Erik Satie - Gymnopédie N°1 - Guitar Tab

Erik Satie & Friends

2016 3:26

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About Gymnopédie N°1

Gymnopédie No. 1 is one of the most requested fingerpicking pieces for guitar, originally composed by Erik Satie for solo piano in 1888. The guitar arrangement sits in D major at a gentle 60 BPM, which sounds forgiving until you realise that slow tempos leave every hesitation completely exposed. The piece is built on a repeating pattern of a low bass note followed by two mid-register chord tones, and keeping that pattern fluid and even is the real challenge. Your fretting hand needs to move cleanly between chords with no audible gaps or string buzz, while your picking hand maintains a steady, unhurried pulse throughout. The mood depends entirely on touch: too heavy and the delicate quality evaporates, too light and notes vanish before they ring. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the chord transitions slowed down until the hand shifts become automatic, then gradually bring the tempo back up to 60 BPM. This is a piece that rewards patience far more than speed.

• The piece is arranged in D major for guitar, using a repeating bass-note-plus-two-chord-tone fingerpicking pattern throughout.
• At 60 BPM the slow pace demands very clean fretting-hand muting and smooth chord transitions, as every imprecision is clearly audible.
• Keeping a consistent, soft picking-hand attack is the key technique to master, since the tone and dynamics carry the entire arrangement.