LiveMusicBlog

Different styles of music have diverse “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.
Now, there are no hard and fast rules here but for the the majority 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  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 simple r and a number of times start on the l chord. No ll-V-l progressions here.
What about melody? In jazz,  all of us  have a soloist who a number of times 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, Assuming that 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 decidedly necessary distinction. Jazz players may have some ego invested in their performance. New age artists learn to let the music performance them. They learn to become a channel for the music itself allowing it to speak through them. Of course, I am not saying that this cannot happen in Jazz, but, just watch a Jazz performer and you’ll see what I mean.
Last but not least is rhythm. Let’s do a comparison/contrast amidst Jazz and New Age music. Jazz has a definite discernible rhythm. It’s what makes Jazz Jazz. New age music may have a pattern or an underlying rhythm to the music. It may be used to create trance like 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 artists create. Timing is decidedly necessary to the Jazz artist. 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 may disregard time altogether. Just listen to Zen flute music as a nice example of this.
Now, what does all this mean for the aspiring New Age artist? A couple of nice 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.