Paint Your Own Musical Landscapes!

I don't know why, but I find the idea of interpreting nature musically to be very appealing. Maybe it's because I'm attracted to nature's beauty, but the notion of communicating that beauty musically has always intrigued me.

Not being a very patient person, I wanted to find a way to capture a musical idea very quickly and sketch out an entire piece all at once. Visual artists do something called a thumbnail sketch and I wanted to do the same thing for music.

It then occured to me that if I just sketch out the first 8-bars of the piece, and write in the first 2-bars of melody, I could capture an idea that would be remembered weeks or even years later. It's amazing but this actually works! The secret is the melody.

If you can't read music and want to do this just do what I do. I write down the note values (quarter notes, half notes., etc.) and write the letter name of the note beside the note value. One of the most important things I've discovered over the years is that the note value (it's time length) is what really captures the idea. Just think of Beethoven's fifth symphony for a good example. Da Da Da Duh... These notes mark the whole composition.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

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Music industry eases tactics in fighting piracy - Reuters

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0i-0fd=Rurl=http://news.cnet.com/8300-1023_3-93.html%3Fkeyword%3DSling%2BMediacid=1286509853ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNGi6DpXgk1iKAsOeWO7UDMSyGDwqgimg src=http://nt1.ggpht.com/news?imgefp=xd4wgmP_eaAJimgurl=news.cnet.com/i/bto/20081219/Music_270x202.jpg width=80 height=60 alt= border=1brfont size=-2CNET News/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-0fd=Rurl=http://uk.reuters.com/article/autoNews/idUKTRE5050NR20090106cid=1286509853ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNGBfHxKvCSQN4KPCPdg25RbeNUaFgbMusic/b industry eases tactics in fighting piracy/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fReutersnbsp;-/font nobr2 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1b.../b file-sharers marks a fundamental shift in the bmusic/b business#39;s battle against piracy, from one focused on enforcement to one emphasizing education. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-1fd=Rurl=http://news.cnet.com/8300-1023_3-93.html%3Fkeyword%3DSling%2BMediacid=1286509853ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNGi6DpXgk1iKAsOeWO7UDMSyGDwqgSling Media,/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrCNET News/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-2fd=Rurl=http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3538/music-industry-ditches-company-it-used-to-gather-evidence-on-studentscid=1286509853ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNHNgn2VSb9EGzoh17rWBIM06gSe4AbMusic/b Industry Ditches Company It Used to Gather Evidence on Students/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrChronicle of Higher Education (subscription)/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-3fd=Rurl=http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/01/draft-verizon-o.htmlcid=1286509853ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNGnwhf4l6vnMqrwBQ4KqMLM8LOd6gTop Internet Providers Cool to RIAA Three-Strikes Plan/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWired News/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-4fd=Rurl=http://newsoxy.com/riaa/article11568.htmlcid=1286509853ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNHWCcAZfuguQzmAkXfuInnWvy9JgAnobrNewsOXY/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-5fd=Rurl=http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i8984cd09f9fc9836d439f072c2fe560acid=1286509853ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNHq4JueyoFn6r57uvzUbEyLZFSkRwnobrBillboard Business News/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1286509853hl=ennobrall 34 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

#39;08 music sales hit record high - Hollywood Reporter

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1i-0fd=Rurl=http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/music/story.html%3Fid%3D1135113cid=1285991953ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNGl4WOD1mJhGnRhk7ESpQyZX1OwPAimg src=http://nt3.ggpht.com/news?imgefp=t-BVi92W0zcJimgurl=a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/music/1135109.bin%3Fsize%3Dl width=80 height=80 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Canada.com/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1-0fd=Rurl=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/inc/quickread/e3i7fcfe6ddd3b5d6c22c5700ff3a805662%3FKeepThis%3Dtrue%26TB_iframe%3Dtrue%26height%3D310%26width%3D600cid=1285991953ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNFWtcGDLceyY7cfP5Ye8kPJI0Otsg#39;08 bmusic/b sales hit record high/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fHollywood Reporter,nbsp;United Statesnbsp;-/font nobrJan 4, 2009/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Overall bmusic/b sales set record in 2008, with more than 1.5 billion units sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The Nielsen Co.#39;s annual year-end bmusic/b b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1-1fd=Rurl=http://www.antimusic.com/news/09/jan/05Rock_Ruled_Music_In_2008-_Biggest_Sellers_Revealed.shtmlcid=1285991953ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNEt_J8XAt525-NFvnHxvunqGA79XgRock Ruled bMusic/b In 2008: Biggest Sellers Revealed/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrantiMUSIC.com/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1-2fd=Rurl=http://www.thecelebritycafe.com/features/23113.htmlcid=1285991953ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNE6PD9d-fhRpuBMfaAZpaYkwrG74AbMusic/b Sales Reach a Record High, But Not Through Album Sales/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTheCelebrityCafe.com/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1-3fd=Rurl=http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2009-01-01-soundscan-numbers_N.htmcid=1285991953ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNHvnsGwcBszCqdBsoxafITOiTCLbgbMusic/b sales boom, but albums fizzle for #39;08/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrUSA Today/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1-4fd=Rurl=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/arts/music/01indu.htmlcid=1285991953ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNG5P9ioW9cxmGKxXCMq5xZx2qK6xgnobrNew York Times/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/1-5fd=Rurl=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-fi-music1-2009jan01,0,3450566.storycid=1285991953ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNGegqdTvKuWD9jdhKqMKky2FKPsKAnobrLos Angeles Times/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1285991953hl=ennobrall 519 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Music marketers target female shoppers at home - Reuters

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/2-0fd=Rurl=http://uk.reuters.com/article/autoNews/idUKTRE5050KX20090106cid=1287391948ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNEvSQ6ypYZdoy5N3jqj2_qaNtbW3gbMusic/b marketers target female shoppers at home/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fReutersnbsp;-/font nobr2 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By Ed Christman NEW YORK (Billboard) - With CD sales dropping fast, the bmusic/b business is exploring nontraditional ways to expose consumers to recording b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Hyundai Super Bowl ad to feature music by Yo-Yo Ma - Reuters

A Year in Love and Music - New York Times

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4i-0fd=Rurl=http://measureformeasure.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/a-year-in-love-and-music/%3Fref%3Dopinioncid=1287410618ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNErbpZhOh2opuKzKmPlyRUjsmHFdAimg src=http://nt1.ggpht.com/news?imgefp=-QR3ekXvzcMJimgurl=graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/01/05/opinion/jan2009.jpg width=80 height=55 alt= border=1brfont size=-2New York Times/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4-0fd=Rurl=http://measureformeasure.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/a-year-in-love-and-music/%3Fref%3Dopinioncid=1287410618ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNErbpZhOh2opuKzKmPlyRUjsmHFdAA Year in Love and bMusic/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fNew York Times,nbsp;United Statesnbsp;-/font nobr1 hour ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1With bmusic/b now available with a single, offhand click, it#39;s easy to forget that songs are not born whole, polished and ready to play. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Musebin: The future of music reviews? - Los Angeles Times

More schools getting in tune with mariachi - The Associated Press

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-0fd=Rurl=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gh-BPSHCjEnd0-RefNJx3gr7dVtQD95GU3IO0cid=1287185631ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNEGvCQ_H9ct8g2X5EmCFMFKrJAtCgMore schools getting in tune with mariachi/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Associated Pressnbsp;-/font nobr20 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Then the teenager started playing the bmusic/b of the elder#39;s homeland. Perez, 14, took a mariachi bmusic/b class at his Fort Worth high school, b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Read all #39;Macworld 2009#39; posts in Digital Media - CNET News

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7i-0fd=Rurl=http://news.cnet.com/8300-1023_3-93.html%3Fkeyword%3DMacworld%2B2009cid=1287366747ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNGVt_6C4DACF-UZ8zoNfgI2oqkt9Aimg src=http://nt2.ggpht.com/news?imgefp=ipP30G3Vh4EJimgurl=news.cnet.com/i/ne/pg/fd_2009/090105_itunes.jpg width=80 height=60 alt= border=1brfont size=-2CNET News/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-0fd=Rurl=http://news.cnet.com/8300-1023_3-93.html%3Fkeyword%3DMacworld%2B2009cid=1287366747ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNGVt_6C4DACF-UZ8zoNfgI2oqkt9ARead all #39;Macworld 2009#39; posts in Digital Media/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fCNET News,nbsp;CAnbsp;-/font nobr5 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Apple has cut deals that will finally enable iTunes to offer songs free of digital rights management software from the three largest bmusic/b labels, b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-1fd=Rurl=http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/01/05/apple_inks_deals_for_all_drm_free_itunes_3g_downloads.htmlcid=1287366747ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNF8piEl6jpwe_s64NncoWl5fjzO2wApple inks deals for all DRM-free iTunes, 3G downloads/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrApple Insider/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-2fd=Rurl=http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/01/05/apple-finally-drops-drm-on-itunes-music-ota-3g-music-downloads/cid=1287366747ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNGszsBkykzK0FmjX4owlMKqgS0KywApple finally drops DRM on iTunes bmusic/b, OTA 3G bmusic/b downloads?/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBoy Genius Report/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-3fd=Rurl=http://venturebeat.com/2009/01/05/drm-close-to-extinction-on-itunes/cid=1287366747ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNGl864yd8M4l5dXOChVUvHXG1-8PgDRM close to extinction on iTunes?/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrVentureBeat/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-4fd=Rurl=http://mashable.com/2009/01/05/drm-free-music-on-itunes/cid=1287366747ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNHemP5pRYamvo6eQ2NWiuCNGtewrgnobrMashable/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-5fd=Rurl=http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/01/05/apple-ditching-drm-3g-itunes-downloads/cid=1287366747ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNF7Qa8mTLLzYEZPPZJ39UvnW5jfzAnobrCrunchGear/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1287366747hl=ennobrall 14 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Bid to open prison doors for music - The Press Association

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-0fd=Rurl=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5icNEOedSK_LTFgiCOMeprkHOXWGgcid=1287414181ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNH7-a8JI6Hmz9Lfe51MoGun-5uy-QBid to open prison doors for bmusic/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Press Associationnbsp;-/font nobr47 minutes ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Organisers of one of the stages at the Glastonbury Festival will be taking their blend of bmusic/b and political campaigning to the heart of redneck Texas to b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Music matters at Sundance - Variety

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-0fd=Rurl=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117998001.html%3FcategoryId%3D16cid=1286885000ei=EgJjSYSTH43I9ASmleCbBAusg=AFQjCNFfke8IiJ3PelwFTnPYCd7V1ZEptQbMusic/b matters at Sundance/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fVariety,nbsp;CAnbsp;-/font nobr3 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By KATHY A. MCDONALD bMusic/b matters at Sundance. Both the Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival have long supported the cross-pollination between b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Music - Google News

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