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Hi all,
As a change of pace from all the classical that I've been playing, can anyone recommend some good 'New Age' instrumental pieces for piano?

Thanks!

You may want to look at the music of Jim Brickman and David Lanz.

Some other suggestions -

Mannheim Steamroller's "Fresh Aire Interludes" (found in the music books for the Fresh Aire series of albums) are slow, moody, beautiful piano pieces, with slightly jazz-like sonorities.

Liz Story's pieces appear in various new age music books. These are good intermediate- to advanced-level pieces. I particularly like "Wedding Rain," though it may be too technically difficult for me to learn at my current skill level.

Suzanne Ciani's pieces are also good new age piano works. These are more "pleasant" and dream-like works.

You ought to check out Isadar. He has written
some very nice piano solos. You can hear him at
www.isadar.com. You can also order the sheet
music. Enjoy.

Brickmans "Lake Erie Rainfall" and "Remembrance" might appeal to you.

David Nevue is a favorite in the AB forum. His website (www.davidnevue.com) lets you listen to pieces, and you can buy single piece sheet music for $3.95. He lets you see a sample page so you can gauge the difficulty. I particularly like to play The Gift, Overcome, Home, and The Emerald Valley.

George Winston is one of my favorite new age artists. Only a few of his pieces are legally available in sheet music format (as bonus tracks on his anniversary edition CDs), but they're worth it... e.g., Longing/Love from the Autumn CD and his arrangement of Canon in D.

Circumvent the imitators and go right to the source. As a shortcut, here's Jarrett's finest recordings:

http://www.amazon.com/K%C3%B6ln-Concert-Keith-Jarrett/dp/B0000262WI/sr=8-2/qid=1169525366/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/002-9248904-9085649?ie=UTF8&s=music

http://www.amazon.com/My-Song-Keith.../002-9248904-9085649?ie=UTF8&s=music

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Keith-J.../002-9248904-9085649?ie=UTF8&s=music

Also, an album not listed on Amazon:

Arbour Zena (his finest work at the height of his creativity) with Charlie Haden on bass and symphonic accompaniament. An incredible combination! A must listen for any Jarrett or new age/jazz piano fan ECM 1070

William Joseph is the best that I've found. and I've done alot of looking.

While listening to him John Tesh and Yanni come immediately to mind. Have you heard Keith Jarrett?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPqK1JJOFxw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLCGWh-VZhI

virtuosic1, I agree with you that Jarrett is something special, and the Koln Concert is sublime... but I got the impression that Fuhgetta 'bout it was looking for sheet music recommendations, and Jarrett's new age style music isn't very conducive to learning to play oneself, e.g., the Koln Concert Part I alone is 26 minutes long.

Fuhgetta 'bout it, you may want to check out a Hal Leonard collection called "Ultimate New Age." It contains 39 pieces by many of the big names in new age, e.g., David Lanz, George Winston, Mannheim Steamroller, Enya, Kitaro, Liz Story, Suzanne Ciani, etc. It could be a good introduction for you.

Monica, Hasn't anybody accurately transcribed Jarrett's piano improvisations, or portions of it? It's elegant, but all lies easily within the hands, not that difficult pianistically and not dense enough that accurate transcription should pose a serious challenge. Have you seen any books or transcriptions online of Jarrett's music? Do they exist?

Thanks all for the input!

Virtuosic1, being somewhat familiar with Jarrett, I'd imagine that it is almost certainly over my head at this time. But I will check into his stuff.

Monica, I think that 'Ultimate' book is exactly what I'm looking for to give me a foretaste.

I'm not a fan of Tesh or Yanni... somewhat enjoy some of Yanni's stuff though.

outside dust in the wind joseph has great potential to watch for. especially with pieces like piano fantasy.

A book of the Koln concert exists. (You can browse it at SheetMusicPlus.) I took one look at the sample page and grew pale. (And looking at the sample page only, it looks like a fairly exact transcription.) While I can't play it now, it's on my list of ultimate long term piano goals.

p.s. If you find the Jarrett thread that was started not long ago, you'll see a link to a web site that has what are probably unofficial Jarrett transcriptions, including his Over the Rainbow. Even that seems a tad too hard for me right now.

Here the links and a articule hope you enjoy.DPVJAZZ
Keith Jarrett: The Koln Concert
Artist Transcription
$35.00
Very hard to find in the U.S., published by Schott in Germany -- this is the complete series of concerts of Keith Jarrett, as performed in four concerts, 1975. Highly recommended, but only if you know what this is!
As with many of the most advanced transcriptions, this one could also go out of print at any time. There just isn't the profit for publishers in advanced piano transcriptions, like there is in easy piano fluff. Point is, if you are considering the Jarrett, consider spending the bucks now before it's gone. There used to be several Jarrett transcriptions in print -- if you own any, you're lucky, because they are all now out of print.
Keith Jarrett: reflections
The modern-day piano has been basically the same since the 1870’s; so basically the same that it makes one wonder why major improvements were not discovered in all those years. I think the reason is, simply, that it is a nearly complete tool for expression. People have discovered a few “new” materials to replace the “old” ones, but there is certainly no unanimity among pianists as to whether these are, artistically speaking, really improvements.

I grew up with the piano. I learned its language while I learned to speak. It is a more complete, more subtle, more vital language than words. It can celebrate; it can teach; it can affect a person physiologically whether he or she likes it or not. It is, therefore, dangerous. You can say: “I don’t agree with these words”, and deny them, but you have already been affected by the music before the denial. So … music involves an even greater responsibility than words.

Improvisation is more than the word expresses. It is a greater responsibility (again) in that the participation with the moment is, hopefully, complete. It is a “blazing forth” of a “Divine Will” (Divine if only because of its greater force). This means you (the pianist) are not only a victim of a message (impulse) quite beyond your own human ideas and thoughts, but you must put out (into the world of sound) as large a portion of it as possible (first having put complete trust in the “impulse”). Then (simultaneously?) you must be affected by that sound as though you had nothing whatsoever to do with it. Only then are you responsible to everyone listening because, only then, the listeners are all there is (there is no “pianist”).

At the same time you could say there is no listener and everyone in the hall is participating in the music … everyone is a pianist.

This process is the process of creativity. It is the process that motivates every human activity, from the Sunday Sermon to the Happy Hour at the local bar. Only the consciousness of that fact differs. If you know it incredibly well you wrote Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. If you refuse to even consider it, then cocktail hour may be your most important experience. This is not to suggest that Beethoven’s cocktail hour might not have been momentous. Creativity is what makes humanity move (again whether they like it not or know it or not). We were Created to Participate.

People who see monotony (boredom) in Nature will see monotony in true improvisation. They will not see the process and they will bring their own monotony-of-vision with them. However, there are some truly boring things which, unfortunately, those same people might regard as interesting because it matches their monotonous vision. They will be waiting for something to come to them: something recognizable yet new! (?) A new colour, a new disco, roller skates instead of jogging, Allegro instead of Adagio, outside change to make up for inward laziness.

Participating means accepting the challenge and consciously taking part in your own life. Since you have to participate anyway, why not do it consciously? But this means “no censorship”, and at the same time it does not mean, “anything goes”. It means don’t be fooled. It means don’t be subverted. It means you have a right to “see it in action”. But you cannot tell it to change or not to change; you can only Be There to Receive It. Then you are a participant: you’re not only hearing, you’re LISTENING. This is not a passive activity. It’s really active beyond mere “movement” and “chance”. It is what motivates the kaleidoscope; not what causes emotional responses to the wild patterns, but the potential behind it: the essence, not the shell.
Keith Jarrett (liner notes from cd Bregenz-Lausanne)
http://www.gel.ulaval.ca/~savary/kj/index_en.html
http://www.jazzitude.com/jarett_topalbums.htm
http://www.lucaspickford.com/transpiano.htm
http://www.keithjarrett.org/links/#Transcriptions
http://www.keithjarrett.org/transcriptions/

Okay, you've scared me enough that I'm going to buy the Koln book, even if it's a decade before I can play it.

Monica Kern [QUOTE]

Okay, you've scared me enough that I'm going to buy the Koln book, even if it's a decade before I can play it.

Monica get that and anything else that you dream about playing somday and start working a line here and a line there into you playing and before long you will have those licks in your bag of tricks. We may never play like Keith but we can incorperate some of the ideas into our own music and learn a whole lot about playing the piano this way. I know that in the past when I was younger I spent a lot of time learning piano techique and now I have to agree that finding pieces of music that address certain problem areas in your playing
is a much better approach for musical results. This in no way means don't to those exercises but just start adding lines or passages that you connect with first and work into challanging yourself with lines that require you to work out. A lot of listening to the music you want to play is still the best way to get started and try take a smiple line from one of the transcribtions reading along with listening and then try to transcribe a line on your own. I am getting to the point in life where tommorow is today right now. DPVJAZZ

Hi there,

I've written some New Age piano music for the easy/intermediate pianist.

Find them at http://solosheets.blogspot.com

I've also got a New Age piano course you may be interested in at http://www.quiescencemusic.com

Thanks, quiescen... you've got a nice website. I find it a lot easier to learn a piece if I know what it's supposed to sound like, so I especially appreciated your linking the mp3 to "Winter Sky."

Hello Monica,

I have just listened to 'Overcome'and will have record it and see what is is like on the piano. My PC is in an upstairs room.

I would think in terms of adding some latin American rhythm to the bass line.

I am interested in music like the 'New Age' to try and form a connection that you folk get the sensations from.

Kind regards,

Alan

PS; Wish I had a Digital on these occasions.