{"id":83,"date":"2018-03-30T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-30T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2023-01-10T09:43:52","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T17:43:52","slug":"piano-improv-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/piano-improv-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Incorporating Improv Into Your Piano Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alright, alright\u2026 I\u2019ve got a confession to make. I LOVE improvisation. I think it\u2019s one of the best ways to discover your voice as a musician. As players, we\u2019ve all got to dedicate time&nbsp;to practicing technique and <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">grinding<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> away at those chords, scales, and other exercises to learn to \u2018walk\u2019 and move around at the keyboard. But, we should never lose sight of the truth that music is about <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">expression<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and exploration. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With that in mind, we should ask ourselves <em>&#8220;How do you incorporate improvisation into a practice session?&#8221;<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Luckily, it\u2019s as easy as embracing that childlike creativity we all have within ourselves. And you don\u2019t have to be a pro player to do it!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<center><div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/469840416\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:76.76768% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/469840416?et=BDslTP_gSgR9GHHlKH3rIg&amp;tld=ca&amp;sig=HcIVHQn_iS9SXqpfrRVWlhOe-kwNzr0wO_NnO-33Lw8=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"456\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/center>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Jazz master Keith Jarrett is a titan of improvisation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the biggest challenges new players face with all those scales and chords we\u2019ve got to practice is in finding ways to make those exercises inspiring and musical. And the best way to do that is to practice within the context of a <strong>c<\/strong><\/span><strong>hord progression<\/strong>.<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you keep your practice within one key, things are going to start sounding pretty stale, no matter how good a player you are! Instead of playing your major scales and triads in just the key of <\/span><strong>C<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, try playing your exercises in <\/span><strong>C<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><strong>F<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><strong>G<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> all in one pass. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This will get you acquainted with that most useful chord progression, the <\/span><strong>I &#8211; IV &#8211; V <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">progression, which is used in countless songs.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<center><div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/160951531\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:66.498314% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/160951531?et=RKFD65k6SKV1s_WQ80d8og&amp;tld=ca&amp;sig=YxmzEetxTFSVHkHUZ8bDHtZIKGygn-Hxjyy66_7CYmU=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"395\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/center>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brad Mehldau &#8211; another legend of modern improv.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you get practicing your exercises in each key, listen to how it starts to sound like <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">music<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, not just homework. Experiment with how it sounds to jump from your <\/span><strong>C <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">chord to your <\/span><strong>F <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">chord, or how that <\/span><strong>G <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">chord adds something new entirely because it\u2019s made up of all new notes. Improvising is as simple as being curious about the music you\u2019re making, and the instrument you\u2019re using to make that music.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<center><div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:395px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/471560654\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:150.37975% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/471560654?et=qwc0A3o8QapxzKqaPO2hTw&amp;tld=ca&amp;sig=khaoNl7xVJj-qqgobNbsrrTl9VIIk8BEKLFDjnxwEzk=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"395\" height=\"594\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/center>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Improvisation isn&#8217;t just for jazz players &#8211; many of neoclassical pianist Nils Frahm&#8217;s songs contain improv elements.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Never forget that we call it <\/span><strong>playing <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">an instrument for a reason! <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you start to get a feel for how these chords work together, try making little melodies in the right hand based on the tones those chords are made up of. &nbsp;You\u2019ll be shocked how quickly you start to find your creative voice this way! <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I hope these tips help you discover some new ways to think about your practice and your creativity. Share your success stories with me! Just leave a comment below, or email me directly at <\/span><a href=\"mailto:jordan@pianote.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">jordan@pianote.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cheers,<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jordan&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<iframe class=\"email-form-include-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/weekly-email\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why improvisation is so useful and why you should be practicing it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":704,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110,1108,1112],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-improvisation-musicianship","category-musicianship","category-practice-musicianship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10492,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions\/10492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}