Where can I get these piano scores?

Hi there,

Two or three weeks ago, I was watching channel 4 CFMT in Toronto. The station had a 3 minutes session where a person was playing the piano during the commercial break. The type of music sounds 'oriental'. While he was playing, they would show pictures in a slideshow style of Asia. I was deeply mesmerized by his playing, and I thought the piano music was fantastic.

I was hoping to find this type of style of music at some of the local music stores, but all they have is mostly pop music, and common classicals like 'fur Elise'. I also tried looking for midis so I can covert it into musical scores, but there aren't many out there. Some of the Chinese music stores don't carry them either. Can anybody point me in the right direction, or know of a store that sells these 'oriental' music in the Toronto region?

I would appreciate it! Thanks

I had to play some oriental background music for a show once. This is gonna sound stupid...I just fooled around on the black keys...no plan in mind...I don't know the technical terms for this kind of scale...but I sure got lots of compliments! TRY IT!

Works well for blues in E flat, too! David McKay

Assuming that the piano being played was tuned normally (equal temperament, these days), it probably would not strictly be possible to emulate most type of Indian/Indonesian/Oriental scales. However, there are tonicless scales and intervals that sound 'Eastern' to Western ears, even though they may not be authentic, such as the pentatonic scale (whole-whole-whole-minor 3rd-whole), whole-tone scale (whole-whole-whole-whole-whole-whole) or scales that employ the interval of the augmented second, a traditionally 'forbidden' melodic interval in Western Classical Music, or even tritones (augmented fourth/diminished 5th, 'devil's interval'. What I think the Western ear finds most 'Eastern' sounding is a *floaty* suspension of tonality while still being pleasing to the ear; one does not feel any gravitational pull toward any one note, but the music seems to proceed without goal yet never seems boring.

Some insight into the mentality of _emulating_ this 'Oriental' sound can be gained by studying the music of Debussy and Satie, who explored a number of non-western scales and modes and ostensibly used oriental settings and titles as thematic substance. It's not necessary to learn these pieces or memorize them, by any means. Simply looking at the intervals that make up the scalar passages and the type of harmony used will provide the base patterns and modes for many of your own improvisations; practice the scales you find and transcribe them to every note (for many of these 5 or 6 note scales, there are significantly less than 12 scales possible) and study the chords that are used against these scales and try to explain their function inside and outside of the diatonic system; sometimes what sounds 'Eastern' can be explained within a portion of tonality (the pentatonic scale is a subset of the major scale) but other scales simply are not diatonic at all and the harmony is internally consistant but not necessary compliant with tonal harmony.

Some 'Eastern' themed Piano pieces to play and/or study:

Debussy:

Reverie Suite Bergamasque Estampes (especially Pagodes) Reflet dans l'eau Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut (Very good example) Danseuses de Delphes Voiles La fille La Cathedral engloutie (Another very good example) Canope

Satie:

Gymnopedies Gnossiennes [Satie's piano pieces here contain easily discernable RH scales in these very melodic works, and relations between these scales and the unconventional LH chordal accompaniments are an easy way to get some ideas. Satie works all Early Int.]

Good luck,

Yeah, thats what i MEANT to say.

Great, thanks for the help Justin!

By the way, would you happen to know if these composers are commonly found in the local store? I'll ask around anyways.

Thanks again.

I've been researching Gamelan music and Eastern Counterpoint (as time allows; restricted schedule now with classes and all), so I've asked myself the same questions that you posted; why do things 'sound' Oriental, and [as you put it] would 'go' perfectly with an 'Asian Slideshow,' and is that _really_ authentically Eastern? Besides a Yamaha, I have a Korg synth so I can sequence various temperaments on the computer and compare the various degrees of 'Easternness' as I find out what intervals actually *do* make up real Eastern scales and what the principles of traditional non-Western composition actually were.

All of the pieces I mentioned are widely published and known and should be in your local music store. Just for reference on the pieces I mentioned that are *not* stand alone, but rather part of collections:

Debussy: Reflet dans l'eau