Licks & Riffs : Michael Nyman - The Heart Asks Pleasure First (from the Piano)
Michael Nyman: The Piano (Original Compositions for Solo Piano from the Award-Winning Film by Jane Campion) Composed by Michael Nyman. Collection for solo piano. From the motion picture "The Piano". 32 pages. Published by Chester Music. ISBN 0711933227. (MS.CH60871) See more info...
One of the most evocative film scores of recent years, Michael Nyman's sound track to The Piano has been
very popular with pianists despite its difficulty.
Michael Nyman's style of composing is known as minimlism, as one of the main
features of that style is the use of fast additive rhythms that
overlap with each other. In the example below you can see this in action - the top hand stresses every third quaver, where the left hand
stresses quavers 1 and 4:
By using this kind of rhythmic pattern we can easily build up our own riff 'in-the-style-of' The Piano.
The example below is based on the above pattern, in bar 2 the left hand moves down to arpeggios on G major and then F major. The right hand however stays the same, with just the
accented notes changing in time with the left hand.
A later section of the piece uses this lovely arpeggio on the chord of Am9:
Chords Used in Michael Nyman - The Heart Asks Pleasure First (from the Piano)
Sheet Music to buy by Michael Nyman
The Piano "(Original Compositions for Solo Piano from the Award-Winning Film by Jane Campion). By Michael Nyman. For solo piano. Music Sales America. Movies and 20th Century. SMP Level 9 (Advanced). Collection. Standard notation, fingerings, black & white photos an
Revisiting The Piano (Piano Solo). By Michael Nyman. For solo piano. Music Sales America. Movies and 20th Century. SMP Level 9 (Advanced). Collection. Fingerings and introductory text (does not include words to the songs). 24 pages. Music Sales #CH61411. Published by Music Sa
The Promise "(Piano Solo). By Michael Nyman. For Piano Solo. Music Sales America. 20th Century, Film and TV. Softcover. 8 pages. Chester Music #CH68002. Published by Chester Music"
Michael Nyman - Film Music for Solo Piano "By Michael Nyman. For Piano Solo. Music Sales America. 20th Century, Film and TV. 48 pages. Chester Music #CH61400. Published by Chester Music"
Songs for Tony (Saxophone Quartet). By Michael Nyman. For Saxophone Quartet (Score & Parts). Music Sales America. 20th Century. 40 pages. Chester Music #CH60919. Published by Chester Music
Michael Nyman: Wonderland (Solo Piano) "By Michael Nyman. For Piano Solo. Music Sales America. 20th Century, Film and TV. 24 pages. Music Sales #CH61744. Published by Music Sales"
Flugelhorn and Piano "By Michael Nyman. For Flugelhorn, Piano. Music Sales America. 20th Century. Book only. 20 pages. Chester Music #CH61001. Published by Chester Music"
Songs and Arias for Soprano and Piano By Michael Nyman. For soprano and piano accompaniment. Music Sales America. 116 pages. Music Sales #CH66693. Published by Music Sales
