The Benefits Of Musical Doodling

I made the mistake of posting a message about New Age piano playing on a "serious" music board once. Boy did I get flamed! Right away, there were responses about how New Age music is pablum, not to be taken seriously. One person called it "doodling."

I then thought about what offended these people so much. Then the answer came to me - they may be afraid that if they let their defenses down and just played the piano for pleasure, they might find they enjoy it. They may even admit, god forbid, that they really like "doodling" on the piano.

I admit that I enjoy musical doodling. Just messing around not being concerned about what's coming out. Not worrying if I am creating something "worthy" of hearing. The benefit is that I experience a brief respite from the outside world. For a few moments, I can be at peace.

Quiescence Music's Piano Lessons Featured in Google News

It looks like word is getting around about my online lessons. Google just picked up a press release I sent out titled "Online Piano Lessons Help Adults Create Their Own Music." Read it here.

Quiescence Music Gets Rave Review!

I knew I had something special when I first came up with the idea of teaching New Age piano over the internet. And it's always nice to hear what others think. Click here to read this glowing review!

You Can Compose Your Own Music!

I remember the time I first tried to write a piece of music. I was playing classical guitar at the time and really wanted to capture my ideas on paper. The first thing I did was get staff paper. Since I had never done this before, this seemed ilke a good idea. I then tried to write the melody down. Not being a fluent note reader, it took a while. I finally got 4-bars of melody on paper. The pathetic thing about this is that it took me over 2-hours! And that's just the melody. I didn't even begin to harmonize it.

You see, I didn't know what I was doing so it took forever. Now, I understand a few basic principles that help me complete a piece of music - the most important of these being the ability to move forward without criticising or censoring the music.

This is the crucial ingredient to success. But of course, if you don't have a framework to "capture" your music, you won't get very far either. That's why I ALWAYS WRITE OUT 8-BARS FIRST. I don't use staff paper. Any paper will do. You see, with the 8-bar phrase in front of you, you have a task to do. You have to fill in these 8 bars with material. I usually start with the melody, then let the chords do the rest of the work.

Here's a FREE piano lesson that will help you learn how to improvise and create your own music.

Recommended Listening: Claude Debussy - Piano Works

Claude Debussy - Piano Works

If you've never heard Debussy's preludes for piano, you're missing out on something very, very special. In fact, when I first heard his solo piano works, my jaw dropped in amazement! So deft, so nimble and delicate are the notes, yet so powerful an emotion behind it all. Get this CD and you won't be sorry. Find it at Amazon.com. Note: I don't make any money off these recommendations and I am not an Amazon affiliate.

Claude Debussy - Father of New Age Piano?

Listening to Debussy's piano music, I can't help but think of the similarities between his impressionistic style and the New Age style of today. True, Debussy used different musical materials, (mostly the whole tone scale), but philosophically, the styles are very close.

Here's an apt description of him: Claude Debussy was the founder and the most important representative of the Impressionist movement in music. His composing style had served as inspiration for many later composers, and its influence survived to this day. The most important characteristic of Debussy's music is its visual power - images and scenes hidden within the music, never conveyed directly, but always colored by the artist's imagination. The composer's impressions of reality sound magical and mysterious, as if they were trying to offer an insight into some great, unnamed mystery surrounding us. More information on Claude Debussy.

Haiku and New Age Piano

I've always been drawn to art forms that are simple, yet elegant. Haiku, for example, is such an art form. A few lines, a few syllables are all that is needed to transport one into right-brain mode. In fact, it's amazing that so little can lead to so much! Evoking mental imagery, a haiku poem not only takes you into what the writer sees in mind, it also leaves you with an emotional connection. Brief like a sunset, it's fleeting beauty is appreciated, then gone.

New Age piano is similar to Haiku in this respect. A few notes and chords are all that is needed to transport one into a world where words no longer have any meaning. And like a Haiku, we are satisfied for that brief interval in time.

Overcoming Stage Fright

I'll never forget the first time I played the piano for an audience. It was my first concert and it was fairly full up. I was to play my first CD "La Jolla Suite" containing 12 pieces. There was to be one intermission and the whole concert lasted about 80-90 minutes.

Let me tell you that I was very nervous. So nervous I didn't think I was going to make it through. Suffice it to say that I really didn't enjoy myself. After many hours of trying to figure out why I was so nervous, the answer came to me - it was because I was self-conscious. I was worried about how I looked, what the music sounded like, etc. I couldn't relax because I was too concerned about what the audience was thinking about me. And to this day, giving concerts is not my favorite thing. I realized that I didn't like being the center of attention.

What to do? For most people, myself included, playing in public is a fearful experience. Many suggest that you keep at it and eventually the fear will dissipate. But I ask myself why do it in the first place if you are scared. I have no hard and fast answers like many of the public speaking books would have you believe work. The truth of the matter is that some people are more comfortable in front of others. But one thing I think works is this: Start playing for very small groups of people and work your way up.

This desensitization process works better than most other methods because you learn that the audience is just made up of a large group comprised of smaller groups. If you can play for just one or two people and feel good about it, you are solidifying this experience. Then as you gradually play for more and more people, there is no fear because you do not carry it with you. You see, if you play first for a large group, of course you will be self-conscious. But, by gradually building up, you don't create a situation where fear is generated in the beginning. Consequently, you don't carry it with you into larger performance spaces.