unmeasured notation

Satie's early works (Gymnopédies, Gnossiennes, Ogives) are notated with barlines but without any sense of metric stress. The music should flow freely, without the weight of the downbeat.

In Satie's unmeasured-feeling works, the barline is a visual convenience, not a rhythmic event. Never accent the first beat of the bar. The music should feel suspended — each phrase arriving and dissolving without the sense of counting. The tempo should be chosen for the room and the instrument, not imposed from outside. If you can hear yourself counting, you are playing too mechanically.