in general, so overall, I love this
This is one of my favourite classical piano pieces and I don't play piano or listen much to classical. It just has that really smooth calming effect. It's like water flowing.
I love how you gave an example of an impossible piece and how Jeux d’eau is one of the top pieces I want to learn! Apparently I want to learn the spectrum of pieces lol
Going to try to put this as simply as I can Many years ago I attended music school and I had zero foundation of theory, harmony, aural comprehension. I just knew that I loved music and I wanted that to be my life When I first sat down with one of my professors and I was learning classical pieces on the guitar They started talking about louder softer faster slower and emphasizing certain notes over others, ie the melody, And I didn't really understand. It took me several months to really hear the difference and what I love about your video here is you break it down and you can literally hear the difference as you said with a heavier or lighter right hand or certain fingers striking a little harder or softer to pull out the melody versus the rest of the harmonic progression. Thank you for this wonderful video on this beautiful piece of music
I have a good ear for piano, started playing at 3, took lessons from 9-13, and largely stopped playing more challenging pieces. I’m 43 now and this year I took up the challenge of learning Claire de Lune. Among many things I’ve learned from this piece so far, I learned I couldn’t use my existing way of doing arpeggios without learning new fingering and committing it to deep muscle memory. Basically, in order to play this song competently, I’ve had to appreciate that there are better fingering positions than I had been using, and the most difficult thing has been forcing myself to learn the easy way to play it. It sounds counterintuitive, but when I humbled myself to accept different fingering than I naturally wanted to do, this song got a lot easier.
You're a good teacher Charles. Glad to discover your channel -I agree with how you teach. I'm a piano teacher and pianist myself and I just did Clair de lune among 10 other pieces on a recital. And I have it on my CD and certainly agree with what you say. people who I've given my CD to, often say this, that Clair de lune is their favorite, and even my nephew's 4 year-old son stops to listen to it, and it's definitely his favorite. It's very doable, and a gift to draw one into the impressionistic world of Debussy and Ravel.
Only three songs have ever made me, after listening for the first time, listen over and over again for over an hour, sometimes with tears: Clair de Lune What a wonderful world Take Five
currently learning this gem, or trying to! One of the difficult factors for me is working through the frissons I get from the way the notes interact. It's just too damn beautiful!
I‘ve started playing the Piano when the pandemic hit. After a year I was able to play this piece. I spent countless hours on it. It lighted a passion that continues to this day..
It's solid hooks all the way. There's no other piece I find myself singing front to back. It's like it's serving lyrics without serving lyrics. What a song.
Of all of the songs I’ve learned, I’m most proud of playing Claire de Lune. It’s truly one of the most harmonically beautiful and complex songs of all time and a joy to play!
What a JOY to watch this video... I just LOVE how you are so deeply moved by the beauty of the notes. I just bought a Yamaha DGX-670. I purchased the wooden stand that comes with it so that it stands as a one piece unit. I do not know how to play... but this piece is my GOAL piece. I suspect it will take at least 3 years of adult learning from basically the beginning to even attempt a try at it.
