Love him or hate him, George Winston single handedly invented a whole new genre of music - New Age piano. His light ambient sound has reached millions of listeners around the world.

Now, a lot, and I mean a lot of pianists would like to be able to play like George but don’t think they can. That is, they don’t know how he does what he does. They think he just sits down and music comes up or, they believe that he spent years studying composition and theory in order to create these sometimes elaborate compositions.

But, and here’s the interesting thing, when you really listen and break down what he’s doing (and most other composers for that matter) it’s all about how phrases of music are repeated and then contrasted with new material. That’s it! That’s all composition is. It’s the art of repetition and contrast!

Just saying this won’t help you understand how it’s done though. For example, in the author’s lesson “Winter Scene,” we have a repeating ostinato pattern using 2 chords. The pattern is played over and over again while the right hand improvises a melody. And guess what? That’s a piece of music! That’s right! Now, if I wanted to show this piece as a composition, I would have to chart it out using a chord chart. This too is a lot easier than it sounds.

For instance, “Winter Scene” is just a 4-bar phrase in 4/4 time. Each chord gets 2 bars and that’s it! Sometimes called a “loop” these phrases can be repeated as long as the composer/improviser wishes. Then, if more music is required, we just add in new phrases and keep building up our piece of music.

So what is George Winston’s secret? Learn how to use musical phrases to create your own easy compositions!

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!

Copyright 2005 IDE

People that play the piano beautifully fascinate me. It is interesting the different paths some of them take to become good at it. There are so many options now days for children and adults interested in becoming concert pianists, or just become comfortable with this instrument and play it whenever they feel like it, carry a tune for their enjoyment or to please others like myself.

Many excellent piano players started their education at a young age, because they were given the opportunity by their parents, relatives or friends, and with time they found a way to express themselves, increasing their self confidence opening doors of inspiration and self satisfaction to become better at their new enterprise.

In this technological age of computers and video games, these have become an excellent way to transmit information at an early age to children. The challenge remains in figuring out which video games should we buy and keep.

As far as piano learning is concerned, recently I have been shown and become interested in the PianoWizard video game package from Allegro Multimedia. piano instruction game computer software provides a fun attention grabber display setting to users, teaching them to play music first by being involved with game activities on the screen that they can interact with a fun color coded keyboard. This makes children start enjoying music without them even realizing they are stepping into the piano-playing world. This computer instruction game teaches music notation while children get more into the game, making the learning curve transparent, pressure free, fun and enjoyable.

The system works with MIDI files that one can download to a computer, in fact, the company’s main site has links to many sites that have a large amount of MIDI files and information.

I find that the price for the keyboard and PianoWizard video game package is very affordable for all the capabilities included in the piano instruction software. I really do like the fact that one can up-load any type of song in MIDI format into the game and start playing it along in minutes. I believe your time will be well spent while visiting their site http://www.pianowizard.com/piano-instruction/ and learn about their excellent piano instruction game purchasing offer.

My best wishes to you and your children in this musical and uplifting venture.

About the author:
About the author
Ivan Alegre is a Technology Market Analyst and apiano instruction game enthusiast.

You’re sitting at the piano playing your favorite song but you can only play the notes on the sheet music in front of you. You long to play that song the way it is running in your head but you just don’t know where to begin. Does this sound like you?

Years ago I could only play the music in front of me. I knew the sound I wanted but I couldn’t understand how to play it. Then one day I was listening to a cd of some favorite tunes and I could recognize what the pianist was doing. In a nutshell he was playing the scale notes in between the melody! Along the way I discovered there was a bit more but I have it down to formula that works for me now.

1.Sing the song first: Even though at first I was only improvising on songs I already at least had a melody line and chord for, I now improvise a number of songs in my head before even sitting at the piano. Many times your creativity with a song will stop at your fingers. If you sing/humm the song first you will notice a lot more creativity happening because you were proficient with speech first.

2. If you can’t make it then fake it: If you’re having problems coming up with your own tunes, turn to a fake book and start your improvising there.

3. Don’t be afraid to use the whole piano: Next time you are around a good pianist, say the one at your favorite department store, notice how they will do several runs up and down the piano. Or how they play those wonderful deep notes in the bass of the piano.

4. Don’t get discourage by your first results: You’re not going to sound good at first. Well you might but since 99% of us won’t just go with the flow and don’t give up.

5. Keep at it: You will get better with time. Practice makes perfect or at least much better sounding.

Some things to keep in mind. If you aren’t already familiar with chords and scales, get to know them. This will greatly increase your improvising abilities. Invest in some good learning tools, for this. Books or videos the choice is yours. Choose depending on your learning style.

About the author:

K Quinn has been playing the piano for 10+ years. She picked up the guitar 5 years ago and both for her church. Visit her website at http://www.strugglingchurchmusician.us for more church musician tools and tips.