Listen for Your Tone

You know what’s amazing? I’m always getting better at playing the piano by listening for my tone.

Here’s what I mean. I play a piano key. A note sounds. Now sometimes I’ll play sloppily and not really hear the sound that is being produced.

Tone is very important because it determines how sensitive a player you are and sensitivity is the hallmark of artistry. Anyone can sit down at the piano, hit a key and produce a sound. It takes the artist’s touch to get a beautiful tone.

I learned about tone by listening to my favorite piano player John Herberman. Each note is beautifully played and sensitively interpreted. If you think playing slow pieces of music is easy, try playing a very slow piece and really listen for the tone you’re producing. That’s a good litmus test.

New Age Piano Interview: Joe Curry

Here's an interview I did with New Age pianist/composer Joe Curry. Enjoy!

Edward: How Did You Get Started Playing New Age Piano?

Joe: I began taking piano lessons at six years old. I started playing easy listening or new age piano after learning the basic chord progressions and how to improvise with left hand accompaniment. Playing the piano is a great way for me to relax and unwind at the end of the day.

Edward: What Inspires You and Informs Your Music?

Joe: Much of my musical inspiration comes from...

Click here to read the rest of the interview.

Quiescence Music In the News!

Here's a press release about Quiescence Music...

Piano Lessons Online a Low Cost Win-Win for Students and Their Piano Teacher

San Diego, CA, March 21, 2008 --(PR.com)-- It’s tough trying to maintain an active lifestyle and wanting to learn piano at the same time. Not only that, but piano lessons with good teachers are expensive and it’s often really difficult to schedule lessons.So to fit it all in to a filled-to-the-gills schedule more and more students have turned to taking their piano lessons on the Internet.

Click here to read the rest.

New Age Piano Interview: Rachel Currea

The following is an interview with New Age pianist/composer Rachel Currea.

Edward: How Did You Get Started Playing New Age Piano?

Rachel: I started composing at age 19 in this style before I even knew what New Age Piano was or even that it existed. My world was very intensely classical and I just began composing to play something melodic and relaxing.

Edward: What Inspires You and Informs Your Music?

Rachel: Lately the films featuring the music of Philip Glass inspire me. His music never fails to jumpstart my creative juices. However, generally my meditation practice helps with the creative process.

Edward: What Is Your Method for Composing a Piano Piece?

Rachel: Catch the slipstream. By that I mean to... Read the rest of this interview at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/rachelc.html

Are You a Perfectionist at the Piano?

Are you a perfectionist? Does every note have to sound right before it comes out of your piano?

If so, you might be cheating yourself out of the joy of music making. Most of us learned how to be perfectionists as children, trying to please our parents. We wanted their approval so we tried to get it right.

In the process, we learned that getting it right meant giving up our own happiness. It wasn't enough that we could express ourselves musically. We had to do a good job of it as well.

It's a shame but this happens all the time in music schools. It's not until we become adults that we realize the damage that has been done. By then, it's usually too late and most never pick up an instrument again.

What a pity that is. What a shame that we all must create to someone's standard of what good is. And worst of all, when you finally achieve that high standard, you are told that it is never good enough anyway.

The way out of this perfectionist's rut is to let go of the need to please others and refocus on pleasing ourselves. Now there is room to make mistakes and explore what art really is - namely EXPLORATION OF THE UNKNOWN!

Improvisation is the key that unlocks this door. It is the one art form that is invention from one moment to the next.

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 15 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Visit www.quiescencemusic.com now and get a FREE piano lesson!

New Age Piano Interview: Karen FitzGerald

Here's an interview I did with pianist/composer Karen FitzGerald.

Edward: How Did You Get Started Playing New Age Piano?

Karen: I've been studying piano all my life, probably even before I was born because my mother loved to play classical music on our family's baby grand piano. As a small child I used to sit underneath the piano and listen, or climb up and watch as the hammers and dampers danced on the strings.At age five I begged for piano lessons, and my wish was granted. I studied classical piano for the next twelve years, including additional classes in music theory and composition during my high school years.

But in addition to my formal studies, I was also interested in popular music. I had several books of popular songs that I spent lots of time just messing around with. Most popular music books include both a piano score and chord symbols for guitar players. Since I knew music theory, I could use the chord symbols to create my own arrangements of the songs. Sometimes my arrangements were a blend of the provided piano score and other things I thought up based on the chord symbols...

Read the rest of this interview at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/karenf.html

Quiescence Music Hits 100 Lessons Mark!

Well, I never thought I'd get there. 100 lessons. That's a lot of material.

To celebrate, I've decided to go out for dinner. Nothing too fancy. Maybe a Chipotle burrito - my favorite.

Chipotle is a mexican food store chain here in San Diego that makes the best burritos. To me, it's gourmet. But then again, I never had extravagant tastes.

I also want to thank all my students. Without you, there would be no lessons and no New Age piano instruction on the internet.

So.. thank you!!

Weekly Improvisation Prompts - Good Idea or Not?

In my never ending attempt to add value to my piano lessons site, I came up with this idea. Actually, it's not new. I introduced it a while back.

Basically, an improvisation prompt is something that will get you to the piano and playing "without thinking" too much about it.

Writers use them all the time to jump into the writing process. The good news is, we muscians can use them as well. Here's a sample of an improvisation prompt:

"Create an improvisation using Open Postion Chords from the book "New Age Piano Made Easy." Use these chords only - D Maj. 7, G Maj. 7. Use only the tones from the D Major scale to improvise your melody. Play for at least 3 minutes."

This is just an example, but you get the idea here. Is this something you might be interested in receiving on a weekly basis?

Improving your Improvisation Skills

What exactly is improvisation? It's a word that means, "to make up." To create without forethought or plan.

Many students want to improve their ability to improvise but make a big mistake when they think this means learning new techniques. No. The key to improving improvisation skill is to be able to let go of the need to control what comes out of you and let the music itself takeover. This makes all the difference!

Here, we are not making something up or trying to produce something. We are allowing the music to come through us and be born of its own.

This "approach" makes all the difference because it puts an end to trying to come up with material!

Being able to improvise does not mean having a lexicon of techniques to draw upon. It does not mean virtuosity at all. It means being open and receptive to what's coming next.

Your improvisation skill will increase with your ability to relinquish control. A paradox to be sure, but one that I've found to be true again and again. Learn technique of course. Learn chords, yes. But then let it go and play the piano.

Music Before Note Reading

Some piano teachers have this idea that you must learn how to read music before you can play music. That's nonsense!

In fact, it really works the other way around. You should be able to make music with chords and improvise first. Why? Because music is what the end result is.

Music is not notes on a sheet of paper. It's hammers striking strings produced when a pianist fingers a chord.
Children speak their native language first before they learn how to spell and write it.

They have no difficulties doing this BECAUSE IT COMES NATURALLY! Music should be the same way! We learn the language of music by understanding how to use chords first. We then use these chords to create our music with.

There is nothing wrong with being able to read music, but if that's all you can do, you're limiting yourself creatively. Stop playing piano the hard way and learn how to use chords and improvise first. Because by learning how to improvise, you are actually speaking the language of music first.