Description

Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t make cool sounds on any keyboard without knowing a thing about music… because you really can!

I’ll admit that for many years as a piano teacher I didn’t think so.

But in the last couple years I made a discovery about creating pleasant sounds on the piano that I never would have believed during my earlier piano teaching career.

I recall a physician friend asking me if I had any kind of course he could take that didn’t involve learning to read music or music theory or any of the traditional materials.

He had purchased a beautiful Yamaha grand for his daughter to take lessons on when she was growing up, but now she was married and moved away, so he had this grand piano in his living room with no one to play it. He was much too busy in his career to take traditional piano lessons — he just wanted to “doodle” after work in the evening and relax after a stress-filled day at the hospital.

Unfortunately, I told him “no — I don’t have anything like that available — sorry!” and that was the end of that story.

But a few months later another student had heard a “new age” pianist somewhere, and loved the sounds he produced so much that they wanted to do the same, and asked me how in the world he got those sounds. They weren’t really songs — more like the sounds of nature and running water and nature in bloom.

As you may know, I have taught piano for 30 years and I’m a firm believer in learning to read music, understand music theory, and really master the keyboard. I’m no fan of mindless “shortcuts” because I know that in the long run they don’t work — you’ve got to have understanding.

But I also know that there are many people that would LOVE to be able to make their own “pleasant sounds” on the piano, just for their own satisfaction and amusement. They know full well that they will never be full-blown piano players, but still, they would like to sit down now and then and must make some sounds on the keyboard that sound good, feel good, and give satisfaction to them and/or their family.

I understand that. My own Dad wasn’t a pianist by any means, yet when I was a little guy he used to sit down at the piano for a half-hour on a Saturday evening and play some kind of chording pattern that just delighted my Mom and my brother and I. I guess you know that if I could call him back from Heaven and have him play that again for me, I wouldn’t trade the entire London Symphony for that half-hour.

And so for those people who just want to make some nice sounds on the piano (or keyboard or organ or synthesizer — it doesn’t matter what kind of keyboard) I have recently recorded an instructional DVD which can be used by anybody — even people who have never touched their hands to the keyboard!

We use NO printed music, of course. All you will do is sit at your piano or keyboard and watch my hands on my piano, and do what I do. Of course I will be talking and explaining what I am doing, but even if you had the sound turned off you could still follow what my hands are doing.

What is “New Age” Music?

There is a style of music which is quite popular these days known as “new age” music. It tries to capture the sounds of nature — water flowing, nature, birds — that sort of thing. It is very descriptive music, and very relaxing. It’s fun to play, too, because there are really no “wrong answers” — anything that sounds nice and pleasant is “right”. I’m going to show you on the video how these sounds are created using simple patterns — patterns that can be repeated in various places & ways.

I’m going to show you how to create 15 different sound patterns. I have named these sound patterns:

•  Cascading Waterfalls
•  Wind in the Forest
•  Rainbow after Storm
•  Oriental Gardens
•  Hide & Seek
• Carnival Fun
• Classical Sounds
• Stroll in a Meadow
• Peaceful Morning
• Walk-the-Stairs Boogie
• Playful Kittens
• Christmas Morning
• Gentle Waves
• Remembering Daddy
• Dinkin’ Around!

… and then after you learn each sound pattern, I’ll show you how to link those sound patterns together in various ways so that you can create your own song, your own little symphony, your own creation, that expresses the feelings that you want to express.

This course contains a DVD video and laminated sheet of 15 sound patterns