What does improvisation mean in music?
Improvisation in music is the act of composing music on the spot, without any prior preparation. While the improviser will have practiced improvising before, every time they improvise they are coming up with brand new musical ideas. This might sound difficult, but by following certain principles and practicing, anyone can gain confidence while improvising. In this article, we will discuss techniques of improvisation, how to practice improvisation, and even give some examples of great improvisations. Read on to learn more!
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What best describes improvisation in music? How do you become good at improvisation?
Improvisation is performing music spontaneously, which sounds challenging, but like anything else you can get better at improvising by consistently practicing it. Improvisation is a great skill for expanding your creativity, your musical knowledge, and changes the way that you approach music.
What are techniques of improvisation in music?
To start improvising, check out this video on improvising with the first song you may have learned on piano: Hot Cross Buns! It’s easy and it’s a lot of fun.
To keep improving your improvising skills, check out these improvisation games:
Create a Mood:
- Choose a favorite pentascale, such as D minor or E major.
- Come up with an idea that you could make a song about. For example, make a song that “sounds like a cactus” or make a song that “sounds like the wind.”
- Now, with one hand, improvise a short 10-second song using that pentascale. As long as you stick to the pentascale, you can use any notes in any order to create the improvisation and it will sound good!
To make this game more challenging, add your other hand! Here are some ideas for how to do this:
- pass the melody back and forth between the hands
- play both hands together at the same time, playing either the exact same notes or different notes
- play chords in one hand and a melody in the other
- Make the improvisations different every time you play and make them longer as you get comfortable
See if you can repeat the melodic ideas that you come up with more than once within an improv session. Repeating patterns in an improvisation helps it to feel intentional and makes it more fun to listen to!
Shapes:
- Using your left hand, choose a shape. This means to choose certain notes to be played by certain fingers. An example could be fingers 5 (pinky), 2 (pointer), 1 (thumb) playing C, F, and B respectively.
- Now, step up, keeping that shape with the hand. So you’d begin with C (5), F (2), and B (1), then step up to D (5), G (2), and C (1). Continue doing this until your pinky ends up on the C an octave higher than it started.
- Once you get the hang of this, use the other hand to improvise using only the white keys. Keep the left hand moving up and down the scale while maintaining the shape. As long as you do this and improvise using the white keys, it will sound good!
- To make this game more challenging, skip the left hand around anywhere in the scale while maintaining the shape!
How to improvise on piano
Check out our blog article, Learn to Improvise on Piano for Beginners. This article discusses other ways to begin improvising, tips on improvising, and tips on improvising with chords.
Examples of improvisation in music
There are many musicians in different genres who are masters of improvisation. Improvisation is a common part of performance in styles such as jazz, blues, and Indian classical music.
Improvisation happens in classical music as well, especially when composers sit at the piano and begin to compose a work, but it’s not as common in performance. In classical music, improvisation is rarely taught, since classical teachers tend to teach composition instead. This wasn’t always the case. In the Baroque era (c. 1600-1750), it was very common to hear composers and musicians improvise dance music and improvise while using their knowledge of music forms. For example, Johann Sebastian Bach was a Baroque master of improvisation. He was known for the ability to easily improvise entire fugues, which is one of the most difficult forms in classical music.
A living jazz master of piano improvisation is Keith Jarrett, who often plays entire concerts of just improvisations. One of his most famous concerts ever was entirely improvised. You can check out a recording of it below.
Another improvisation master was blues guitarist and composer B.B. King. You can hear him jam with John Mayer in the video below.
As I said before, classical improvisation is rare to hear, but not completely unheard of. Young classical prodigy Alma Deutscher improvises an entire classical piece based on four notes in the video below.
Utsav Lal is an Indian classical pianist and composer who uses his knowledge of ragas to improvise completely new music. Check out a video of him improvising below.
Closing tips on improvisation in music
Improvising can be a little intimidating when you start, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a lot of fun and is a great way to unlock your creativity. Be open to trying new things and making mistakes, because that will help you grow and will add new tools to your musical toolbelt. As always, have fun and be patient as you make progress. In the end, you will be glad you did!