Keys to Successful Piano Improvisation!
Let’s get right to it. What is the one factor that will have you playing the piano freely and easily?
It’s not technique. Most students can learn the technical aspects of piano playing extremely well and still sound wooden and lifeless. In fact, the most technically advanced students can sound extremely sophisticated when you hear them. The quick as lightning runs - the facile arpeggios up and down the keyboard may dazzle the ear but if the playing lacks spirit, the music will suffer for it.
It’s also not theory. Knowing how to produce counterpoint or advanced harmonic techniques also won’t make you a good improviser at the piano. It has nothing to do with this at all!
THE SECRET IS…
So what is
...you have mastered even a few simple songs. It s fun, entertaining, and will give you endless hours of pleasure. If you have never considered learning to play, make it a priority this year. No, I don t work for ...
I’ve said it before many times but it bears repeating. As soon as you try to control the outcome, as soon as your ego thinks it can create a “good” music or a “better” music, the X factor slips away.
The reason it’s so important to allow the music to lead you and not the other way around is simply that you are tapping into a source greater than you are. And this source will give you music far superior than anything you could have
...playing a three-note triad that is as outdated as the dinosaur?It's true. The piano keyboard is huge! Over 80 keys big. Why not come up with a chord structure that uses more keys? Why not indeed!There is a chord structure ...
RESPECT YOUR MUSE
Bach, when asked how he could compose so much music responded this way; “My dear sir, I have to be careful that I don’t trip over the music when I get out of bed in the morning.” In a sense, he was saying that he really had nothing to do with the creative output. He was allowing the muse to lead him.
Another amusing anecdote comes from Beethoven. When a violin player complained to him that he couldn’t play a certain passage because it was way too difficult Beethoven responded; “Do you think I worry about your lousy fiddle when the spirit moves me?”
This is a perfect example of respecting your muse. Beethoven heard
...riffs think AC/DC s Back in Black or The Who s Won t Get Fooled Again . What s really amazing is that by learning no more than 10 to 15 basic guitar chords, you will be equipped to play ...
So the secret to successful improvisation is just to let go of your need to control the outcome. Then, and only then will your true music come to the surface.
Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in
...and enable us to do things on the piano we never dreamed we could do, to say nothing of enjoying the process a hundred times more. What is music theory, and how can I benefit?Here are just a few of ...