Got Winter Blues? Bonus Lesson 'Summer Oriole' will Warm You Up!

Free improvisation - the term alone can intimidate students who have never tried it. But for pianist/composer and online teacher Edward Weiss, the term means freedom of expression and fun.

Weiss explains...

"The idea of sitting down at the piano and playing what you feel is such an alien idea for the majority of piano students. And I don't know or understand why. Especially since all it takes to do it are chords and some guidelines - both of which I provide in the lesson Summer Oriole."

Weiss has been teaching adults how to play New Age piano for over 10 years. The online course he runs now has over 140 lessons and 1100 members. Students pay a small monthly fee to access everything on the course. When asked why he teaches 'New Age' piano, Weiss elaborates:

"New Age piano is a very popular style of music. Millions around the world enjoy the beauty and relaxing effects it has to offer. But there was nothing as far as instruction goes - either online or off. I created a course where anyone who enjoys this style can go and learn how to play it without learning how to read music."

Weiss also adds:

“Most piano students assume they must learn how to read music before they attempt anything creative. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, I encourage students to speak the language of music first through chords before learning how to read it.”

The free piano lesson 'Summer Oriole' can be found now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/summeroriole.pdf

The Man Who Sold New Age Music

Remember Windham Hill? It was the preeminent New Age label back in the 80’s and 90’s. And Will Ackerman, former CEO of the first (and best) label for New Age music sold his beloved Windham Hill to BMG. And now, Sony owns it.

Ackerman made a lot of money off the deal. Many millions. But he also made good money (I hope) as CEO of Windham Hill. Which makes me wonder. ..

I wonder why someone who was so passionate about a style of music he literally coined, would sell the label - and along with it, pretty much the entire genre of New Age music.

You see, Windham Hill was a very respected label in the 1980‘s. Ackerman even signed George Winston - and we all know how successful he is. So why would someone abandon a growing genre of music?

According to Ackerman, he was overwhelmed with the administrative details. Understandable. Most ‘artistic types’ and Ackerman’s one of them, don’t like to attend to minutiae.

But why sell something you’ve worked so long and hard for to a conglomerate who not only failed to grow the genre of New Age music, but pretty much buried it and condemned it to an uncertain death?

Why not hand over the reins to someone who could grow and expand this beautiful, healing, and heartfelt style of music the world really hasn’t seen since classical impressionism?

It saddens and angers me when something like this happens.

I place the blame with Ackerman. Sure, he’s entitled to do what he wants and can sell and buy as his heart pleases. But when he sold Windham Hill, he also sold the idea of New Age music as something ‘not worthy’ of attention. Something that could be cast aside and bought out.

New Age music deserves better. Much better. I hope to change this as I write more and more about the genre of music that I love so much.

Piano Gardening? Nature and Music Meet at NewAgePianoLessons.com

When ‘New Age’ pianist George Winston came out with his CD ‘December’ back in 1981, it was a new sound for the time. Quiet and contemplative, the music seemed to ring in the air and go nowhere. But it caught on and became popular. Something you wouldn’t think would have happened back in the 80’s when Madonna and Wham were all the rage.

Yet for reasons unknown, the New Age music scene died a quiet death shortly thereafter.

But now, New Age music is making a comeback. Thanks in no small part to the efforts of piano teacher and pianist Edward Weiss.

Weiss runs a website that teaches, you guessed it - New Age piano. And according to Weiss, the site keeps growing and currently has over 7500 subscribers.

Here’s what this ‘New Age’ pianist and teacher has to say about it:

“I’ve always loved music that tries to describe the natural world. New Age music is really the impressionist music of our time. Many adults would love to create in this style but think they can’t because they can’t improvise - a necessary requirement for New Age piano playing. But I teach a simple method that allows them to just sit down and play.”

The course Weiss teaches now has over 140 lessons and comes with a free workbook. Weiss, who also has a bestselling book on Amazon.com ’Free to be Creative at the Piano’ says he knew teaching New Age piano was what he wanted to do as soon as he was able to connect his digital piano to a computer some 10 years ago.

Weiss explains…

“Back in 2000 or so I tried to hook up my Roland digital piano to an old Dell computer. To my surprise, it worked and I’ve been teaching online ever since.”

A free piano lesson ‘Summer Morning’ and report ‘5 Secrets to Playing New Age Piano’ are currently being offered at Weiss’s website http://www.newagepianolessons.com/

Recommended Site: The New Age Music Circle

I discovered this site after plugging in the term 'new age music' into Google. And I was happy to have found it!

Here, everything really is 'New Age' so to speak. Flutes, nature sounds, piano, and any other kind of instrument you can think of that creates soothing music.

Actually, this is a 'Ning" site. Ning developed social networking platforms for webmasters to use. And Suzanne Doucett, the webmaster for this site, has used it to really good advantage.

I've posted a number of articles here along with various videos.

If you're into New Age music as a whole, this site is a must visit! Find the site at http://newagemusik.ning.com/

Recommended Video: The Music of Yosemite by Rick Erlien

Rick Erlien may be the most underrated New Age pianist out there. Recording for the "Real Music" label, the CD "Music of Yosemite" is amazing and deserves a much wider audience.

Rick posted a video at YouTube that gives very interesting glimpses of him playing in concert as well as reviews and coverage he's recieved from news stations. Here's a description Rick posted at YouTube ...

THE MUSIC OF YOSEMITE MULTI-MEDIA SHOW

The concert is a multi-media show combining the original music I wrote forYosemite with a full length film which was shot exclusively to :TheMusic of Yosemite" for PBS television.

As one listens to the solo pianoperformance in concert and views the stunning visuals of the film during the performance, the music and images are a celebration of Yosemite and it'sbeauty.

The video shows me performing "The Music of Yosemite" live in concert so youcan get a feeling for the show. It also shows interviews and televisionfootage to further tell my story as a musician and composer and myintentions for composing my album and connecting people to nature. For more info visit http://www.rickerlien.com

Recommended Artist: Jennifer Haines

Jennifer Haines is not your average contemporary/New Age pianist.

First of all, she's a lot younger than most of us playing in this style. And that's a good thing. Secondly, she lives in New York. Not many New Age pianists from those parts.

But more importantly, she is an amazing pianist with a style that will hook you. Listen to her piece "Flurries" and you'll see what I mean.

It's as if you're standing somewhere in the middle of November and suddenly out of the sky ... snow!

I highly recommend Jennifer and her music. Find out more and listen to Jennifer's music at her Myspace page http://www.myspace.com/jenniferhaines

Learning Piano by Listening to Other Pianists

When I first heard New Age pianist George Winston play
piano, I wondered to myself, "how does he do it?"

But it wasn't until I started creating my own music that the answers started to come. You see, if you've never played the piano before, it's almost impossible to understand what somebody else is doing on it.

After a while, I began to notice that the left-hand played a much bigger part in creating Winston's sound than the right.

The reason I wanted to know all this in the first place is because if I could figure out what he was doing, I could get the same sound myself. But that was only the beginning.

Soon, I could hear much more than chord changes and left-hand patterns. I began to listen for the "form" of the piece ... how the composer uses the tools of repetition and contrast.

In Winston's case, he will create a 4 or 8-bar phrase and loop it - improvising melody on top. This "method" really intrigued me for it seemed like an easy way to quickly "get down" music on paper. And it is! Instead of focusing on melody as the forward momentum that propels interest and the composition along, Winston creates an aural background and then changes that to create contrast. A perfect example of this is his piece "Rain" where a gentle background mood is first created. He then follows this with a thunderous section - all played with the left hand.

Now, another way composers compose is by leading with melody. Here the melodic idea takes center stage and I can think of no other person to learn from better than John Herberman. Listening to his music you hear how he uses repetition and contrast.

The first 8-bars is a complete theme for many of his pieces. This is followed by a contrasting section of 8 or 4 bars followed by repetition of the first section again.

All of this can be heard when you listen to music. A good idea when listening to dissect a piece is to listen for certain things. For example, you may say to yourself, "I'm listening for the form" and then focus on how the pianist is using form to create the composition. Other questions to ask are "What sound is being used?" Major? Minor? Modal?

Soon, you'll be able to understand the materials your favorite artists are using and then use them yourself in your own unique way.