How To Capture Your Musical Ideas!

Have you ever watched an artist demonstrate how they create a painting? If not, you’re missing something wonderful … how to go from nothing to something.

How to create beauty where before there was only blank canvas.

Let’s take a landscape artist as an example and assume the subject has already been chosen - a peaceful woodland scene.

Now, how does the artist go about capturing this idea? Easy! They have a working method already in place! In art, the background is usually composed first.

Foreground details are added in later.

We can apply this same concept to music composition as well; specifically New Age piano composition. You see, we can also lay in the background and set the mood for the entire piece of music. And the best part about this is it’s quite easy to do.

This is the technique George Winston uses in much of his early work. A left hand pattern lays in the “wash” so to speak, while the right hand creates a lovely melodic foreground. Why this isn’t taught by most piano teachers is a mystery to me. Especially since the use of this technique gives immediate satisfaction.

Entire pieces of music have been and are created using this technique. All we need to know are the chords and when the chord changes occur. This is done by placing the chord symbols on something called a chart.

The chart is simply bars of music drawn out that indicate when you change chords. The cool thing about creating harmonic backgrounds is you don’t have to chart out more than 8-bars to create your musical canvas. Even 2-bars is enough. Why? Because once you have the chord progression down, you simply keep playing it over and over.

Eventually, this will get monotonous. But if we wanted to, we can add in a new harmonic background and keep the piece of music fresh!

Learn how it's done! Visit Quiescencemusic.com now for a FREE sample lesson and more! 

Chord Changes for Piano and How to Chart Them Out

As much as I like to just "fool around" on the piano, there comes a time when I want to remember or capture what I've been doing. But what's an easy way to do this you ask? I'll tell you.

By charting out your chord changes on a piece of paper, you'll remember the harmonic background easier. Here's how... First, get a sheet of paper. Any paper will do. It doesn't have to be lined or ruled and it doesn't have to be music paper. Next draw out 8-bars. I usually just draw 4 bars, skip down some and then draw another 4-bars.

This is your chord chart! It doesn't have to be more complicated than this. In fact, this quick sketch method will serve you well when inspiration is running high and you want to very quickly jot down your chord changes. You can do it anywhere! On a napkin, on a piece of paper in your purse or wallet. In fact, I've actually used ATM receipts to jot down chord changes on.

After you draw out 8-bars, you know have a template to use. You simply write your chord symbols on top. The chord changes may last for 1 bar, 2 bars… whatever. Eight bar frameworks are excellent to work in because they give you your first section of music! Plus, it's a nice space of time to work in. In fact, you could use just 2 chords and fill out the 8-bars, i.e., C Major for the first 4 bars and F Major for the next 4.

After you fill up this 8-bar space, you have basically captured the harmony aspect. But, you'll probably want to jot down the first 2-bars of melody as well. This will really help you remember what you are creating. You might also want to sketch out the arrangement of your chord changes. For example, if you are playing arpeggios in the left hand, indicate the pattern by writing it in for 2-bars. Well, there you have it. My quick sketch method for creating with.

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. Visit now and get a FREE piano lesson!