Hi

Im not a musician. Im into IT - web-development, software etc.

I've always loved music in general but not a freak - mostly pop esp MJ.

Recently (for a week now) I started listening to Yanni's music and Im unable to stop listening to it - like as if Im addicted. Cant seem to concentrate on anything else.

Im now thinking of taking piano lesons for a start - as a hobby. Reading another post here, someone's written a keyboard is best to start with for Yanni kinda stuff.

So where do I start trying my hand at the piano/board ?

Thanks

Hi Anjanesh, welcome to the forum!

I remember listening to Yanni's "Keys to Imagination" album waaaaaaay back when I was in graduate school in the mid 1980s. He was one of the first new age composers I had heard, and his music helped spark a love for new age music in general. (Although now there are other artists I like better. )

Yanni's music is very synthesizer-heavy, so if you want to play his stuff then, yes, a digital piano or keyboard would be the best way to go. A digital would make sense for other reasons, too; they're cheaper than most acoustic pianos, so they're often a good choice for beginners who aren't sure whether they're going to stick with lessons or not. They're also much more portable, and you can play them at night with headphones without disturbing others.

As to where you start, your first big decision is whether to self-teach vs. take lessons. Self-teaching is certainly possible (many of us on the AB forum are doing so, myself included), but personally I think you will make quicker progress if you took lessons. If you do decide to get a teacher, make sure you have a conversation with the teacher about the kind of music you want to play, and make sure the teacher is comfortable teaching that genre.

If you don't want to take lessons, one approach would be to work with some of the methods book series out there, like Alfred's or Bastien. Those will teach you basic techniques, but they won't include new age music or Yanni in particular, so you would need to supplement that on your own.

Thanks for reply Monica. Im going through the posts in this forum and theres a LOAD of information here. Will take time to gulp this down.

I guess I'll listen to more songs of other musicians, since all I've heard of so far is of Yanni's.

Find the recitals...3 of them. They are from the forum members and are a nice mix.
Recital 3

And Welcome...(thats better Monica...btw, have you gotten that song out of your head yet?? )

Dear Anjanesh..YANNI...You might consider typing into goole ...Yanni's bio... He never had a piano lesson, totally self taught...To teach yourself, most New Age Method Books assume you have a classical piano background... A piano teacher who is very educated ,as in, a
Conservatory graduate who can play New Age themselves and compose New Age ... You would progress very fast this way...The same fee as a piano teacher who is not in your New Age arena...You are a free spirit in music and probably very talented ... May you have a long and happy life as a pianist....Sandy B.

I am thinking you will want a teacher that matches your style to start off with and then you could look into courses and books that allow you to teach yourself.

Some of my favorite music to listen to is:

David Nevue www.davidnevue.com
Einaudi
George Winston
Whisperings Solo Piano Radio Station

i used to like new age stuff, like Yanni's, but got tired of it pretty soon (a couple of years). i would still listen to it or pop/rock occasionally, but my passion goes back to classical with no return.

My favorites are the same as psychopianoman's.

Other artists with a more electronic bent similar to Yanni that you might want to try out include Kitaro ("Silk Road" is my favorite album of his); Mehdi (all of his albums are good); and Andreas Vollenweider (electric harp, very cool; "White Winds" is very good).