DIVING DEEPER INTO COMPOSITION

(part 5 of 20)

More Improvisation Techniques

The following is a list of improvisation techniques to help gradually increase abilities. It is ordered roughly from easiest to most challenging, but skip around as desired. For those familiar with jazz piano improvisation, some of this may be very familiar, but it is highly recommend to spend time with any exercises that seem foreign. This list is much less focused on chords–specifically avoiding them early on.

1. Black key major pentatonic scale with F# tonal center (as before).
   • Single (or octave) droned F# in bass.
   • Improvise very simple melodic patterns in the right hand using only black keys.
   • With the left hand, very slowly alternate between the tonal center and the other four scales degrees (spend a long time on each).
   • Move slowly but freely in the left hand, trying to compliment the right hand’s melody, but also adjusting the melody to compliment the bass.
2. Pick a new common tonality (a seven-note major or minor scale, for example).
   • Repeat exercise #1 (above) with this new tonality (make sure to identify the tonal center).
3. Using exercise one again, work with other scales/tonalities:
   • Various minor scales (natural, harmonic, melodic).
   • Modes (dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, locrian).
   • Non-diatonic scales (Hungarian, Spanish, Persian, etc.).
   • Other pentatonic scales (various Japanese, Indonesian, pentatonic modes, etc.).
   • Others: tetratonic, blues, whole-tone, octatonic, modes of the harmonic and melodic minor scales, etc.
   • An extensive list of scales is available to download/print here.
4. Pick a favorite scale/tonality, create a simple repeated rhythm for the left hand (with the right hand still improvising a melody above it). Again, work through exercise #1 using this repeated rhythm in the left hand.
5. Use various tempos and time signatures.
6. Create a basso ostinato in the left hand–improvise a melody in the right hand above it (start simple).
7. Reverse hands: melody in the left, repeated harmonic notes or ostinato in the right (exercise one can be repeated with the hands’ roles reversed).
8. Improvise in free counterpoint: a simple melody in the right hand, a simple melody in the left hand. As one becomes more active, the other can become simpler (with longer notes), trading off. Sometimes they might imitate each other, sometimes they might act as in conversation. Occasionally they might both be equally active.
9. Improvise with added chromaticism, adding chromatic tones between notes of the scale being used (both in the melody and the accompaniment).
10. Add complexity to the accompaniment/bassline: arpeggios and chords (based on the bassline), small bits of counterpoint, leaps, more complex patterns and alternating combinations of the above, more complicated rhythms and polyrhythms, etc.
11. Add complexity to the melody: periodic harmony tones/small chords below a melody note to highlight certain moments, simple secondary melodies below the melody, combinations of the two, and experiment with non-melodic interruptions to the melody.
12. Develop a simple four to eight note bassline, then build chords on each note. Repeat this chord progression and add a melody above in the right hand. Eventually break these chords into various textures and simple repeated patterns.
13. Improvise in various dance styles: waltz, mazurka, tango, polka, jig, etc.
14. Experiment with polytonality: a bassline in one key, a melody in another.

While working on these things, always listen very carefully, paying special attention to how the two parts interact. Adjust the harmony (bassline) depending on where the melody goes, or vice versa. Experiment extensively, developing other improvisation exercises as well. Don’t stop here.

Learning improvisation takes a lot of time, and there’s no end. Luckily it’s extremely rewarding. Start slow and simple, build up. Don’t be afraid of strange sounds, but embrace them and try to understand them. Some of the most beautiful music comes from the most unlikely musical combinations. Setting music theory aside and exploring through intuition is the best way to find wonderful new sounds. If something at first sounds odd, repeat it, try to find something that compliments it. It just might lead somewhere amazing.

Next

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Index

• Introduction
• Why Piano?
• Improvisation:
  • Performance-Improvisation vs Composition-Improvisation
  • Learning to Improvise
  • More Improvisation Techniques
• Notation:
  • Computer Notation
  • Learning Notation
• Related Skills/Knowledge:
  • Music Theory
  • The Artist Trains the Mind’s Eye, the Composer Trains the Mind’s Ear
  • Ear Training
  • Musical Form
• Composition:
  • Getting Started with Composition
  • More on Baroque Dances, Simple Forms, & Repetition
  • Composition Exercise using Baroque Dance
  • More Advanced Composition
  • Other Forms
  • Counterpoint
  • Aesthetics
  • Writing for Other Instruments
  • The Elusive Creative Flow