One of the most daunting tasks for beginners is composing music. Just the thought of it creates scary scenarios that demand perfection. But what if you actually knew what you were doing? Instead of fear, joy and a spirit of adventure would guide you to a finished piece of music. Let's look at how we might compose a small ABA form for piano.
The first thing I do is draw out 8-bars on a piece of paper. Any paper will do. You don't have to have ruled sheet music paper to compose…at least not the way I teach it. The reason I tell students to begin with 8-bars is that it's a very good space to work in. In fact, 8-bars is quite enough to give you your first (A) section. As an example, look at the lesson piece "A Peaceful Path."
Click here to read more!
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
A Peaceful Path - Piano Lesson
A Peaceful Path uses just a few chords to create a small ABA form composition. A light melody along with gentle accompaniment creates a relaxed ambiance and sets the mood for this lesson piece.
Want to learn how to create your own music like this? Check out my online piano lessons!
Listen to A Peaceful Path (Mp3 file - 2.35 MB)
Friday, November 24, 2006
New Age Piano Techniques: Creative and Easy!
Every style of piano playing has its share of tricks and techniques. New Age piano is no different. The New Age piano style has 3 main techniques that are used over and over. These are the ostinato technique, the crossover technique or arpeggio, and the broken chord technique.
The Ostinato technique - A Repeating Pattern
You've probably heard this technique numerous times and may or may not have knows what it was. Ostinato simply means repeating pattern or obstinate pattern and that's exactly what it is. For example, in New Age pianist George Winston's piece "Rain," we have a left-hand pattern that uses over an octave of the keyboard to create a beautiful aural background over which a melody is improvised.
Click here to read more!
The Ostinato technique - A Repeating Pattern
You've probably heard this technique numerous times and may or may not have knows what it was. Ostinato simply means repeating pattern or obstinate pattern and that's exactly what it is. For example, in New Age pianist George Winston's piece "Rain," we have a left-hand pattern that uses over an octave of the keyboard to create a beautiful aural background over which a melody is improvised.
Click here to read more!
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! To all my students, thank you for allowing me to be your online teacher. I wish I could meet all of you in person but I suppose the internet will suffice for now. Have a great holiday!!
-- Edward Weiss
Piano Improvisation Tip - Enjoy the Process!
"I'm having problems staying with the music," wrote one student. "I can't seem to get it. I get stuck or blocked only after a few seconds of improvising. What can I do?"
The above complaint is a very common problem among newbies at improvisation. They don't understand how to keep an improvisation going. Why? Because they have it backwards! You're not supposed to keep an improvisation going. No. That's the wrong approach. The right approach is to let go of your need to control the outcome. Then and only then will your intuition come to your aid.
To enjoy the act of making music, we must let up on ourselves and adopt an attitude of exploration. We must allow for mistakes and listen for where the music itself wants to go. This idea may be strange to some of you. I can understand that but once you really let go of trying to control the outcome, wonderful things begin to happen!
The above complaint is a very common problem among newbies at improvisation. They don't understand how to keep an improvisation going. Why? Because they have it backwards! You're not supposed to keep an improvisation going. No. That's the wrong approach. The right approach is to let go of your need to control the outcome. Then and only then will your intuition come to your aid.
To enjoy the act of making music, we must let up on ourselves and adopt an attitude of exploration. We must allow for mistakes and listen for where the music itself wants to go. This idea may be strange to some of you. I can understand that but once you really let go of trying to control the outcome, wonderful things begin to happen!
Monday, November 20, 2006
Free E-Book: "The Music Inside of You!"
Do you have music inside of you? It's highly possible. And most likely, it's waiting to come out. But you doubt yourself don't you?
You think you're not good enough or that you don't know enough. Nonsense! Get this free e-book and learn how to let go and let the music inside of you come out!
Click here to get it. It's free! You'll also get our free weekly newsletter Pianoscapes.
Quiescence Music Passes 80 Lessons Mark!
Eighty lessons now. And we're still growing! You know, I didn't really think it would grow so far so fast! But, as long as students want to learn how to improvise and compose their own piano music, I'll be more than happy to give new lessons and add to the lesson library.
To my current students... is there something special you'd like to learn? Leave a comment and let me know. I'll see what I can do. More than likely, I'll be able to accomodate you.
To those wanting to learn more about my online piano class, click here.
To my current students... is there something special you'd like to learn? Leave a comment and let me know. I'll see what I can do. More than likely, I'll be able to accomodate you.
To those wanting to learn more about my online piano class, click here.
Friday, November 17, 2006
New Piano Lesson: "Winter Sky!"
In this lesson, I wanted to show students a new crossover pattern for the left hand combined with octave melodies for the right.
Winter Sky uses a 16-bar phrase repeated twice. A short New Age piano piece in the Key of B flat! If you'd like to see a step-by-step breakdown of this piece (including chord chart) sign up for my online piano class!
Listen to Winter Sky (Mp3 file - 1.83 MB)
How to Improvise Freely On Piano!
Ah, to sit down and play. One of the joys of being able to play the piano is to know how to play it. But so few can or do. What I mean is this - if you can't walk over to your piano, sit down and just play whatever you feel, you are shortchanging yourself on a wonderful experience. Plus, it's not as difficult to do as many might have you think.
The thing that stops more students from being able to improvise freely is self-doubt. They just don't believe they can do it. And of course, they lock themselves with this belief. I can relate. I had to work long and hard to give up my own set of self-limiting beliefs about what I could or couldn't do on the piano. One of the biggest of these was "I'm not good enough."
Click here to read the rest of this article!
The thing that stops more students from being able to improvise freely is self-doubt. They just don't believe they can do it. And of course, they lock themselves with this belief. I can relate. I had to work long and hard to give up my own set of self-limiting beliefs about what I could or couldn't do on the piano. One of the biggest of these was "I'm not good enough."
Click here to read the rest of this article!
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Free Sheet Music: "Autumn Shoreline!"
Take a relaxing walk along the shore! Autumn Shoreline is an easy/intermediate level piece for New Age piano that uses left hand arpeggios and right hand thirds and sixths to create a beautiful "fall" feel! Enjoy. Click here to access "Autumn Shoreline." (PDF file)
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Free New Age Piano Sheet Music!
I wrote these pieces a while back to see what I could do with Finale Notepad. They're for easy to intermediate level students and display a few New Age piano styles. If you're a note reader, you're sure to enjoy these pieces! Click here to access.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Beyond the Open Position Piano Chord
Those of you who have been reading my articles for some time know that I'm a big fan of the open position chord. This is where both hands play a chord together. It's a great technique that allows beginners (and pros) sound good at the piano right away. But, it's just one method or way to approach chord piano playing.
Another method I use is something called the crossover technique or arpeggio. Here the left hand plays a cascade of notes ascending or descending (usually ascending) while the right hand plays melody. Click here to read more!
Thursday, November 02, 2006
How to Arrange Music for Piano
So, how does one go about arranging piano music? That's a good question. And one that can get confusing for most students. They sometimes confuse composing with arranging and with good reason - they're closely connected. Let's look at how to arrange a piece of music for piano. Specifically, we'll look at the lesson piece "Fall Sunrise."Fall Sunrise is a contemporary/new age piano piece I wrote to illustrate how ABA form works.
The first section is comprised of 4-bars which is repeated twice. The next section (B) is an 8-bar phrase repeated twice and then we come back to our (A) section, which again is repeated twice. So, if we were to "arrange" this so we can see what it would look like we'd end up with something like this:
Click here to read the rest of this article!
The first section is comprised of 4-bars which is repeated twice. The next section (B) is an 8-bar phrase repeated twice and then we come back to our (A) section, which again is repeated twice. So, if we were to "arrange" this so we can see what it would look like we'd end up with something like this:
Click here to read the rest of this article!
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