Jimbo’s Lullaby (Children’s Corner No. 2)

Claude Debussy · Level 4 (Intermediate) · Impressionist · Piano

The second piece of Children’s Corner (1908): a lullaby for Jimbo, Chouchou’s toy elephant. A clumsy tune low in the bass that gradually falls asleep. A piece by Debussy, a leading figure of musical Impressionism. B♭ major, 2/2, 81 bars (about 4 minutes), complete score.

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• Play very softly and a little heavily, like an elephant tiptoeing; never hurry the tempo. One hand sometimes plays two voices: hold the long notes for their full value and let the main line sing louder than the accompaniment. The left hand makes wide leaps: look at the landing note in advance and move early, without rushing the rhythm. For chords, shape the hand in the air before landing, all notes together.

More pieces by Claude Debussy

• Danseuses de Delphes (Préludes, Book I, No. 1)
• Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir (Préludes, Book I, No. 4)
• Deuxième Arabesque (L66 No.2)
• Arabesque No. 1 in E major
• Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum (Children’s Corner No. 1)
• Sarabande (Pour le piano No. 2)
• Valse romantique
• Clair de lune (Suite bergamasque)

Source : PDMX / MuseScore · CC0 1.0