Improvising?

[sunshine_keys]

Hello fellow pianist!

I'm new here, but I've been playing piano for a year and a half. I just finished level 4 of Bastien piano series.

My teacher gave me a hymn that she wants me to improvise. I did it. But I was wondering if there were any tips that you guys could give me to help me out..

Thanks in advanced!

[quantum]

Hi and welcome to Pianostreet!

Identify the melody or tune of the hymn.  Practice it by itself, omitting all other harmonic parts. Play it in the RH, LH, both hands, in many different ranges of the keyboard.  The point is to familiarize yourself with the focal point of the hymn, which is its tune.  Once you are comfortable playing the melody by itself you can begin to improvise by changing methods of playing, harmonizing or accompanying it.  Start by giving yourself manageable goals.  You might begin by only adding or subtracting 2 or 3 notes, inserting an ornament, filling in leaps by step to form scale like passages. 

There is an Improvisation room on this forum, where one can post recordings of improvisations and receive feedback from other members.  I encourage you to check it out. 

[sunshine_keys]

Thanks..I'll check it out. I was mainly playing broken chords, I hate the choppy, blocky kinda of playing.