New Age Music - What Is It Good For?

Let's face it. The world will not end if there isn'tNor did it matter if others were pleased or not.
another new age music CD on the market. SoSo, what is new age piano improvisation good
why bother? Why play when most people don'tfor? Absolutely nothing - except the joy it can
care or want to hear the kind of music you like?bring to you and to me when we enter the flow
The answer lies in the nature of art itself, for theand the music pours out of us. It is so precious to
world really does not need art. It can survivebe able to do this. So fleeting it may be too. A
without painting, sculpture or music. It can survive,second or a minute of forgetting yourself at the
but it would be a pretty dreary place.piano is a sacred act. One that grows and
But the main reason we play is not for the worlddevelops. It matures of itself. Much like meditation.
but for ourselves. We must play for ourselvesIf one practices the art, one grows in proportion
first and if people hear and like it fine. If not, that'to that practice.
s fine too. As long as we don't deprive ourselvesBut this kind of growth is spiral in nature. There
of the enriching experience improvisation canare times that the music seems lifeless and dull.
bring.At these times we feel the same inside. But a
When I first started playing I wanted to createday or two later, we are in a new place and the
something others could admire. Something thatmusic flows like water. This is a mystery, this
people could say, wow, listen to that. That guy isprocess. One can only go with it and not fight it.
really good. But I was miserable and miles awayYou are creating art second by second when you
from the true purpose of playing music. It wasn'timprovise. This kind of beauty is fleeting - but is
until a year or so later that I realized that if Ithe most precious. Guard it. Cherish it. And if you
don't please myself first, no one would be pleased.feel inclined share it with the rest of the world.