Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum, L. 113 No. 1

Claude Debussy (1,862–1,918)

First published: 1908
Key: C major
Style: Studies
Level: Level 10
Roughly: RCM 10 · ABRSM after Grade 8 · Trinity after Grade 8 · Henle 6
Lesson: 10.11 Keep a study’s running line clear and unhurried
Musicianship: 10.11 A study's line

What its lesson teaches

10.11 Keep a study’s running line clear and unhurried

Study Debussy’s Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum from Children’s Corner, his fond joke on the old finger studies. Keep the running sixteenths even and quiet under the melody they carry, “égal et sans sécheresse” as the score asks, and use little pedal. Follow Debussy’s tempo words: where the sixteenths give way to eighth notes and sustained chords (bars 33–44) he returns to the first tempo, moves on a little from bar 37 and holds back in bar 43. This is the level’s second study, beside the Concert Boogie Etude.

Ideas: Impressionist techniques
Voicing and balance
Theory cards: Planing and colour
Technique: C major scale, hands together, 4 octaves

Edition and licence

Score: Paris: A. Durand & Fils, 1908, plate D. & F. 7188 (first edition).

Encoding: Nicolas (MuseScore user 5), MuseScore score 29514 (https://musescore.com/user/5/scores/29514; PDMX v9, Zenodo 15571083), CC0 1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/); the encoder names no source edition and the CC0 licence is the uploader's claim.

Adapted by Musalea: corrected from the print, converted to MusicXML and prepared for interactive practice.

Checked bar by bar against IMSLP #252526 (Durand, Paris, 1908, plate D. & F. 7188), PDF pp. 3-7, 2026-10-28: every bar compared; 14 bars corrected (bars 33-35, 37-44 and 47-49); markings corrected from the print (bars 5, 20, 21, 24, 25, 32, 35, 37, 43, 44 and 72). · CC0

Paris: A. Durand & Fils, 1908, plate D. & F. 7188 (first edition).

Licence: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

The other lesson pieces of Level 10

Polonaise in C-sharp minor, Op. 26 No. 1, Frédéric Chopin
Clair de lune, L. 75 No. 3, Claude Debussy
Fugue in F major, BWV 856, Johann Sebastian Bach
Sonata in C major, K. 309: I. Allegro con spirito, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Concert Boogie Etude, written for the Method
Prelude in A-flat major, BWV 862, Johann Sebastian Bach
Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2 No. 1: IV. Prestissimo, Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2 No. 1: III. Menuetto: Allegretto, Ludwig van Beethoven
Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17 No. 4, Frédéric Chopin
Prelude in A-flat major, Op. 28 No. 17, Frédéric Chopin

Practise all 157 lessons at your piano

In Musalea each lesson runs step by step, and after every run the app tells you what to fix: the bar, the hand and how to practise it.

14 practice days · everything unlocked · no card