New Age Music – How It is Made

Different styles of music have disparate “sounds.” all of us can all pretty much agree on that point. By way of example, Jazz uses seventh chords al the majority exclusively. This, and the type of chord progressions used in Jazz gives it its unique flavor. But what about new age music? Does it have it is own special ingredients? Yes it does.

At this point, there are no hard and fast rules here but for the the majority part, new age music is a consonant music. That is, there is little or noharshness going on in the music. No Saxes wailing and what not. Having said that all of us can eliminate the majority of the tense jazz chords and their voicing. So what are all of us left with? Mostly Major and minor chords based on the regular scales and the modes. The chord progressions are easy r and usually start on the l chord. No ll-V-l progressions here.

What about melody? In jazz, all of us have a soloist who again and again plays a lot of chromatic notes. This is rare in new age music because it would create dissonance. New age melodies tend to be softer and more on the spiritual side. Solos, If the re are any, are not so much concerned with the expression of the self than they’re with letting the music express itself. A subtle but exceedingly vital distinction. Jazz players can have some ego invested in their performance. New age musicians learn to let the music play them. They learn to become a channel for the music itself allowing it to speak through them. Of course, I’m not saying that this can’t happen in Jazz, but, just watch a Jazz artist and you will see what I mean.

Last but not least is rhythm. Let us do a comparison/contrast amidst Jazz and New Age music. Jazz has a definite discernible rhythm. It is what makes Jazz Jazz. New age music could have a pattern or an underlying rhythm to the music. It may be used to create trance prefer states in the listener. Drums are a number of times a part of Jazz music. Percussion is mostly absent from the New Age sound simply because it wouldn’t add to the atmosphere the majority New Age musicians create. Timing is  surprisingly important to the Jazz musician. The soloist has the freedom to performance whatever he wants as long as he maintains the meter and stays in time. New Age music is more elastic in that timing is there, but is not a master of the player. The New Age player could disregard time altogether. Just listen to Zen flute music as a good example of this.

Next, what does all this mean for the aspiring New Age musician? A couple of good things. It means that there is a definite new age “sound” out there. That it is here to stay and that individuals like and need to hear it. And it means that there are some guidelines out there for what defines the meaning of New Age music.