We’ve arrived at the end of the series on incorporating improvisation! We’ve already discussed the obstacles, history, and value of improvisation. And in the last few posts, we discussed at length a practical, 4-part method for incorporating improvisation into the piano lesson. Today’s consideration is the last of the series: what are the major benefits of incorporating improvisation into the piano lesson? Here are the big three:
- Students are more likely to remember and understand concepts when learned creatively through improvisation. This is largely related to the strengthening of the connections between theory and practice.
- Students are more likely to be motivated to take lessons when they are doing creative tasks. There is so much more to music than learning to follow directions on the page!
- Students are more likely to memorize securely, and more likely to easily recover from memory slips. Students who understand what is going on in the music (i.e., can identify the key, the form of the piece, and even some of the harmonic progressions) they are more likely to have their pieces memorized securely. And in the event of a memory slip, students accustomed to improvising can simply improvise until they get back on track!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this series on improvisation!
What benefits have you found in conducting improvisational activities with your students?
Be sure to check out the rest of the posts in the series:
Series: Incorporating Improvisation into the Piano Lesson
- Creativity in the Piano Lesson – Introductory musings.
- Top 3 Obstacles when Teaching Improvisation
- A Brief History of Improvisation
- The Value of Improvisation
- Incorporating Improvisation:
- 3 Benefits of Incorporating Improvisation (now viewing)
Joy is a pianist and teacher in Ohio with great passion for helping students experience the wonders of music making! Here at Color In My Piano, she enjoys sharing and exchanging ideas and resources for piano teaching.
