Halo and welcome, music-loving viewers. Today, we will continue our feature interview with Mr. Charles Segal, an internationally renowned pianist, composer, recording artist, publisher, and music teacher. A prolific recording artist, Mr. Segal has composed of over 1,000 songs and musical pieces. He is also the featured artist on more than 200 albums. He has won the South Africa Record Industry (SARI) Award, a prestige equivalent to the US-based Grammy Award.

I have spent my last 12 years recording, I think I’m the most recorded artist in the world. I’ve got my own studios in Boston, and I sit and play and then I listen to it back, and people have asked me to play it again, and I can’t.

Often with no written scores, Mr. Segal’s music has made him best known as an amazing intuitive musician and a master of improvisation.

When I am playing, I’m not thinking anymore of scales, I’m just, what’s running through my mind I’m going to play, I don’t know what note I want to start, you can tell me to start at any note. Okay, now I’ll tell you how I feel as I am playing.

I touch a very dissonant note, now, my body leaves me, my arms, everything is going. I’m not thinking anymore.

I started off as a classical pianist, learning the rules like a doctor does his work. The most important thing in music is not reading but having a feel for it, and listening with your ears, because you can’t really see music, you can only hear music. So when I sit down, I do not want to play what I am seeing, because the purest form in life is just doing for the first time. So, it always works, but you’ve got to have a certain amount of knowledge, and then break it.

When you teach to someone, do you teach them improvisation right away or they have to learn the techniques first, and then…?

It’s a good question. (they can improvise?) That is good. I used to teach the old way from music. It’s important, but that’s made up. And when I came to America, I heard Oscar Peterson, and he was not using music – just use yourself! And the most important part of life, anything, anything in the world, is timing. Two words: timing, position. It is life. If your timing is right, your position is right, you will make millions.

You use this foot and you knock. Now, if I don’t have a beat and I play it, I do this: look how bad this is. Is this nice? (It’s not nice.) Rubbish! Now, one! You can play the piano, just do this.

Mr. Charles Segal, though famed for his improvisational piano and compositions, is also renowned for being a rare and outstanding teacher. His music school attracts students of all ages and backgrounds who wish to learn to express themselves through music.

I’ve taught thousand of people. I went back to South Africa and they did a show for me and I had to play, and I said how many people came to see me? And guess what, I am not telling you a bit of a lie, 2,000 people. I got so nervous and they were all… I said how many came to see me, and a lot put up their hands. I said how many pupils? All of them had something to do with me. And that made me feel like a million dollars.

Through his unique techniques, the gifted teacher Charles Segal has made it easy and enjoyable for anyone to learn to make music.

I think it is so beautiful to see, because I can feel that you enjoy it so much.

You love it so much and you share it.

Yes. I am in another world when I am talking music. When I am sitting on the plane and I’ve got to sit, say from Boston to Cape Town, I have fun. And I get hold of a person next door, I say, “For 14 hours, can I teach you to play the piano?” She says, “I’d love to. I’ve never played.”

But to be a good pianist, you have to know, I always tell my pupils, “I don’t want you to play scales. I want you to play wrong notes. And I don’t want you to practice.” Oh, they say, “Yay, yay, yay!

That’s unusual.) And then when they start, the wrong notes become the right notes. See, there’s no wrong notes on a piano. Did you know that? (Wow!) Some notes sound better than others.

When we return, Mr. Charles Segal gives us a beginner’s lesson on the piano. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

In 20 minutes you’ll be playing lots of songs.

Welcome back to Enlightening Entertainment as we get to know the internationally loved pianist, composer, and music teacher Mr. Charles Segal.

I am so excited, I am going to have a lesson with Charles Segal.

Oh, thank you darling.

(This is a true honor.)

Okay. All right. Now you’re going to put… Don’t be frightened when you see use two black notes, three black notes, two black notes, three. (Okay.) It’s two black notes, three black notes, two black notes. (Okay.) What I teach is you put these two fingers on these two and that these three on that.

And then you’ve got the whole keyboard, nobody teaches this way. They always start on the white keys. Because without the black keys nobody would know what the white, what this is. Do you agree with me? (That’s right.) So you’ve got to do this, look.

In five minutes, you will already be playing something around the five fingers. Okay, so now you’re going to do 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3, 5 and a chord, you’ve got a full mixed bag.

And a chord. Now keep your position, have you ever played, “When the Saints Go Marching In”?

Have you ever played it? Now I’m going to give you the numbers. 1, 3, 4, 5, hold, hold, hold, hold. 1, 3, 4, 5, hold, hold, hold, hold. You just played, “Oh When the Saints…” Now she’s going to do “Jingle Bells.”

The piano has sounds, loud and soft. And if I'm playing softly, so what makes you get a nice feeling? Is the sound of soft and loud, and also with a rhythm. So you'll say, if I'm playing… If I'm going... It's not nice. But if I'm going, I met Oprah at Sun City, and before I met her I was listening to a girl playing.

Have you heard of Sun City? It’s like Las Vegas, and this girl was playing the piano, she’s beautiful, and I went up to her. I said, “You know, I am in love with your playing. You’ve got such a beautiful touch.” She says, “Thank you Charles, I was with you for eight years.” And I could not believe it. And she’s a top pianist and I taught her what feeling is. Nobody knows about it.

A feeling comes from there, anything played from your arm or from your mouth, from your feeling, comes out.

Hear that? Now I’m making this up, and I’m feeling it. See… I’ve got a cold shudder. I’m answering that. I could have never written that out. I’m inspired. But I’m not recording that. That’s Beethoven. Look, I’m sitting so funny, see?

The water, the waterfall. There’s a waterfall, we were watching the water. (That’s beautiful!) Something has come across – oh something mysterious! Spooky! Breathing space. Now jazz picks up. There’s my bass. Rock. Oscar Peterson.

What I do is I just touch notes. And I hear those notes. And I will play something and it will inspire me and then I get a theme. And the most important thing in the world is rhythm. So rhythm and it is the rhythm, the heart beats on rhythm. Life is rhythm. If you could only just believe in yourself you’ve got something to live for. I do believe every person on this Earth must have a passion.

I am into life, I love people. I love everybody, no matter what their color is, everybody is related. And I’ve just written a song, “Give the World a Chance.” It’s the most beautiful song. I am writing songs from the heart.

Mr. Segal’s “Give the World a Chance” expresses his noble wish to save and protect the Earth, as well as every life form on it.

I’ll tell you my feelings. We were not supposed to eat meat. I’ve got lots of dogs, I mean, animals to me are the purest human beings, they are more human than we are. Human beings are not nice people, not nice people. They can kill, you must always know, before one kills, there’s something in you that just says, “No! No!” Always you can get out of it, it’s not only in the Bible. When you see these animals, an animal has got a life and feeling. An animal has got a soul.

We now conclude our program with this excerpt from “Give the World a Chance,” with music and lyrics by Mr. Charles Segal and vocals by Ms. Barbara Brilliant.

Give the world a chance Surround the Earth with love
Give the world a chance Embrace the skies above forevermore and Give the world a chance
For creatures large and small Give the world a chance
Yes, we can have it all again once more
I Rrace ahead in years See children without fears
The old, they have dignity Skies are clear once more
Applauding eagles soar From sea to shining sea
We gave gifts to future generations Stopped warring nations
And made the world what God intended it to be
Come take my hand It can be done
If we lose the Earth What have we won?

To Mr. Charles Segal, thank you for sharing your time and introducing us to the joyful world of music and music making. May the beautiful feelings evoked by music such as yours awaken evermore hearts and souls around the world.

Charles Segal’s music CDs are available at

Thank you for your pleasant company today. Coming up next is Words of Wisdom after Noteworthy News. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television. May your life be always filled with love and music.

Join us in the land where Lord Krishna was born and spent his youth over five millennia ago.

Now we are at Radha Kund and Shyama Kund. It is a very spiritual place and there is some spiritual game which is going on with Radha and Krishna. We are going around all the special spiritual places and we can have some special benefits from that.

You’re invited on a pilgrimage to India’s Mathura & Vrindavan, Sunday, August 22 on Supreme Master Television’s The World Around Us.