Nocturne

 This piece was improvised and recorded on November 20, 2025.

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Adagio to A-flat

  This piece was improvised and recorded on November 12, 2025.

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Enigma From E-Flat Minor (piano improvisation)

Enigma is an improvisational distortion. I had some fun by experimenting with note placement and durations while maintaining tonality. Some notes I held longer than I normally would, and some were cut short early. Some notes were played later than I normally would, and some were played sooner. Other notes were replaced with silence. The resulting effect may cause your ears to do a double-take and question what you're listening to. For example, it may be difficult to determine the time signature even though the piece is in common time.

(improvised and recorded on October 18, 2025)

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"Evolution" Improvisational Exercise

The exercise puts to the test your creative thinking skills through the application of improvisational variations on a particular subject. Here's how it works.

1. Improvise a simple musical subject.
2. Improvise a minimum of three variations that contain the subject, each with increasing complexity. For example, the following variation should be more complex than the previous variation. Resolution of the variation is not required.

To illustrate, I created three example subjects along with some variations. My example subjects are all in the key of C, however I encourage you to use different keys.

 (improvised and recorded on Sep 11, 2025)

Subject 1

Variation 1

 

Variation 2

Variation 3

Variation 4

Subject 2

 

Variation 1

Variation 2

Variation 3

Subject 3

Variation 1

Variation 2

Variation 3

Alternative Exercise

An alternative exercise to the "Evolution" Improvisational Exercise would be the "Variation" Improvisational Exercise. Both exercises are the same with the exception that you can ignore the complexity requirement and simply focus on creating variations that contain the subject.

Improvisation to G

 This piece was improvised and recorded on August 29, 2025.

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Purchasing Music

 Unfortunately at the moment, I'm not set-up to receive payments for music purchases. I'll update this page with additional information once I'm ready to receive payments. Any inquiries can be sent to alpinewavemusic@proton.me.

 

Contemplation from B-flat (piano part) = $2.50 USD 

Morning (Score + Parts) = $8 USD 

Mountain Symphony (Score + Parts) = $25 USD

Piano Concerto From F# (Score + Parts) = $25 USD

Sydney Quartet (Score + Parts) = $12 USD

To Blossoms (Score + Parts) = $10 USD 

"One Minute" Compositional Exercise

 My favorite musical instrument is the instrument I'm most familiar with: the piano. But what do I think the most beautiful musical instrument in the world is? That would be the human voice.

From time to time, I browse the literature in the public domain in search of something that inspires me to want to put music to it. Earlier in the week, I stumbled upon a poem by Amy Lowell that I got a kick out of.

Superstition
by
Amy Lowell
(1874-1925)

I have painted a picture of a ghost
Upon my kite,
And hung it on a tree.
Later, when I loose the string
And let it fly,
The people will cower
And hide their heads,
For fear of the God
Swimming in the clouds. 

I decided I wanted to put it to music. While parsing the text and considering all the possibilities, it occurred to me what a fun and productive exercise this could be for budding and experienced composers alike.

The goal of this exercise is simple: compose a musical piece around text that doesn't exceed one minute.

You can choose any text you want, whether it be a poem, a quote, a sentence or two, or whatever. The vocal part(s) can either be a capella or accompanied by any musical instrument(s) that you want in your composition.

Not only is this exercise fun, but it encourages some critical thinking when it comes to compositional decisions:

• Does the text have a rhythm or flow to it? If not, how do you score it?
• What musical instruments will you be using and why?
• Will instrumentation be utilized to (1) mimic sounds in the natural world, or (2) set the mood or atmosphere of the piece, or (3) manipulate the emotions of the listener? If any of the above apply, how will you go about implementing it?
• How will you effectively communicate to the listener what it is you want to communicate given the one minute maximum time constraint?

 The attached video is an example implementation of this exercise. Out of countless options that I could have chosen from, it demonstrates one realization that I decided to move forward with.

Happy composing!

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Summer Session (piano improvisations)

 This improvisation session, like Solstice Session, is an informal and unstructured session where I play around musically for fun. The quality of the performance is not a high priority for me. On occasion, these sessions produce ideas that I may utilize or expand upon in other compositions or improvisations.

 

 

On Practicing Three-Part (3 Voice) Piano Improvisations

 When you learned to play the piano, it was important to develop a level of independence between the left and right hands. When learning to improvise on the piano using three voices, it's important to develop a level of independence between two voices in one hand.

An improvisation consisting of three voices, or three parts, generally contains one voice in the left hand, one voice in the right hand, and one voice that moves freely between the left and right hands. Sometimes the right hand is playing two voices at a time, and sometimes the left hand is playing two voices at a time.

Most of my piano improvisations contain two voices in the right hand and one voice in the left hand, because that's what I've become accustomed to over the years. Occasionally, I'll move one of the voices from the right hand to the left hand if it'll make it easier for me to improvise a particular passage.

Developing an independence between two voices in one hand takes time. The only way to gain proficiency at it is through practice. Sit at the piano and improvise with only one hand (see Right Hand Study). Improvise using only one voice at first, but occasionally inject a second voice then return to one voice. Over time, as you gain proficiency with improvising two voices in one hand, you'll also be building your muscle memory without realizing it. Muscle memory is important when improvising in three voices, because once you reach a higher level of proficiency, you'll gain the ability to shift your attention from one hand to the other more easily without negatively impacting that hand that you're removing focus from.

When practicing improvisations with three voices, just like when practicing with two voices, keep it simple at first. Leave out the counterpoint and remove unnecessary complexity. You can add more complexity later once you build a foundation. Proficiency doesn't take hours or days, it takes years.

In this demonstration video, I set two voices in the right hand. My focus then shifts to adding a third voice using the left hand. The third voice will be simple at first without counterpoint or complexity. As the improvisation progresses, I'll add more complexity and counterpoint to the left hand.

(improvised and recorded on February 13, 2025)

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Sydney Quartet

 In early 2020 just before the pandemic, I visited Australia for a couple of weeks. I spent time exploring Bondi Beach, Uluru, Port Douglas, and Sydney. I had such a wonderful time that it was difficult for me to leave. I hope to return to Australia again someday.

This string quartet was inspired by my experience in Sydney. The cover photo was taken on March 1, 2020.

I. Moderato

II. Largo

III. Prestissimo 

 

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Contemplation from B-flat

 This piece was improvised and recorded on January 7, 2025.

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