Music improvisation is of course an art but it’s also a communication channel.

I regularly go back to the basic of probably any art and it comes down to communication. I personally choose the piano as my main instrument but this datum is for sure applicable to any musical instrument.

Improvisation can be achieved by anyone learning piano.

Some basic concepts about piano improvisation

So here’s a few concepts I have about improvisation:

• Improvisation is building vocabulary. Just like when we start talking at a young age. We have a few words and we can communicate and play with them.
• At the beginning you may have to practice over and over improvisation patterns. In jazz, there’s a tone of books you can buy with all sorts of patterns.
• One key thing is take it step-by-step. For example, you may have to practice the first 5 patterns for a month or more or less (it actually doesn’t matter how long it takes) before you start feeling comfortable with these patterns.
• Then you may start tackling the next 5 patterns.
• While still practicing the first 5. The first 5 patterns need to stay part of your vocabulary.
• And you move on that way, step-by-step.
• Now what do you do with these patterns. At this point they may not mean much.
• I usually have my students start the improvisation process with blues. Blues is simple and flexible (gives much space to play in).
• We start introducing the patterns into a simple blues.
• And we do this for a while.
• And then, one day, the student starts to move away from these patterns and adds her/his own notes…. and that’s where improvisation starts to bloom.

This sequence of actions my not be applicable for everyone. Also, the whole improvisation process depends on may factors: general knowledge of music, purpose, practice time, etc…

So, the above points are just a few ideas I have about improvisation. I will be talking about it more in the future.

Los Angeles piano lessons

improvisation · patterns · piano

How to organize your piano practice?

How do you organize your piano practice? And how do you fit it in your schedule?

For a steady progress, a piano student should practice about 3-4 times a week. Each practice should be at least 15 minutes. This is somewhat of a minimum as it all depends on what are the purposes and intentions of the person practicing. Someone who wants to play Chopin’s etudes, might have a longer runway practicing only 15 minutes 4 times a week.

Set your goals. “I want to play this song,” may be a goal. Your goals may expand into something like “I really want to play all the Beatles songs!” Well, that’s another level and practice time should probably be changed accordingly.

Now the organize part of the piano practice is something I will be covering in many post. The main thing I want to cover here is that some students sit down and actually loose most of their time playing around with no precise goal in mind.

1. Prepare your practice plan for that particular day
2. Start you practice!
3. Do each step of the practice plan
4. End your practice!
5. Then, if you still have time you can play around, and try this and that and other things not part of the practice plan

The reason I go this route is that some students have a hard time doing some of the things that might help them like……. SCALES!

Well, I want don’t to paint the picture that your practice is like the army boot camp. Practicing and improving your skills is very rewarding and that alone is much fun. (My opinion: this is much better than watching 2 hours of TV every day)

Ok enough for today. Let me know if you have any questions.

Patrick
lapianolessons.com

piano · practice