improvising a piano accompaniment

[Tash]

this is the latest thing we're doing in keyboard and i have issues! sure it's easy enough just to play some nice broken chords or whatever but improvising and composing in some interesting and creative way is just not my thing. i'm taking a look at the piano accompaniment in various songs eg. schumann dichterliebe to give me some inspiration, but does anyone have any suggestions on creating interesting but not overly difficult accompaniments so i don't fail the upcoming assessment?! thanks heaps whoever helps me i will worship forever!

[AvoidedCadence]

I'm in a similar situation - trying to prepare for my advanced keyboard harmony exam on my own  so anything I say will probably be useless, especially since I can't really improvise either.

I guess it depends on what genre of piece you are accompanying (compare baroque recit, schubert song, folk song) as well as the character of the piece.  Fortunately, a lot of songs do have very simple accompaniments.  For folk songs the waltz-type accompaniment is really basic and works decently.  Also maybe plan to do more in the parts between verses (often the piano quotes the melody here) or even within the verse if the piece seems to have a call-and-answer type of melody (although that'd be cruel on a test).

But you don't have to improvise elaborate counterpoint ... often it's best to keep a consistent type of figuration going.  Examples: block chords (often with melody as top voice),  RH chords with LH arpeggios, repeated chords/octaves (Schubert).  I don't know if you're allowed to double the melody - if not, maybe try to establish counterpoint b/w the top RH voice and the melody.

I guess also know the standard harmonic progressions for scales (I probably need this advice more than you) - and look for modulations.
 
I did say this post would be useless... maybe some kind soul will help you.

[Tash]

thanks heaps you're a legend! and useless or not, thankyou for taking the time to write something down, it's most appreciated!