Clair de lune, L. 75 No. 3

10.2 Explore harmonic colour

Study the harmonic colour of Debussy’s Clair de lune in D flat: chords moving in parallel, notes added to plain triads and long pedal resonance, all within a major key. The octatonic, polytonal and twelve-tone cards go further than Debussy does here: try the octatonic scale in the keyboard improvisation and compare its sound with the piece’s.

Ideas

• Impressionist techniques
• The octatonic scale

Theory cards

• The octatonic scale
• Two keys at once
• Twelve-tone rows

Technique

• D-flat major scale, hands together, 4 octaves