Improvisation: Is it essential????

[scandenavius]

How is it that piano teachers can allow ther students to spend their time learning how to play incredibly hard pieces of music, but never teach them how to improvise on piano. Isn't improvisation one of the core values, along with tecnique and musicality, that a teacher should teach her students???

[ted]

It is probably just because very few teachers can improvise. As to its being essential, it is to me, very much so, but aside from the special area of jazz, people who feel the same way about it are a very small minority. It is a choice, like anything else in music, and most players choose not to do it. Exceptional teachers do exist, although they are very hard to find, and may not operate within the mainstream of musical education.

[jabbz]

A professional pianist doesn't need to improvise. Also, improvisation doesn't need to be taught, a good musician can pick it up naturally.

[presto agitato]

[scandenavius]

It is probably just because very few teachers can improvise. As to its being essential, it is to me, very much so, but aside from the special area of jazz, people who feel the same way about it are a very small minority. It is a choice, like anything else in music, and most players choose not to do it. Exceptional teachers do exist, although they are very hard to find, and may not operate within the mainstream of musical education.

My piano teacher also barely knew how to improvise so I have had to teach myself, however I am still not that good. I just wish that there would be a quicker, more streamlined way of learning it than constant experimentation. Perhaps it is that the piano isn't a very natural instrument to improvise on, because I just started playing the guitar a few days ago and allready I am able to do some pretty basic (pentatonic) improvisations on it.

[soitainly]

 I imagine 90% of amateur musicians pretty much play whatever their genre is by rote. Whether its a rock guitarist reading tab or a classical pianist reading Beethoven. This isn't all bad, the world needs people that can play a piece and continue the traditions on, even with recordings its good to have people that can play live music.

 Improvisation doesn't HAVE to be taught, in fact it is hard to teach. But I strongly suggest improvisation should be encouraged. It is such a joy to play this way, and it leads to better overall musicianship. The whole point is to play what YOU feel should be played, thats why I say it's hard to teach. You can learn music theory and can recieve pointers on how to get started improvising, but in the end, it's up to you to cultivate the art.

 So, is it essential, part of me says yes. But deep inside I know the whole music world will stagnate if musicians can't improvise.

[quantum]

I believe improvisation is extremely important part of a rounded education in music.  Unfortunately it does not have a large presence in the teaching of classical piano.  Students are drilled endlessly on scales and technique, but are rarely encouraged to apply their creativity to their learned technique. 

Nobody taught me how to improvise, it is something I had to do myself.  For a long time it is something that I did at home and never shared with anyone else.  However, attending a university that has a strong improvised music community and even courses dedicated to the study of improvisation, I had the opportunity to interact with other improv musicians.   

I am glad that I did take the effort to develop skills at improvisation.  I find it has also aided in the study and performance of repertoire. 

[youjean88]

i think improvisation requires 3 things. there probably are more things but i cant think of them right now

1- you obviously need the creativity and exposure to many different types of composers and music in order to get enough musical ideas to improvise. there is a huge difference in the ability between those who really listen to music and those who dont even among my friends.

2- you need the technique to be able to improvise in any way you want to. obviously if your technique isnt that good you wont be able to improvise anything you probably want to.

classical piano lessons teach one and two fine

3- i believe this is the most important part of improvisation. you need a good ear. you need to be able to hear what you want to play in your head and your ear and mastery of pitch on your instrument need to work hand in hand to reproduce it on your instrument.  for example, if i play the D7 chord in 2nd inversion, you should be able to tell me what chord and inversion i just played without having to look at my hands. you should be able to tell what i played simply by listening to it.  this sounds impossibly difficult but it varies from person to person.  some people i know have near perfect pitch but their technique is terrible so they arent able to play what they want. some people i know have great technique but have terrible ears. some people i know have great technique, great ears, but their pitch memory on their instrument is poor. you need to work at training your ear (this is also recommended that you begin before puberty for the best results).

if i forgot anything feeel free to add

[youjean88]

oh yes, i forgot one thing.

4- a good knowledge of music theory is also important.

you can improvise without having all 4 of these things, but having a mastery of all 4 of these also ensures masterful improvisation.  a whole is as good as the sum of its parts.