So you’ve got a few New Age piano pieces under your belt and you want to share your music with others. Can you do it? Yes! Here’s a working plan for you.

Create 3 Pieces of Music

For those of you who are just beginning to improvise, don’t worry about this. But for those who are beginning to compose, you’ll need to have 3 complete pieces to play. Why? Because this will come to around 10-15 minutes of music – the perfect amount of time for a mini-concert! If you’re in the process of creating your 3 pieces and haven’t finished yet set an goal date. For example, it’s a good idea to write something like this down:

By August 12, 2006, I will have 3 complete and polished pieces of music to play for others.

This is a time-based goal and will work wonders if you write it out and place it where you can read it everyday. Most likely, you will try and find excuses for why you can’t finish something on time. This goal with time and date on it will continually remind you to stay on track.

Practice Your 3 Pieces

Practice is the only way you will build up your confidence level. Practice each piece slowly at first. Never back up if you make a mistake. I repeat? NEVER back up if you make a mistake. Why? What are you going to do when you’re playing for an audience and you mess up. You’re not going to stop everything and go back. No! You go forward. Chances are very good that the audience won’t even notice. I can testify to this from personal experience.

When you practice, be with the music. The audience isn’t really concerned with you per se. They want an emotional experience through the music and the best way to give that to them is for you to be in the moment.

Overcome Performance Anxiety

To do this, you must first practice until you can play all 3 pieces straight through and you must first perform for a very small audience. Perhaps one or two people. You see you have to get used to the idea that eyes will be watching you. This makes most very self-conscious. By playing for very small groups of people, or even one person first, you get used to this and you can simply shrug it off. Playing for others should be a joyful experience. It can be if you follow these simple guidelines.

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/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

Imagine being able to sit down at the piano and create your own unique music without years of study. Now imagine being able to do it within 1 hour! It’s possible when you learn how to play the open position piano chord!

The OPC is a special way of forming chords at the piano. You use both hands right away to create a modern sounding chord that’s perfect for today’s contemporary styles. It’s called open position because of the way the notes of the chord are spread out.

The left hand plays the root, fifth, and seventh notes of the chord while the right hand takes the third and seventh again. The sound is amazing but this isn’t the biggest benefit of this particular chord structure. The biggest benefit is what you can do with it!

For example, in the piano lesson Reflections in Water, you start by playing a C Major 7 OPC. Now that you have the chord what are you going to do to make music? You are going to improvise a melody with the right hand using the tones from the C Major scale. You see, all you really need to know in order to make your own music is chords and the scale the chords came from.

You need to know the notes of the scale so you can use them to improvise a melody. Now the beauty of the open position chord is that you don’t have to move your hands around too much in order to create a melody with. In fact, you can pretty much stay within this chord structure and create a beautiful piece of music.

Reflections in Water uses 4 chords to create a few minutes of music with. A beginner can learn to use this chord structure within 1 hour and create music with it. It really is that easy!

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/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

Most students new to piano playing really want to know what to do with the left hand. They think the left hand holds the secret to great improvisations and music. While it’s true that the left hand has usually been the captain of the piano ship when it comes to setting arrangements, the right can also join in.

Look, the right hand is where most of us create our melodies. It’s considered easier than the workhorse part the left has to do with creating arpeggios, ostinatos and the like. But, we can also use the right hand to create arpeggios and ostinato patterns.

For example, in the Lesson April Rain, the right hand plays closed position seventh chords as arpeggios while the right plays bass notes as melody. This is not a new technique by far but it’s not usually used in New Age piano playing.

And like any other technique, it takes a while before you feel comfortable enough to play a left-hand melody using bass notes. The piano is such a versatile instrument because unlike many other instruments, the notes are all laid out for you. You can switch hands, criss-cross hands, and do many other things with a piano keyboard that you just can’t do with something like a saxophone or even a guitar!

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/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

Let’s face it. Learning isn’t usually fun. It’s a big drag.

Especially when it comes to learning a musical instrument. Scales, repetition, and monotonous exercises abound. Most people love the piano but won’t go near it for fear of not being able to to play it. And most times, their fear is justified!

A typical beginning piano student scenario may go like this: You walk into the teacher’s studio. He or she asks you what you want to learn. You respond with any number of choices; classical, jazz, new age. Then out pop the books. You know the one’s I’m talking about. Hanon scales, Czerny. Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll get introduced to a chord-based method. Maybe. But probably not.

You see, most 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!

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/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

Do you know why playing guitar is so much easier than playing piano? It’s because guitar players learn how to use chords first. Even before note reading!

They usually learn how to play chords in the first position. Called open position chords, the beginning guitarist quickly learns how to finger this position and can immediately create music. That’s why so many people love the guitar and want to learn it!

They don’t waste time learning the masters or anything like that at all. Nope. It’s all contemporary. Unless of course it’s classical guitar.

Now why can’t those interested in learning piano have the same benefits? After all, it’s not like everyone wants to learn how to play Bach or Beethoven.

The good news is you can play piano using only chords. But not just any chords. I’m talking about learning a chord structure that will have you sounding like a professional right away! It’s called the Open Position Chord and with it, you’ll be able to create your own unique music!

I know it sounds far-fetched. I didn’t think I could make my own music either until I discovered this chord position from a book titled The Four-Way Keyboard System. In it, the author Alan Swain goes into great detail about the benefits of learning this chord structure.

I didn’t have to really read what he wrote. I just played it. And I was hooked! Here was something I could learn quite easily. And I could learn it in all 12 keys – just as easily! I had found what I was looking for. A modern sounding chord that would let me improvise with both hands at the piano right away AND sound good doing it!

Most of us know what triads are. This 3-note chord structure has been used to introduce students to chording on the piano. But learning triads isn’t necessarily the best place to start. In fact, there really is no good reason to begin your piano studies with triads.

Listen, if your goal is to read music and play kum-ba-ya, then by all means, spend countless hours learning how to read music and play triads. But, if you want to improvise and create your own unique music, I can think of no better chord structure than the open position chord!

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/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

A student recently asked me; Why is improvisation so mysterious. My response was that there is nothing mysterious about it at all.

Of course, I’m saying this because I have years of experience under my belt, but truthfully, once you understand that all you need to improvise is chords, the mystery disappears and satisfaction takes it place.

Most of the problems students have with improvising is their fear of trying it. They think they need to know college theory or advanced harmony first in order to begin creating in the moment. Nothing could be further from the truth! In fact, extensive knowledge of harmony and theory can actually create more problems than they solve.

For instance, in one of my piano lessons, Lesson 3: Rainforest, I have two chords down in my left hand. I then use the G Major scale to improvise a melody and that’s that! Nothing hard about it. No mystery here – just fun!

Once you have a definite exercise to play and know what your hands will be doing, it frees you up to create. You no longer have to worry about which chords to play or how to play them. You can focus your attention on the act of improvising melody and experience the joy of improvisation!

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/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

So, you’re just not that into playing the piano lately? Not inspired? Feeling less than enthusiastic about putting fingers to keys?

I understand. I’ve been there and still experience what is commonly called creative blocks. But you’re not really blocked. You just don’t want to play. Sounds weird I know but let me explain.

Art, any art is essentially a play activity. Let me ask you something. What happens when children are forced to play? They end up rebelling and doing exactly the opposite of what they were told to do.

Do you think you’re any different? I’m always amazed at teachers who suggest students bang their heads on the keyboard until they get it right. This is OK I guess if your goal is to become a concert pianist. But if your goal is to rise above the mundane realm of what I call typist piano, then you best get used to the idea that forcing never works.

Why is this? Because the artist part of you is really a child who just wants to play. Remember when you were young and you were in the zone? You didn’t have to think about it. You didn’t have to worry if it was good enough or if you knew enough. It could have been paper mache, finger-painting, sprinkles?anything. The point is, your elementary school teacher understood that the process of play was far more important (and educational) than having you compete in an art contest to see who was better. The ironic part of all of this is that we ALWAYS discover more about our art when we do just play.

Look, life is hard enough already. Let’s ease up on ourselves and actually enjoy the act of piano playing.

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/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

Many piano students spend much time learning how to play the piano. Years upon years of study time devoted to perfecting technique, tone, dynamics, etc. All the while, many of these same students have never really played the piano. That is, they have spent their time practicing in preparation for the moment when they can perform for others.

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if instead of learning how to play other peoples music, we could feel confident enough to create our own? Why is it so daunting a task for most of us? I think it’s because we’ve been taught that only a very few gifted individuals are capable of producing music from scratch – whatever the genre. Rock, jazz, classical etc. Unfortunately, this belief is enough to stop most dead in their tracks and for those, whose spark of interest was lit in childhood, it soon turns cold and lifeless.

Now, playing the piano is entirely different than learning the piano. Here we are at home. Why? Because we are playing. So different an approach it is too! Children are allowed free-play and are even encouraged to do so. But as we grow up, we decide we must make something worthy of performance. What a tragic error in thinking! Yet one that pervades the music world.

The solution is to understand that we all have our own special music inside of us and each and every one of us has something wonderful to share with the world. This something comes through when we stop learning how to play the piano and begin to play it truly for the first time.

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/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

Some consider melody the most important aspect of music making. Of course, there’s harmony and rhythm, but melody is the one part that listeners hold to memory more than any other, and, it’s also the easiest part to create!

For example, in the lesson Oriental Sunrise, we have two chords. Now if we just play these chords, if we just fool around with them, we get textures and whiffs of sound that drift away and do not hold. But, as soon as we add in melody, the whole piece becomes alive and discernable.

To create a melody really requires nothing more than playing around with the right-hand. The left has the chords and creates the harmonic background – an aural canvas if you will. Now, we can add in highlights to our sound painting using melody.

We improvise and are amazed at the fact that just a few notes is enough to create a wonderful sound – especially since you use the pentatonic scale. You can’t go wrong by playing on the black keys. Every note you produce will sound good. We let go and allow our intuitive mind to come up with the melody and the music pours out of us.

Once you know the scale you’ll be playing in, (in this case, minor pentatonic) you are free to play any note you want from it to create your melody. The focus is now on making music and not on choosing melody notes – a very freeing experience!

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/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

There are basically two ways to compose music. One way is by starting from the bottom or the harmonic approach.

A composer/arranger takes a few chords, a phrase to hang them on and arranges the harmony in some kind of pattern. An example of this is the loop you often hear in contemporary music. A loop is simply a harmonic background over which a melody (or not) is played.

The second way to compose music is by starting with the melody. Composers may or may not have some idea of the finished idea (I prefer not to) but the melodic idea is fitted into some kind of phrase. The most common phrase used is the 8-bar phrase.

I find that starting with the melody to be the easier approach. Why? Because melody is easier to move forward then harmony. Sure, you can block out a few chords and arrange them to create a loop, but this becomes static over time. Melody is much easier to go forward with.

By using the principles of repetition and contrast, we can create a simple ABA form in no time at all. Then we can go back and harmonize each section.

I used to favor the harmonic approach at first. It was very easy to simply jot down chord changes on an 8-bar phrase, create some kind of arrangement, and improvise a melody on top. There is nothing wrong with this approach at all. But I soon found myself learning towards the melody first. Not because I think it’s better, but simply because it’s the method I like right now.

Either way, it’s a good idea to compose music using one approach or the other. If you try to harmonize a melody while you’re creating it, it will slow you down and may stop the creative flow.

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/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!