GREEK musician Yanni loves the processes of creativity, but he has a unique approach to composing those hit songs of his.
He does not write down music in the conventional way, using manuscript paper with the five-line strips and black dots. No. Instead, he relies on his extraordinary memory and perfect pitch (that special gift of being able to identify a note when it is played without being told it is a middle C or a B flat.) In case Yanni is a new name to you, be reminded that he wrote the theme song for the British Airways TV commercial, Dare to Dream .
Since his debut album, Keys to Imagination , released in 1986, Yanni has become one of the best known names among the world's instrumental composers.
His latest album, Yanni Live at the Acropolis , a recording of a concert given at the historic 2,000-year-old Herod Atticus Theatre in Athens with his band and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, has gone double platinum in six months.
The Greek-born music genius never writes his music down on paper. 'The only way to know music is through the ears, not eyes,' he says.
'By the time it is transcribed on to paper, 50 to 60 per cent of the music is lost. The best way to know music is to develop a memory for it.' Yanni only uses a musical shorthand of his own which he says is accurate and effective.
