Early career

Halpern played trumpet and guitar in the New York City jazz scene of the 1960s

Free jazz

Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...

, but became disenchanted with it and moved to California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. There he began exploring the idea of creating music entirely for the purpose of relaxation, which he called "anti-frantic alternative" music. He began creating music which did not adhere to traditional Western tonality

Tonality

Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...

, but which instead consisted of static, minimalist pieces for electric piano

Electric piano

An electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...

 inspired by Eastern music. He is a proponent of theories which emphasize the healing properties of music

Music therapy

Music therapy is an allied health profession and one of the expressive therapies, consisting of an interpersonal process in which a trained music therapist uses music and all of its facets—physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and spiritual—to help clients to improve or maintain their...

.

Since his first record of new age music was released in 1975, he has recorded more than 50 albums. The most commercially successful of these was 2000's Deja-Blues, which reached #18 on the U.S. Billboard Top New Age Albums chart. He is also the author of two books, Tuning the Human Instrument and Sound Health.

Halpern was also an inaugural member of the Independent Music Awards'

The Independent Music Awards

The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....

 judging panel to support independent artists.

Discography

• Spectrum Suite (1975)
• "I" A Cosmic Attunement (1977)
• Peruvian Whistling Vessels (1978)
• Starborn Suite (1979)
• Zodiac Suite (1979)
• Hear to Eternity (1979)
• Rings of Saturn (1979)
• Comfort Zone (1980)
• Dawn (1983)
• Recollections (avec Daniel Kobialka
  Daniel Kobialka
  Daniel Kobialka, founded LiSem Enterprises Inc., in 1985 and created Wonder of Sound in 2009. Inspired by his time performing with major symphonies such as The Boston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, and the San Francisco Symphony, and a desire to showcase violin music in a way it had not been...
  
  ) (1983)
• Connections (1984)
• Threshold (1986)
• Crystal Suite (1987)
• Gaia's Groove (1989)
• Islands in Time (1990)
• Effortless Relaxation
  Effortless Relaxation
  Effortless Relaxation is a New Age music album by Steven Halpern, released in 1991. All tracks except Pachelbel's Canon were written by Halpern...
  
  (1991)
• Enhancing Self-Esteem (1991)
• Health and Well-Being (1991)
• Higher Ground (1991)
• Nurturing Your Inner Child (1991)
• Radiant Health and Well-Being (1991)
• Ancient Echoes (1993)
• Creating Love (1993)
• Eastern Peace (1993)
• Enhancing Sensual Pleasure (1993)
• Art of Sexual Ecstasy (1994)
• Jonah's Journey (1994)
• Letting Go of Stress (1994)
• Natural Light (1994)
• Overcoming Substance Abuse (1994)
• Radiance (1994)
• Recollections (1994)
• Recovering from Co-Dependency (1994)
• Safe Driving (1994)
• Starting the Day (1994)
• Enhancing Intimacy (1994)
• Enhancing Massage (1994)
• Enhancing Success (1994)
• Inner Peace (1994)
• Lullabies for Your Inner Child (1994)
• Lullaby Suite (1994)
• Self-Healing (1994)
• Sleep Soundly (1994)
• Gifts of the Angels (1995)
• Trance-Zendance: Ambient Entracement (1995)
• Accelerating Learning (1996)
• Enhancing Creativity (1996)
• Music for Your PC (1996)
• Afro-Desia (1996)
• In the Key of Healing (1996)
• Relaxation Spontanee (1996)
• Attracting Prosperity (1997)
• Music for Lovers (1997)
• Stop Smoking (1997)
• Workstation Wellness (1997)
• Achieving Your Ideal Weight (1997)
• The Sacred Chorde, with Fabien Maman on modern monochord
  Monochord
  A monochord is an ancient musical and scientific laboratory instrument. The word "monochord" comes from the Greek and means literally "one string." A misconception of the term lies within its name. Often a monochord has more than one string, most of the time two, one open string and a second string...
  
   (1998)
• Prophecies (1998)
• Music for Accelerated Learning (1999)
• Music for Sound Healing (1999)
• Serenity Suite:Music & Nature (1999)
• Divine Intervention (1999)
• Sound Chi (1999)
• Deja-Blues (2000)
• Chants to Awaken the Buddhist Heart (2000)
• Cruise Control (2001)
• Chakra Suite (2001)
• Transitions (2002)
• Music for Massage (2002)
• Perfect Alignment (2002)
• Sound Medicine:Music for Healing (2002)
• Crystal Bowl Healing (2003)
• Ocean Suite (2003)
• Healing Songs of Earth & Sky (2004)
• Tonal Alchemy (2005)
• Music for Healing & Unwinding (2006)
• Lake Suite (2006)
• Music for Babies (2006)
• Initiation Inside the Great Pyramid (2007)
• Music for Lovers, Vol. 2 (2007)
• In the Om Zone (2007)
• Drum Spirit (2007)
• Peace of Mind (2007)
• Corridors of Time
• Creativity
• Lifetide
• Peak Performance
• Radiance:Love Songs Without Words
• Recovering from Alcoholism
• Rhythms of Vision
• Shared Vision
• Soundwave 2000 Series