|
|
| Free Music Downloads Information |
|
|
|
|
Five Secrets to Playing in the New Age Style
1. Learn how to Improvise Learning how to improvise is the key to playing in this style. Period. You must learn to experiment and take musical risks - within certain frameworks of course. You're not going to bang on the keys and expect to make music. This is not the kind of risk I'm talking about. Students thrive best when given a certain set of rules or guidelines to move around with. For example, in the lesson "Reflections in Water" you are given a few chords and a specific scale to make music with. In other words, I give you a set of limits from which you play the game of improvisation. This will free you up from the thousand and one choices you could possibly have. In fact, if you didn't have a set of limitations, you probably would end up banging on the keyboard because while it is important to be free and spontaneous, it is equally important to understand how the game is played. 2. Develop the proper attitude This one ties for first place. In my opinion, what stops most students from learning all they can from this style is the attitude that they either aren't good enough, or are not ready to learn how to improvise and play piano. Please don't think that. No one person will ever know all there is to know about any one subject let alone piano playing. You will always be growing but you must start somewhere and you must start from SIMPLE means. Here's a quote that sums it up best: "In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, but in the experts mind there are few." This means that you have an advantage over so called experienced piano players. Your attitude should always be one of receptivity. That is, never force anything to happen because when you force you are already setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. 3. Forget what you were taught Perhaps you were taught that you must learn your scales first and that you must learn how to read music before you can do anything else. I'm here to tell you that I can't read music, yet somehow, I've been able to put out two CD's of original music! In fact, if anything, reading music will slow you down creatively! If you want to create your very own music, you must forget what you were taught about music in general and focus on learning how to improvise first and compose second. Both of which can be taught! I think I read every book at the library on composition and improvisation and what helped me out the most was a very slim volume on chord changes using 8-bar patterns. By playing the chords in a set framework (8-bars) I was able to see how to use repetition and contrast to create with. And of course, I listened to the people I loved and learned a lot from just listening. So forget about what you were taught and start thinking about what you want to accomplish and you can do it! 4. Learn chords You've heard it before. Learn chords and you can make music. Just learn the 144 chords and voila - you can do it all. Don't believe it! You need to learn chords, but you don't need to learn one hundred chords right away. No. You need to learn probably about 3 chords or less to begin improvising in the "new age" style. And if you think that you need to learn more than this at the beginning you are wrong. Of course you can learn as many chords as you want but what's the point if you never use them? It's like learning a new vocabulary word each day for the sake of massaging your ego. Nice, but unnecessary. 5. Learn how to use Chords Let's assume you've learned a few chords. Now what? What are you going to do with your new chords? You are going to use them to create music with and the best way to do that is to choose a key or mode to play in. This automatically limits your choices. For example, let's say I sit down and start improvising and I start using a C Major 7 chord. I like what I hear but a problem arises - where do I go from here. Now this won't be a problem if you say to yourself. "OK. I started on C Major 7. Let's just stay in the Key of C Major and see what happens." Now, you are ready to go forward because you do not have a thousand and one confusing choices ahead of you. Do you see how this can free you up? You've limited yourself to using just 6 chords from the C Major scale. 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!
MORE RESOURCES:
Free-Music-Downloads - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Guitar Practice - Make It Your Priority! Every student realizes that guitar practice is important if they wish to become a better musician. Even so, many have trouble establishing a regular practice routine. Be An Organized Church Pianist Playing in front of a congregation each Sunday is no easy feat. Make sure you are well prepared before giving your best for God and before others. The Acoustic Guitar The steel-stringed acoustic guitar is usually credited with being developed by C.F. Repetition is the Key to Learning Something Deeply Repetition is the key to learning something deeply. It works most effectively when you are isolating a small amount of material, because the object of your focus will be more specific. Five Steps to Protecting Your Music and Your Money There are a lot of independent labels out there waiting to use a talented musician to make quick money. The offers may seem hard to refuse, especially if you are a struggling artist or band that has struggled to get a record deal. Ouch, It Hurts When I Sing! When I first set out to write this article about voice problems in singers, I was looking for two experts from contrasting fields of medicine - "medical" and "holistic". What I found, instead, in the first practitioner that I interviewed, was a delightful mixture of the two. What is Piano GHD Syndrome? Do you remember the movie, Groundhog Day? In this wonderful movie, TV weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) relives the same day - Groundhog Day, over and over and over again. No matter what he does, he wakes up the next morning and it is once again Groundhog Day. Interested in Improving the Sound of Your Stereo? Consider Records Introduced in 1982, the compact disc was intended to provide better sound than the 40-year-old long-play record album, popularly known as the LP. Using a laser rather than a diamond needle for playback the compact disc was smaller, more convenient to use, and less susceptible to damage than the LP. Why New Musicians (Rappers) Fail: Three Reasons and Solutions Despite the title of this article, the purpose of it is actually to HELP new emcees AVOID some common traps on their journey to learning how to rap better. You can come up with a million reasons why new rappers fail?or why any artist fails for that matter, but we've boiled the list down to three specific to new emcees. Guitar Performance - Make The Most of It! Getting ready for any type of guitar performance can be a little scary at first, but if you are well prepared, you will find the experience much easier to handle. Whether you're playing with a band, or by yourself; are a seasoned performer, or a rookie; there are several things you can do to make the most of your performance. Building A Good Relationship With Your Guitar The guitar is considered the friendliest musical instrument there is. It is because the guitar is the handiest musical instrument that could stand on its own. Does Your CD Cover $ell (Or Suck)? Oh, I know the last part of the title (Suck) isn't a very pleasant description to apply to anyone's CD cover. But, in the interest of plain old honesty, and to face our demons head on, I wanted to (again) utilize a worst case scenario that we can only improve from. Five Great Practice Ideas I Learned From My Piano Students! Sometimes the teacher learns more from the student than the student does from the teacher. Hopefully, not too often, but today I would like to share with you some great practicing ideas that have come from my piano students over the years:1. How to Improvise Using a Few Chords When a painter is getting ready to paint, a color palette is usually chosen first. For example, if a forest is to be painted, the artist may choose browns, greens, and blues for the sky. How to Stop Thinking and Start Playing Learning how to improvise is confusing for most. The sheer number of choices becomes a burden. Does Your Band Need a Manager? New bands looking to book gigs and establish contacts often start looking for a manager to handle the business aspects of their music. This is especially the case in cities with big music scenes, like New York, Los Angeles and Austin. Effective Band Rehearsal If your band is in rehearsals, either preparing for gigging, or practising new songs to add to your repertoire, the chances are you will have to hire a rehearsal room. The costs of hiring a room can soon mount up if you don't organise your time effectively. Music and Healing: The Power of Meaningful Words and Music We All Have a Favorite Piece of Music that Moves Us to a Special Place in Our Hearts. A Conversion About the Music We Love and How It Colors Our Lives. Play Piano in the New Age Style It's not what you play, it's how you play it. These words summarize the art of piano playing in general and New Age piano playing in particular. Music & Emotions: Can Music Really Make You a Happier Person? How many times have you turned to music to uplift you even further in happy times, or sought the comfort of music when melancholy strikes?Music affects us all. But only in recent times have scientists sought to explain and quantify the way music impacts us at an emotional level.
|
| Free Music Download Sites (Home Page) | Free MP3 Downloads | RSS Feed | Artists | Music Resources | Music Downloads |
