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Benefits of Including Improvisation in Your Lessons and Practice

Piano
Improvisation encourages creativity and exploration of the keyboard - it builds confidence in beginners to move out of five finger hand positions.



For children improvisation often introduces an element of fun into the discipline of learning a musical instrument. Children can improvise by making up a simple tune based on the notes they have learned so far which can help them to familiarise themselves with their newly learned notes and become more comfortable in those hand positions. Alternatively many children love to improvise more freely by experimenting with different sounds, touches, rhythms and pitch ranges on the piano. This gives them a chance to try out different notes and rhythms they haven't learned the theory for yet.



An improvisation piece can be based on a theme eg. a mood, scene or story. The creativity and imagination involved in this kind of improvisation can be a positive way of channeling emotional expression.



As an alternative an improvisation piece can be based on something more structured such as a chord sequence, a harmonic progression within a named key, a rhythmic pattern etc. This can help to develop the intellectual understanding of the chosen theme, and consolidate learning of certain chords/keys/rhythms etc.



Improvisation involves having a sound in your head that you are aiming to replicate on the piano. This can develop aural skills and the ability to play by ear. The more improvisation you do the better you get at identifying the correct pitch on the piano.



Improvisation skills and experience enable you to recover from mishaps in a prepared performance. For example if a minor memory lapse occurs, it is possible to improvise something suitable to fill in the gap. The spontaneity developed by improvisation experience also makes it easier to recover from slight errors in your performance, otherwise if your performance doesn't quite go according to plan it can completely throw you.

​Read about how to get started with improvisation.



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Qualified graduate piano teacher.
Fellow of The Incorporated Society of Musicians.
More than 25 years of experience teaching piano and music theory in person and online.
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Videos
  • Articles & Tutorials
  • About
  • Fees & Payments
    • Fees
    • Make a Payment
  • Learn Online
    • Beginner's Piano Lesson Package
    • Classical Compilation
    • Free Downloads
    • How to Play Fast eBook and Studies
    • Instruction Video and PDFs - Berens Study in A Minor
    • Music Theory Tutorials
    • Online Music Theory Lessons
    • Online Piano Lessons by Video Exchange
    • Piano Tutorials
    • Skype/FaceTime Lessons
    • Shop
    • Zoom Lessons for Adults
    • Zoom Lessons for Children
  • Contact