Improvisation study

[volcanoadam]

Hi guys,

In audition room I see plenty of very well improvised recordings and I want to learn to improvise like that.
My teacher doesn't improvise nor compose, so he can't help me much in those areas. I'm learning from a book, but my improvement seems very sluggish.

So it makes me I wonder what approach did you have to learn improvisation. Did you follow some book? or did you have a teacher for that? or maybe you figured it out yourself?
Any insights very appreciated.

[ronde_des_sylphes]

There are different styles of improvisations in the audition room and, I suspect, different approaches being deployed in order towards creating a successful improvisation. From my own experience, I'd suggest that absolutely fundamental is experience and fluency in understanding of harmonic progressions and patterns - what sequences fit together well, how to use them to modulate and to create emotional affect. Added to that, being good at fitting figurations over a harmonic framework and ultimately being able to do this almost without thinking about it.

[ted]

The core of it is a deep need to just sit down at the instrument and play whatever sounds you enjoy. When I was young I thought every pianist must surely do it all the time but with age came the realisation that hardly anybody does it at any time. No amount of learning and knowledge can give you the underlying drive or desire to spontaneously create if it does not already exist. Where and how you start doesn't matter as long as you do start. Just acquire the habit of playing freely and enjoying your own sounds for a few minutes a day. Let nature take its course and see what happens. If you have music in you it must come out sooner or later. 

[ranjit]

I have to agree with Ted.

I figured it out myself. I would listen intently to a few pieces in a style, and then try and imitate that effect. Similarly, I would try and imagine pictures and sounds, and then translate the feeling I got from them, onto the piano.

Now, I'll back up a little bit. At the very beginning, I would advise you to know your chord progressions and basic harmony. Otherwise, it can be very daunting to try and come up with something out of nothing. Also realize that a lot of what is going on is subconscious pattern matching, for which you need to have heard a lot of music before in different styles. One good starting point is taking pieces you like, and coming up with variations. It's an iterative process of listening and imitating, as well as trying to come up with your own material and letting your subconscious do its thing.

[volcanoadam]

Thanks guys!

So, it seems that I'm on the right track. I'm still a beginner, so I still search for what works best to me. I improvise in my head constantly (often unconsciously) - that sounds about a hundred times better than what I can actually play and that's a bit intimidating. What I lack most is experience.

The core of it is a deep need to just sit down at the instrument and play whatever sounds you enjoy. When I was young I thought every pianist must surely do it all the time but with age came the realisation that hardly anybody does it at any time. No amount of learning and knowledge can give you the underlying drive or desire to spontaneously create if it does not already exist. Where and how you start doesn't matter as long as you do start. Just acquire the habit of playing freely and enjoying your own sounds for a few minutes a day. Let nature take its course and see what happens. If you have music in you it must come out sooner or later. 

I read somewhere that doodling isn't right thing to do but I still love to do that. I focus more on structured learning, so doodling is just a cherry on top of my cake 

There are different styles of improvisations in the audition room and, I suspect, different approaches being deployed in order towards creating a successful improvisation. From my own experience, I'd suggest that absolutely fundamental is experience and fluency in understanding of harmonic progressions and patterns - what sequences fit together well, how to use them to modulate and to create emotional affect. Added to that, being good at fitting figurations over a harmonic framework and ultimately being able to do this almost without thinking about it.

Do you believe that different styles of improvisations or music require different approaches to study? I thought it would still be the same.