New Age Music – How It is Made

Different styles of music have diverse “sounds.”  we  can all pretty much agree on that point. By way of example, Jazz uses seventh chords al most exclusively. This, and the kind of chord progressions used in Jazz gives it its unique flavor. But what about new age music? Does it have it’s own special ingredients? Yes it does.
Now, there are no hard and fast rules here but for the most part, new age music is a consonant music. That’s, there is little or noharshness going on in the music. No Saxes wailing and what not. Having said that  we  can eliminate most of the tense jazz chords and their voicing. So what are  we  left with? Mostly Major and minor chords based on the regular scales and the modes. The chord progressions are simple r and usually start on the l chord. No ll-V-l progressions here.
What about melody? In jazz,  we  have a soloist who usually plays many 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 are with letting the music express itself. A subtle but  surprisingly necessary distinction. Jazz players might have some ego invested in their performance. New age artists 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’ll see what I mean.
Last but not least is rhythm. Let’s do a comparison/contrast among Jazz and New Age music. Jazz has a definite discernible rhythm. It is what makes Jazz Jazz. New age music might have a pattern or an underlying rhythm to the music. It may be used to create trance like states in the listener. Drums are usually a part of Jazz music. Percussion is mostly absent from the New Age sound simply because it would not add to the atmosphere most New Age artists create. Timing is  surprisingly necessary to the Jazz artist. The soloist has the freedom to play 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 might disregard time altogether. Just listen to Zen flute music as a wonderful example of this.
Now, what does all this mean for the aspiring New Age artist? A couple of wonderful things. It means that there is a definite new age “sound” out there. That it’s 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.