improving as a teacher, Teaching Piano

Incorporating Improvisation | Part 5b in the series

This is a continuation of the series on the topic: incorporating improvisation into private piano teaching.  I had originally planned to post all 4 steps into one post, but the post would be too lengthy.  So the topic “Incorporating Improvisation” is being divided into 4 separate posts:

  1. Develop Related Skills
  2. Create an atmosphere conducive to improvisation
  3. Use improvisation as a way to introduce new concepts
  4. Improvise using a combination of learned concepts

Today, we are discussing step 2: Create an atmosphere conducive to improvisation.

2. Create an atmosphere conducive to improvisation.

For some students, improvisation will be easy and fun.  For others, it may seem intimidating.   Creating an atmosphere conducive to improvisation will help reassure students and encourage them to be creative, especially if they are only accustomed to reproducing what is on the page.

  • No such thing as “wrong notes” — Be sure that the student understands that because they are the improviser,anything they play is correct!  Getting over the fear of playing wrong notes will allow them to more easily focus on expressing themselves through their music.
  • Share musical authority — The student should be encouraged to express themselves and create whatever sounds that are pleasing to his/her ears, instead of trying to figure out what they think the teacher might want to hear.  The teacher should praise whatever efforts they hear and never be critical of the student’s improvisation.  Even when improvisation is done together with the teacher or in group of students, musical authority should be shared.
  • Set goals — It is helpful for the teacher to give the student some specific goals to focus on during an improvisation session.  Some examples might be to utilize some new concepts introduced earlier in the lesson, or to tell a story with the music (to be discussed further in steps 3 and 4 below).  Example: “Let’s try using the new articulations of stacatto and legato that we learned about today,” or “Let’s tell a story about a hiker climbing up and down a mountain.”
  • Set parameters — Improvisation, no matter what kind, always has some parameters.  Example parameters include: key, mode (major or minor), meter, tempo, black keys only or all keys, one or both hands, or a time limit.  A teacher may give a number of parameters, for example: “Let’s improvise a slow piece together on the black keys.  Let’s use only quarter notes and half notes.  You can play in the upper register with just your RH, and I’ll play along with you in the lower register.”  Parameters serve as guidelines to give the student direction as to how to improvise for that session.

Creating a conducive atmosphere is essential to successful improvisation.

Coming up next: Part 5c of Incorporating Improvisation into the piano lesson.

Be sure to check out the rest of the posts in the series:

Series: Incorporating Improvisation into the Piano Lesson

  1. Creativity in the Piano Lesson – Introductory musings.
  2. Top 3 Obstacles when Teaching Improvisation
  3. A Brief History of Improvisation
  4. The Value of Improvisation
  5. Incorporating Improvisation:
    1. part a
    2. part b (now viewing)
    3. NEXT: part c
    4. part d (coming soon)
  6. 3 Benefits of Incorporating Improvisation (coming soon)
Resources, Technology

Free New Age Piano mp3s

I recently came across an interesting site containing free mp3s of new age solo piano music.  What a great resource to pass on to my piano students!  It’s important for students to listen to a wide variety of music, but often they are only exposed to pop music.  New age piano music is bound to tickle the fancy of most students — especially since it’s free.

To download onto your computer so you can listen or upload to your mp3 player, right-click on the blue arrow beside the track you wish to download and select “Download linked file.”  Then open the file in iTunes (or whatever media player you use).  Enjoy!

Words of Wisdom

Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

“No other acoustic instrument can match the piano’s expressive range, and no electric instrument can match its mystery.”

— Kenneth Miller

Every Wednesday brings Words of Wisdom here at the Color in my Piano blog in the form of a musical quote or joke, intended to bring inspiration or humor to the middle of your week. Have suggestions? Send an email off to admin[at]colorinmypiano.com.

Announcements, improving as a teacher, Technique, Technology

Keyboards vs. Acoustic Pianos

Check out these pictures at dvice.com, featuring modern keyboard designs by Yamaha!  I particularly like the one shown in the screenshot at right.

Would I ever buy a keyboard such as this?  No, probably not.  If I had the money to spend, I’d buy an acoustic piano, not a keyboard.  Acoustic pianos are still far superior to keyboards, even considering the great improvements that have been made to keyboards over the years.  They just don’t compare, in my book.

However, the popularity of keyboards seems to be increasing.  I’ve experienced an increasing number of experiences with parents who wish to buy keyboards for their beginner students instead of pianos.  And I can understand why: they are often cheaper than buying both new and used pianos, are far easier to move, and do not have it tuned every six months.  The advantages of buying a keyboard are obvious, but there are some major not-so-obvious disadvantages. Continue reading “Keyboards vs. Acoustic Pianos”

improving as a teacher, Printables, Teaching Piano

Incorporating Improvisation | Part 5a of the series

Now to the heart of the discussion!  We’ve already covered some common obstacles encountered when trying to incorporate improvisation, and we’ve briefly discussed the history and the value of improvisation.  Now let’s discuss a practical way to incorporate improvisation (non-jazz improvisation, in particular) into the piano lesson.

There are 4 steps in the method I am proposing for incorporating improvisation.  I had originally planned to post all 4 steps into one post, but the post would be too lengthy.

So the topic “Incorporating Improvisation” will be divided into 4 separate posts:

  1. Develop Related Skills
  2. Create an atmosphere conducive to improvisation
  3. Use improvisation as a way to introduce new concepts
  4. Improvise using a combination of learned concepts

Today, we are discussing step 1: Developing Related Skills.

1. Develop Related Skills

In order for incorporation of non-jazz improvisation to be successful, it is extremely helpful for the student to have developed (or be developing) the following skills:

  • Playing by ear — will help the student learn how to play what they hear in their mind’s ear, which is essential to improvisation.  For a list of melodies to assign students to practice playing by ear, see the Melodies to Play By Ear and Harmonize pdf, available on the Printables > Other Resources page (scroll down to the M’s).
  • Harmonization — will help  increase the student’s understanding and awareness of harmonic progressions.  Even young beginners can harmonize, using just a single-note bass line of the tonic and dominant pitches.  For a list of melodies to assign students to practice harmonizing, see the Melodies to Play By Ear and Harmonize pdf, as mentioned above.
  • Transposition — will help students understand how keys and key signatures work, so they can improvise within a particular key, and in a number of different keys.  Also helps them understand the difference between major and minor, which they can utilize to create different moods in their improvisations.
  • 5-finger patterns, scales, arpeggios, cadence patterns, chords in all inversions, etc. (in all major and minor key signatures) — These are exercises that teachers should already be assigning their students, but I think it’s important to bring them up here in connection with improvisation.  If the student still struggles with getting around the piano, improvisation will likely be difficult.  The more comfortable the student is with playing various configurations of notes on the piano, the easier it will be for the student to “get beyond the notes” and focus on things like expression, mood, and telling a story with their music.

Each of the skills mentioned above can be taught gradually to the student, in accordance with their level of playing.  For example, beginner students should be assigned simple tunes to play by ear that can be played entirely on the black keys, and gradually work up to tunes that can be played on the white keys.

Coming up next: part 5b of Incorporating Improvisation into the piano lesson.

Be sure to check out the rest of the posts in the series:

Series: Incorporating Improvisation into the Piano Lesson

  1. Creativity in the Piano Lesson – Introductory musings.
  2. Top 3 Obstacles when Teaching Improvisation
  3. A Brief History of Improvisation
  4. The Value of Improvisation
  5. Incorporating Improvisation:
    1. part a (now viewing)
    2. NEXT: part b
    3. part c (coming soon)
    4. part d (coming soon)
  6. 3 Benefits of Incorporating Improvisation (coming soon)
improving as a teacher

The Value of Improvisation | Part 4 of the series

As we saw in Part 3, improvisation has a rich history in Western classical music, but has virtually disappeared from modern piano pedagogy.  Today, we are going to discuss the value of improvisation:

  1. Improvisation fosters creativity and individuality.
  2. Improvisation appeals to both the performer and the audience.
  3. Strengthens the connection between theory and practice in the developing musician.

We will consider each of these aspects individually below. Continue reading “The Value of Improvisation | Part 4 of the series”

Words of Wisdom

Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

“Music embodies feeling without forcing it to contend and combine with thought, as it is forced in most arts and especially in the art of words.”

— Liszt

Every Wednesday brings Words of Wisdom here at the Color in my Piano blog in the form of a musical quote or joke, intended to bring inspiration or humor to the middle of your week. Have suggestions? Send an email off to admin[at]colorinmypiano.com.

repertoire / methods

Succeeding at the Piano | Method Books

The FJH Music Company website is introducing a new method series, available March 2010: Helen Marlais’ Succeeding at the Piano. I have heard some good things about the method, and am looking forward to trying it with a student once it comes out! Click here to view the page about it and to pre-register for a complimentary copy of the Lesson & Technique book.

General

A Brief History of Improvisation | Part 3 of the series

Before we can discuss a practical way to incorporate improvisation, let’s first trace the history of improvisation in Western classical music:

  • Early and Renaissance Music: Improvisation has its roots in early music traditions, before the invention of musical notation — when music was shared and passed on to the next generation by rote.
  • Baroque Period: Notation was introduced and standardized, yet, improvisation was highly valued.  It was routinely taught as a part of learning how to play an instrument. Performers routinely improvised preludes, fugues, and other pieces during performances.  Other improvisatory-like activities: figured bass and the addition of ornaments. Continue reading “A Brief History of Improvisation | Part 3 of the series”
Announcements, improving as a teacher

Upcoming Poster Session @ Mich. Music Conference

Remember that improvisation paper for school that I’m been mentioning here and there?  Well, I’ve been accepted to present my research findings at the poster session on January 22 as part of the 2009 Michigan Music Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan!  I don’t know if any of you Michiganders out there are planning on attending the conference, but if you are, please drop by during the meet-the-author session at 10:30 and say hello!

What follows is my abstract, which gives you a sneak peak into what the upcoming series about improvisation will discuss (starting tomorrow!): Continue reading “Upcoming Poster Session @ Mich. Music Conference”