|
|
|
|
Do you ramble on endlessly with your improvisations? If so, good. This has its place in music making and in new age piano playing in particularly. Just listen to New Age pianist Michael Jones's music to hear an example of this kind of free-form improvisation.
Now, some of you want to create something that will give the listener a slightly more cohesive experience. How is this accomplished? By forming the music into a shape - an ABA shape for our purposes here. To give form to music does not require as much theory and technique as most people think. In fact, it is as simple as applying the principles of repetition and contrast.
Now in most new age piano music there is some kind of form that the composer uses whether it's extended "A" form ala Michael Jones, or extended "A" extended "B" and back to "A" again as in some of George Winston's music. Think in sections people. A section of music can last for as long as the person who created it is involved with it- that is, as long as the inspiration is fresh.
As soon as the music sounds dull it's time for a change - the next section of music. This is the point where a composer will add something-new (contrast) or, if she is smart, end the piece. If the music does not have that freshness, that touch of inspired in the moment fantasy, you'll be able to detect and hear it. Some composers are so in touch with their feeling that they can take you on a 20 or 30 minute journey using very little means - but by using the elements of repetition and contrast maintain listener interest.
First, get your "A" section. The first few bars (8 usually) is more than enough to propel you forward. You must adopt a listening attitude to hear what is coming next. You don't force nor will it into being. This will not give you what you want, which is, I'm assuming, inspired content. Listen, listen, listen and the music will come. If it doesn't just do what Beethoven did.
He worked on 3 or 4 pieces at a time. When the inspiration dried up on a particular piece he was working on, he just moved on to another and picked up on the others later on. You can do the same. Be bold and go forward. Don't be afraid of making mistakes. Be afraid of not trying.
Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!
 Xinhua | Grammy nominations a snooze San Francisco Chronicle, USA - So-called illegal downloads may no longer be the gravest danger faced by the imperiled recording industry: Just plain bad music may be what ultimately does ... Unwelcome addition The LA Times music blog Grammy nominations hit prime-time with TV special |
 ABC News | Classical music hits YouTube smudailycampus.com, TX - Dun, best known for his Grammy Award winning scores for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and more recently the official music for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, ... Introducing YouTube's orchestra... paidContent.org - Broadband Content Bits: YouTube Goes Classical ... Getting to Carnegie via YouTube |
Shazam adds 2 million tracks to music library CNET News, CA - Mobile-music discovery provider Shazam announced on Thursday that it has increased its music database from 6 million tracks to 8 million tracks, ... Shazam: eight million songs of the eternal Now Shazam Amplifies Music Database by a Third Adding Another 2 Million Songs, Shazam Grows Database by 30% |
Classical Music/Opera Listings New York Times, United States - The program also takes advantage of Mr. Levine’s passion for playing piano chamber music: it begins with Mr. Levine and Mr. Barenboim playing Schubert’s F ... |
 New York Times | ‘Tis the Music for Being Cautiously Optimistic New York Times, United States - Consciously or not, much of this year’s new holiday music expresses some anxiety about whether the old modes of merriment still matter. ... Tune to sounds of the season Connick, Crow highlight new holiday releases |
 MTV UK | My music life PSU The Clock, NH - A documentary educates the viewer, "Britney: For the Record" is more like a "reality" show to help a struggling music artist make a comeback. ... Exclusive: ET's Extended Preview of Britney Spears' Music Video ... The Shuffle: Baby, one more time? A generation says goodbye |
 National Post | Folk music, civil rights legend Odetta dies at 77 The Associated Press - First coming to prominence in the 1950s, she influenced Harry Belafonte, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and other superstars of the folk music boom. ... Odetta Holmes dies at 77; folk singer championed black history ... Inspirational Folk Music Legend Odetta Dies at 77 Odetta left message of hope |
 BBC News | The LA Times music blog Los Angeles Times, CA - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss didn't just make extraordinary music when they teamed for their "Raising Sand" album. They also gave Grammy voters everything ... Farber: Music sales won this year's Grammy nominations NASHVILLE SKYLINE: Grammy Nominations Acknowledge Country Music ... Blog: Music Beat |
 Telegraph.co.uk | Plans for Salzburg Sound of Music hotel hit sour note AFP - VIENNA (AFP) — The former home of the Trapp family, made famous by the 1965 film "The Sound of Music," will not re-open as a hotel after all following ... Austria's Salzburg resists "Sound of Music" hotel London's Sound of Music to Close in February 2009 Plan for 'Sound of Music' hotel blocked in Austria |
 New York Times | Music revs up this 'Cadillac' USA Today - By Eric Liebowitz, Sony TriStar Pictures, via AP By Claudia Puig, USA TODAY Though the music in Cadillac Records hums along powerfully, the film could use a ... 'Cadillac Records—: Good music, shaky history In 'Cadillac Records,' the music's electrifying but the details ... 'Cadillac Records:' Watch it for the music -- and then the stars ... |
| Top of Page home Bookmark Us Now ctrl+d 1st 4 Music, shopping via 1st4music cost no more than going direct and can often save you money with special offers. with questions or comments about this website |