Gymnopédie No. 1 Jianpu (Numbered) Notation

Composer: Erik Satie
Year: 1888
Key: Bm
Time: 3/4
Tempo: 60 BPM
Difficulty: Intermediate · ★★★
First note: F♯5

Gymnopédie No. 1 on erhu

The full melody, rendered as jianpu numbered notation you can read on screen or print for the stand — free, and never truncated.

1 = B · 3/4 · ♩ ≈ 60–––––5♭7♭65212♭3♭7. – –5 – – – – – – – – – – ––5♭7♭65212♭3♭7. – –2. – –5. – –4 – – – – – – – –♭71♯14♭31♭3♯11♭3 – – – –♭34♯4♭6♭7♯1♭34♭31♭3 – – – –♭3♭6. – –5. – –1♭712♭342♭345. – –♯1. – –♭3. – –

1 = B · dots mark the octave · a dot after a digit adds half its length · – holds the beat

Erik Satie, 1888 — public domain, first theme.

How to practise this on erhu

Tune both strings before the first stroke — everything in Gymnopédie No. 1 sits in first position on the inner D and outer A string, so the two open pitches carry the whole piece. The numbers are jianpu: 1 is the home note, dots mark the octave, and a line under a digit halves it. Play one full bow per note at first, slow and even, and let the app's pitch feedback tell you where a finger sits sharp or flat — with no fingerboard and no frets, the sound is the only witness.

Keep the metronome well under around 60 BPM, keep bow changes quiet, and loop the phrase that grades worst until the left hand stops guessing — with no frets, repetition is how the hand learns distance. By the numbers, this setting runs 58 notes across 32 bars, from E4 up to A5 in 3/4 time.

Also playable on

handpan piano

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Free on the App Store

Play Gymnopédie No. 1 — and hear every note graded.

Soloist Erhu reads this jianpu numbered notation under the notation and grades your take on-device, note by note — free on iPhone, no ads, no account.

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