The Impressionist Style: Preparing Students for Works of Debussy and Ravel

Curtis Pavey

Introduction

The piano music of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel is regarded highly as some of the most imaginative and beautiful music for the instrument. Pianists frequently enjoy these works for their unique harmonic language, dramatic virtuosity, and use of tonal color. That said, studying works by these two composers is often an uphill battle for even advanced pianists; the challenging musical language and the stringent technical requirements demand a refined musician with a good sense of pianistic control.

The purpose of this article is to suggest some teaching strategies to use with late intermediate and early advanced level pianists. I have broken down my discussion into two parts – musical difficulties and technical difficulties – offering a broad sense of the types of challenges a student who is unfamiliar with this music will face. By making this music more accessible and understandable, we can make the learning process less frustrating and more enjoyable.

Before Ravel and Debussy

Before a student encounters works by Debussy and Ravel, I would recommend acquainting them with the impressionist style via works by composers of today. Numerous composers, such as Catherine Rollins, Jennifer Lin, and Dennis Alexander, have composed pedagogical works for students who are at the beginning or intermediate level. Using these from the beginning of a student’s study of the piano helps to build musical and technical fluency before introducing the easier works of Debussy and Ravel, which are only appropriate for students at the upper intermediate level or higher.

Musical Challenges

Students who are new to the Impressionistic style and music by Debussy and Ravel may struggle with the foreign musical sounds that are typical of the period. In order for students to become comfortable with this style, they must learn the musical elements of the impressionists including: harmony, scales, modes, and more. By learning to recognize these sounds, students will be more comfortable reading them on the page and understanding their relationship to the music at hand.

The use of nontraditional scales as well as modes is characteristic of music from this time. Debussy’s fascination with new scale collections began in 1889 during the Exposition Universelle – the world’s fair held in Paris. Throughout this gathering, Debussy heard a variety of new sounds, which sparked his curiosity in music from other cultures including gamelan music and more. Soon after, Debussy began exploring these sounds in his music including “Voiles” from his Preludes, Book I (1910). In this Prelude (Example 1), Debussy juxtaposes long sections of music using the whole tone scale with a smaller section built on the pentatonic

Example 1: Debussy, Preludes, Book 1, Voiles, Opening scale. Before introducing a student to a work such as this, it is imperative that the student learns how to build and recognize (by sight and aurally) pentatonic and whole tone scales. Besides these two commonly used scales, the octatonic scale (built from alternating whole and half steps), is used as well. In addition to these scale types, Debussy frequently uses modal coloring in his music to create sounds of unique images and backgrounds. For example, in his Prelude, “La cathédral engloutie,” Debussy dramatically uses the Mixolydian mode at the climax of the work. Along with learning the major and minor scales, students must be comfortable playing scales in various modes so that they can recognize the modal flavors of this music; teaching modes alongside scale exercises makes for an efficient way to present this concept.

Harmonically, music of the impressionistic period is known for using major and minor triads in new ways in addition to exploring other colorful chords such as augmented triads and extended tertian chords including seventh, ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth chords. For example, Ravel, in his Le Tombeau de Couperin uses rich alterations and extensions to traditional tonal harmonies to create a new sound world in his “Forlane” (Example 2).

Example 2: Ravel, Le Tombeau de Couperin, Forlane, Opening

Just as students learn chord progressions in the major and minor keys (I-IV-V7-I), students need to learn to build chords that are found in this style. After familiarizing students with all types of triads, students should learn to build and recognize seventh chords and continue with further extensions. Students often need several lessons to become comfortable identifying different types of seventh chords, but extending beyond this may become simpler since extended tertian chords are built from a seventh chord foundation.

Besides the challenging scalar and harmonic foundations of this music, another daunting musical challenge is creating musical imagery that evokes sounds of distant places and ideas. Ravel’s Jeux d’eau (Example 3 below), for instance, evokes a water-filled sound world encompassing numerous fountains and streams. Many of Ravel’s smaller pieces are also imaginative in their use of the piano. Ravel’s Prelude, written for the sight-reading exam at the Paris Conservatoire, begins softly while exploring the different registers of the keyboard.

Example 3: Ravel, Jeux d’eau, Opening

In order to encourage students to create these sound worlds, they must first have their imaginations sparked. An easy way to engage a student in this way is to play an excerpt of this music and ask them to narrate it with a story or imagine it as a soundtrack to a movie. Besides this, we could ask students to associate certain sounds with different colors. Using colored pencils, students can draw or label dynamics, chords, scales, or other musical elements to help them remember to play these with their imagination.

By introducing the musical elements of Impressionistic music, students learn how to identify these in their music and become comfortable with these sounds throughout the learning process.

Technical Challenges

The music of Ravel and Debussy is filled with technical challenges that require creativity and musical imagination to overcome. Ravel, fascinated with the complex and daring works of Franz Liszt and Mily Balakirev, aspired to create a work of exceeding difficulty when composing his Gaspard de la Nuit. Virtuosity was not always Ravel’s (or Debussy’s) immediate focus, but there are still many challenges that must be addressed with our students including: overlapped hands, repeated notes, and soft playing.

One of the most challenging textures that Ravel frequently uses in his works is a texture involving overlapped hands. There are numerous examples of this texture, but perhaps the most famous is the opening of his Sonatine. The complicated interlocking of the hands at a very soft dynamic is very challenging to control and requires careful hand positioning (Example 4).

Example 4: Ravel, Sonatine, Movement 1, Opening

Another example of a similarly complicated texture comes from his Prelude (Example 5). In this work, the left hand must play parallel thirds in between octaves in the right hand. Students who have never encountered textures like these are often confused and stumble through them.

Example 5: Ravel, Prelude, mm. 10-12

A simple way to practice this type of texture is to create exercises for students to attempt as preparatory etudes. These can be taught by rote and help a student to focus on the feeling and the placement of the hands, rather than on reading these complicated textures. An example is shown below (Example 6):

Example 6: Preparatory Exercise for Ravel’s Sonatine

The use of repeated note patterns is another common technical challenge apparent in the music of Ravel and Debussy. Ravel does this frequently in his works such as the “Toccata” from Le Tombeau de Couperin (Example 7) and “Alborada del gracioso” from Miroirs.

Example 7: Ravel, Le Tombeau de Couperin, Toccata, Opening

While these pieces are only appropriate for advanced students, repeated notes do appear in a number of other works including Debussy’s “Minstrels” and “La sérénade interrompue” from the Preludes, Book I. Students are characteristically prepared for this technical challenge over time, playing repeated notes at slower tempos with changing fingering. Outside of this, similar technical exercises can be devised such as those below (Example 8):

Example 8: Preparatory Repeated Note Exercise

Besides these challenges, students often must deal with the added challenge of playing at very soft dynamic levels in this style. The beautiful waves of sound that open “Une barque sur l’océan” from Ravel’s Miroirs provides an excellent example of the delicately controlled sound that must be created throughout the work (Example 9).

Example 9: Ravel, Miroirs, Une barque sur l’océan, Opening

Preparing students for the soft colors of Debussy and Ravel begins first with creating a natural, relaxed sound at a comfortable dynamic. Over time, students can use less and less of their arm weight and energy to create a sensation of hovering over the piano when they play. A helpful exercise to get students comfortable with this is to assign a student to play a passage in multiple different dynamics: first forte, second mezzo forte, then mezzo piano, etc. By dropping the dynamic over time, students can feel and judge the amount of effort that is necessary to create these memorable sounds.

Conclusion

With careful planning, making Impressionistic music accessible is possible for late intermediate and advanced pianists. By gradually introducing new concepts, techniques, and musical elements, teachers can prepare students for these works gradually, rather than surprising them with challenging and foreign compositions. Over time, students will learn to love playing these imaginative and creative piano works.

Resources

Debussy, Claude. Préludes, Livre 1. Paris: Durand et Cie., 1910.

Ravel, Maurice. Jeux d’eau. Paris: E. Demets, 1902.

––––––. Miroirs. Paris: E Demets, 1906.

––––––. Prélude. Paris: Durand & Cie., 1913.

––––––. Sonatine. Moscow: Muzgiz, n.d.

––––––. Tombeau. Paris: Durand & Cie., 1918.