One side of the avant-garde is exemplified by the music of Erik Satie (1866- 1925), which wittily upends conventional ideas. Satie was a French nationalist in a similar vein to Debussy and Ravel, but made a more radical break with the entire classical tradition. His set of three Gymnopédies (1888) for piano, for example, challenged the Romantic notions of expressivity and individuality. Instead of offering variety, as expected in a set of pieces, they are all ostentatiously plain and unemotional, using the same slow tempo, the same accompanimental pattern, virtually the same melodic rhythm, and similar modal harmonies and puzzling dynamics. Satie's use of modal and unresolved chords opened new possibilities for Debussy and Ravel, who turned them to different uses but did not follow his avant-garde tendencies.