What is Steve Barta Music?
Why aren't you with a major record label?
Is it better for a musician to live in NY or L.A.?
Why did you decide to become a Pianist and Composer?
What is your music education?
Who were your early influences?
Who are your classical influences?
What do you think is your greatest gift?
How long does it take to write a composition?
What inspires you?
How did you learn to arrange and compose for orchestra?
Do you ever get writer's block?
What is it like to compose a new composition?
Why don't you work the club scene?
What do you like about performing?
Do you consider yourself a jazz player?
What advice can you give to an aspiring musician?
What inspired you to write The Source?

What is Steve Barta Music?
Steve Barta Music is an independent record label that I founded in 1988 to promote and distribute my recordings.

Why aren't you with a major record label?
I have been with jazz labels in the past, and received worldwide distribution and promotion for my Blue River recording. Blue River also made it on the jazz charts. It was all very exciting to see my recording in the record stores, and know that my music was been played around the world. However, my partner Anneliesa and I wanted to retain control of the ownership of our sound recordings, and we therefore severed all ties with record companies and distributors. Yes, it's a lot of work, but we prefer to keep the fruits of our labor in the family. I feel a deep sense of gratitude for the enthusiastic support of my fans, and made it is possible for me to produce quality recordings and remain independent.

Is it better for a musician to live in NY or L.A.?
I don't think you have to be in NY or LA to make it. If you want to write movie scores, you're not going to do it in Colorado Springs - but if you want to write good music, it doesn't matter where you are. I love my home, and I need my mountains. Being here helps me look deep within myself for my music.

How did you choose to live in Colorado?
Fate brought me here. I hitchhiked a ride from Minnesota and this is as far as the ride went.

What made you decide to stay?
I was playing a gig one night in the mountains, and I smelled the fresh air for the first time after a rain. I decided I was home. I think about that moment every time after it rains and the air is distinctly Colorado.

Why did you decide to become a Pianist and Composer?
Music has always been an integral part of my life and purpose. Growing up, I worked in my family's electronics business where I fondly remember selling Glenn Miller, Herbie Mann and Dori Caymmi's recordings, who were my early music idols. I was absolutely fascinated with the magic of music composition and artistic expression. How these musicians moved me by simply playing an instrument! The thought of expressing oneself with the language of music was quite appealing to me. Finally, at the age of 21, I realized that I wanted to have a career in music.

Like most young musicians, I didn't know exactly what direction was best or what my future held in store, but I was committed to the journey. I eventually learned to arrange music through intense listening and studying musical scores of the composers I admired.

What is your music education?
My music education started at age six when I began classical training on the piano. In addition to playing trombone in several high school ensembles, I continued the study of piano at Mankato State University in Minnesota. After college, I spent several years of intensive study which included practicing from 15 to 17 hours a day and transcribing piano voicings directly from recordings to sheet music such that I could study their structure.

During this time, I entered into private jazz piano study with distinguished pianist/educator Ted Alexander in Denver and followed that with private study in the area of classical music with noted pianist Susan Grace, a professor at Colorado College. For the last 10 years, I have focused on composition for symphony orchestra by studying orchestral scores and transcribing scores by hand if not available in score form.

Who were your early influences?
Antonio Carlos Jobim, Dori Caymmi, Bill Evans, Herbie Mann, Monty Alexander, Herbie Hancock, Hubert Laws, McCoy Tyner, Claus Ogerman and Keith Jarrett.

Who are your classical influences?
Erik Satie, Aaron Copland, Vaughn Williams, Henri Dutilleux, Antonin Dvorak, Benjamin Britten, and Samuel Barber.

What do you think is your greatest gift?
I would say that musically, it's my sense of melody and structure. I think that's my strong point. I'm just so passionate about it. I think I have a gift for form, for balance.

How long does it take to write a composition?
Some will happen in 12 minutes, and some I'm writing up until the day I record. I tend to write in a flurry. I will write for 3 or 4 months, and then I record. I only record fresh material.

What inspires you?
To me, time is inspiration. What if I had one year to live? How afraid would I be to pick up a pencil and write a symphony? When you embrace the idea of having only 1 year to live, and really believe it, ideas flow. You don't know how much time you have, so you better not put stuff on the drawing board too long. Sometimes inspiration for a piece comes from my feelings and experiences, but sometimes I don't need any particular inspiration to write. Inspiration is not outside of me. I just need time.

How did you learn to arrange and compose for orchestra?
Lots of listening and studying of scores of people I admire. Frankly, I don't believe you can be taught how to compose, whether it's for solo piano or orchestra, although you can learn arranging skills.

Do you ever get writer's block?
I don't believe in it. That's a term made up for and by people who get in their own way and can't find a way to stop it.

What is it like to compose a new composition?
It's a journey; it's like starting over every time. I don't have a formula. I once had a conversation with a member of BB King's band. I asked him "Do you ever get tired of playing I IV V blues patterns night after night?" He enthusiastically said - "No man, I'm a different person every day and my music reflects that"

Why don't you work the club scene?
Because there are automatically compromises put on me as an artist that are extremely difficult for me to take. As an artist, I feel my time is limited. I want to spend my time, and perform my music, communicating intimately with the audience. For me, the club environment doesn't lend itself to that. I much prefer a concert hall venue, where you have a nice instrument and environment.

What do you like about performing?
I really like a concert to be one like I would like to attend, where you can hear the instrument, hear original material, get to talk to the performer and ask questions. Sometime the audience is pleasantly surprised when I ask them - "So, do you have any questions?"

Do you consider yourself a jazz player?
I think jazz relates to my personality and to my heart more than any other kind of music. I love harmony and I love classical music. I have a deep love of Brazilian rhythms. And I find a way to work all of that together. Jazz offers you freedom that isn't offered in any other kind of music. I like that freedom.

What advice can you give to an aspiring musician?
The best advice I can give is to remain true to yourself and your music. Develop your original sound through self knowledge and exploration, and don't try to write something that you think others will like. It is important to recognize that each one of us has a different path musically, and there is no one way to "make it" in music. As Bill Campbell said "Follow Your Bliss" whatever that means for you.

What inspired you to write The Source?
One of the most significant challenges that I encountered during my period of intensive self-study was the lack of a single source of information for scales, chords, and fingerings. The study of jazz improvisation requires the mastery of how scales work with chord structures. Since there was no single reference book in this area, I conceived, wrote and published a book entitled "The Source - The Dictionary of Contemporary and Traditional Scales". The scales in this book represent a collection of contemporary and traditional scales, which one can think of as "tools" for improvisation.