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! |
