Inspirational New Age Music

New age music tends to be used for massage, meditation, relaxation, reading, inspiration and massage. It helps to create a peaceful atmosphere in which an individual can get rid of accumulated stress. Many times this type of music is also associated with new Age spirituality and environmentalism.

The music style tends to us all consonant or modal harmonies. Melodies are highly repetitive to create a type of hypnotic feeling. Nature sounds are commonly included in the music. New age pieces can be very long in length up to 30 minutes for one piece. Though most such music is instrumental, the use of voices has become more popular particularly using types of Native American, Tibetan or Sanskrit chanting and lyrics dealing with Faerie and Celtic legends.

The origins of this musical style take place in Europe and America in the 1960s. It was recorded specifically for meditation and relaxation in the 1970s. The actual term “New Age” did not evolve until the 1980s when new Age music became to be played on the radio and New Age record were released.

The music can use wither electronic or acoustic instruments or a combination of both. The main point to it is to evoke a feeling so the instruments used are not that important. New Age performers can use a piano, flute, harp, and guitar or use more eastern instruments such as a tabla, tamboura or sitar to name a few. Many times it also overlaps with ambient music, world music, space music and electronica.

Some recording artists that are considered to be New Age artists include, Javier Ramon Brito, Steve Roach, Mike Oldfield, Oscar Lopez, Yanni, Kitaro, Enigma, Jean Michel Jarre, Deep Forest, B-Tribe, Enya, Jim Brickman, Suzanne Ciani, Ray Lynch, Will Ackerman, Dean Evenson, and George Winston.