can i learn improvisation by my self?

[fenz]

i want to learn how to improvise music. can i learn it by my self? what should i do? is it any differences in improvising classical music, jazz music, and pop music? thanks for your help 

[pianissimo123]

There are some really good teachers out there that can help with learning the art of improvization. However, in the instance that you don't have one, you could always try music theory websites or books. They have many helpful things which are beneficial such as chord knowledge (a must for improvization), intervals, and fundamentals of music. Infact, there are books out there specifically to assist in improvization. There are also programs which you can install into your computer to make the process more interactive.
As for styles, it all depends on the feel and the arrangements of the chords. For classical it's very precise, regemented, and clear sounding. Bluesy music has lilting chords, drifting passages , and odd time signatures now and then. Contemperary romantic is flowy, free , and shows lots of movement and expression. All styles of music can be fun to improvise. I think more than thinking whether a piece is classical or bluesy, you need to study the qualities of the different parts within that genre. For example, in a classical piece, before improvizing- ask yourself: What is the composer trying to get across? what mood is being portrayed? Then continue to build on the piece with improvized segments. Improvization involves feeling out through our fingers that which should come next. I hope this helped.

As for your signature,
If you believe it, you will become it.
If you can dream it , you will achieve it.

[fenz]

thanks pianissimo  ... can you suggest some books about improvisation?

[wkriski]

I'm not a piano player but as a guitarist interested in classical improvisation I bought a few books from Amazon - The Piano Improvisation Handbook is the best https://amzn.to/98eW7P

Some simple ways to get started is play some progressions in the left hand like I IV V and make up a melody in the right hand using chord tones from each chord at first. Then add some non-chord tones on weak beats (2, 4 the 'ands') and also arpeggiate the left hand. Cycle of fourths is great to extend improvisations where each chord moves by a fourth so in key of C you have C F Bdim Em Am Dm G C then try to modulate to other keys.

[stelle]

Hello!
im trying to do the same thing www.quaverbox.com is a good website to have a look at, it tells you about sus chords, how to use them, major 7, minor 7, and different things that you can incorporate into your improvisations! ALso, if youtube "how to play romantic piano" there should be a video by TORLEY--i found many useful tools there!

Mostly i pull bits from everywhere and pick what i like and try it out on the piano until im familiar with it (thats from the net, books, what poeple tell me, what i see people play, youtube etc) then try it with chord progressions like mentioned above...C, Am, F, Dm, G...etc

I play mostly by ear which helps for improvising, but theres things i cant learn by ear, and thats when ill download the sheet music of a piece i like and work my way thru it, pick out the parts i like and adopt it into my own playing!

I think it is possible to learn by yourself (to a certain extent)  but you have to go thru and learn a lot of the theory by yourself to give you a good foundation to start....im just now looking for a piano teacher for improv becuase i feel like ive reached a wall where im not really learning anything new (exhausted the internet-until i came to this site )..so hopefully turns out good!! 

[fenz]

thanks all for the response
i'll check the book and the website soon...

@stelle: i'm glad there is other people doing same thing like me

[timothy42b]

I don't claim any expertise, but here is my opinion.

Yes, you can absolutely learn improv by yourself.  Most people have.

But the suggestions so far have missed the two main methods.

You have to listen, listen, listen to players in the style you want to learn.  You need an ipod going as near 24/7 as you can get (and live music is even better).  Improv is more in the ear than in the brain.  Theory helps understand it, but I'm not sure it will help you get there.

Secondly, most of the greats spent time transcribing what they heard.  (at least, the ones who read music) 

[fenz]

thanks timothy 

[stelle]

Tim is absolutely right! Listening is a very important part of it, as i have found (sorry i didnt think to include it) ....

 theory helped me to UNDERSTAND what i was listening to, and to make sense of what i was hearing enough to be able to imitate AND to be able to play it in another key or add variations, change things that i dont like etc.

Becuase, its fairly easy to copy what someone is playing, especially if its on youtube where you can see what their fingers are playing. HOwever, i found that i was limited to sticking with exactly what they played. no more no less--with no theory background.


When i say theory, its isnt the theory you would learn if you were taking a piano exam, its theory directly related to playing by ear. Things like WHY this certain progression works that you hear someone play, what is the theory behind it so that i would be able to recreate it in another key...relative minors etc.

Knowing this first may help make improvising a lot easier and quicker to learn but everyone is different

THEN i went on to listening like Tim said, almost 24/7 and its active listening, pulling apart what you hear and dissecting it bit by bit, playing one part over and over again until you know what their left hand and right hand are doing, and understanding why they do it. And then ill adopt in into my "tool box' of improvisations.

improv is playing what you feel, i found that theory helped me to express what i feel a lot more extensively. knowing things like  minor chords are sadder sounding (what minors can i put in my improv if im playing in the key of C )!

Well i didnt really mean to write that much

but i hope it helps

[ted]

In order to attain fluency in improvisation of any sort, whether in an established idiom or in one of your own invention, it seems necessary to begin from a position of freedom and work towards one of order. The trouble is that this approach, with its concomitant rejection of all inhibition and self judgement, runs so contrary to normal musical learning processes, and indeed most other education, that most people find it very difficult. The type of serial, step by step learning we are all subjected to for most of our young lives just doesn't work for an activity whose heart lies in spontaneous and often subconscious response to sound.

All the things others have mentioned are good, at least in the sense that they cannot do any harm, particularly eclectic listening - orchestral and world music too, not just piano. There is also nothing wrong with the "bag of tricks" and "mental arithmetic" approaches to improvising; many accomplished professionals are very happy doing that and nothing more.

I think that the most satisfying and transporting moments, however, do not arise from that type of playing. Subjectively, the best times are when you enter a feedback loop between sound and action, conscious and unconscious, wherein the impression is that you are a listener, an observer as it were - a mere conduit of an infinite variety of beautiful forms which seem to evolve and multiply on their own.

Again, the trouble is that the development of this state as a personal habit requires a high degree of disregard for rules, a complete rejection of inhibition and what amounts to a contempt for the critical faculty. This is exceeding difficult for older people and pianists trained to constantly compare and judge themselves. It sounds naive and trite to put it this way, but what you do is play some sounds and if you like them, then play them again; otherwise play something else. Gradually, over many years, this process results in the establishment of a personal piano language which is linked to the deepest parts of one's psyche. It cannot help but do so.

That is how it happened to me over almost five decades, and that is how I see improvisation. Of course I am an outsider artist, so take my remarks with as large a pinch of salt as you deem necessary.

  

[pianowolfi]

In order to attain fluency in improvisation of any sort, whether in an established idiom or in one of your own invention, it seems necessary to begin from a position of freedom and work towards one of order. The trouble is that this approach, with its concomitant rejection of all inhibition and self judgement, runs so contrary to normal musical learning processes, and indeed most other education, that most people find it very difficult. The type of serial, step by step learning we are all subjected to for most of our young lives just doesn't work for an activity whose heart lies in spontaneous and often subconscious response to sound.

All the things others have mentioned are good, at least in the sense that they cannot do any harm, particularly eclectic listening - orchestral and world music too, not just piano. There is also nothing wrong with the "bag of tricks" and "mental arithmetic" approaches to improvising; many accomplished professionals are very happy doing that and nothing more.

I think that the most satisfying and transporting moments, however, do not arise from that type of playing. Subjectively, the best times are when you enter a feedback loop between sound and action, conscious and unconscious, wherein the impression is that you are a listener, an observer as it were - a mere conduit of an infinite variety of beautiful forms which seem to evolve and multiply on their own.

Again, the trouble is that the development of this state as a personal habit requires a high degree of disregard for rules, a complete rejection of inhibition and what amounts to a contempt for the critical faculty. This is exceeding difficult for older people and pianists trained to constantly compare and judge themselves. It sounds naive and trite to put it this way, but what you do is play some sounds and if you like them, then play them again; otherwise play something else. Gradually, over many years, this process results in the establishment of a personal piano language which is linked to the deepest parts of one's psyche. It cannot help but do so.

That is how it happened to me over almost five decades, and that is how I see improvisation. Of course I am an outsider artist, so take my remarks with as large a pinch of salt as you deem necessary.

  

I think this is one of the best advices I have ever seen on this subject.

[furtwaengler]

Ted's is the master of this thought, and can be counted on for this. I wish we all had his boundless freedom of expression. It in any case, wants me to improvise!

[fenz]

thanks all
i really need more advice to improve my self 

[wildman]

Tip;

Keep on listening to piano music, and soon you'll probably find yourself mixing up different chords/notes from some of the many pieces you've listened to by heart, and there; you're improvising. Just be sure it's in the samy key and, as pianissimo123 said, try to stick to the "mood" of the piece you're improvising. Works for any genre, as far as I know.

This is actually how I got to know the joy of improvisation by myself.

[fenz]

thanks wildman 
i'll try it with my best