Music Improvisation Fundamentals: Pithy insights to get your whole approach toward improvisation moving in the right direction…
Music Improvisation Fundamentals (Micro-Lessons)
Bite sized wisdom on the true nature of improvising music… shared in order to challenge so many misconceptions about what improvisation is and isn’t…
Learning how to improvise will transform you from a mere consumer of music into a creator of music… able to play things that only YOU can play… in a way that only YOU can play them! Pretty cool, huh? ~frank peter
The secret to success is that there is no secret. The ability to “speak” the language of music is the inevitable reward for internalizing lots of musically-useful patterns… by ear, intellect, eye, and muscle. ~frank peter
Learning how to improvise will absolutely transform your relationship with music… The profound understanding and skills you develop from learning how to improvise will elevate all your performances–even when you play composed music–from merely competent renditions to the level of artistic expressions. ~frank peter
CREATIVITY isn’t just for “creative” people. “Creative“ people do things that “non-creative” people don’t do… or refuse to do. ~frank peter
Fluent improvisation is a very learnable skill. Learning how to improvise is no more difficult than, but requires no less effort than, learning how to speak a second language. ~frank peter
One reason people “can’t” improvise… or are afraid to improvise… or don’t do it well… is that they intellectually get the music theory, but they don’t know what to do with it. And so, learning how to improvise is largely the process of closing that gap between theory and practice. ~frank peter
Learning how to improvise is the process of learning how music works and then translating that knowledge into the practical skill to express yourself with your instrument. ~frank peter
There’s a lot less making stuff up when you improvise than most people think. Just like speaking English, you don’t typically invent new words or phrases when you speak. What you ARE doing is spontaneously expressing yourself in your own manner of speaking… in a way that is appropriate to a particular situation. Improvising music works the very same way. ~frank peter
The ability to express ourselves in words is so commonplace, and we are so good at it, that we take it all for granted. But it’s easy to forget that the words that flow so easily now are the fruit of a lifetime of effort and experience: listening, speaking, reading, and writing… in a variety of real-life situations. We learn how to “speak” music the very same way. ~frank peter
You cannot improvise by knowledge alone. You need SKILL… the skill to automatically and instantaneously translate your musical ideas into physical execution at the keyboard. ~frank peter
You can’t improvise fluently “one-note-at-a-time” any more than you can speak English fluently “one-syll-able-at-a-time”. Thinking “one-note-at-a-time” isn’t just cognitively overwhelming, but playing “one-note-at-a-time” is not how music works. ~frank peter
Music is a LANGUAGE… a unique language that’s both universal and un-translatable… with its own wordless grammar and vocabulary. And so, learning how to improvise is about learning how to speak the LANGUAGE of music. ~frank peter
As is true when learning any language… the more grammar you understand… and the more words you know… the more things you will have to say… and the more ways you will have to say them… in a variety of real-world circumstances. Learning to improvise music is very same thing. ~frank peter
You cannot COMMAND yourself to improvise; you can only PREPARE yourself to improvise… by internalizing lots of musically-useful patterns in your musical mind beforehand. ~frank peter
Improvisation, at its best, is a collaboration between freedom and structure… In other words, a deeply personal expression within a collective tradition. ~frank peter
Each musical tradition has an established grammar and vocabulary of forms, meters, rhythms, tonalities, scales, chords, chord voicings, chord progressions, accompaniment styles, and melodic devices… that make that style tick. So, for example, if you want to improvise jazz blues, you need to put jazz blues grammar and vocabulary into your musical mind. ~frank peter
Mastery of the basic elements of music… things like scales, chords, chord voicings, chord progressions, tonality, form, meter, and rhythm… allows you to “forget” them when improvising… just like you “forget” your ABCs, phonics, and grammatical rules when you speak English in everyday life. ~frank peter
It is not enough to merely know what the elements of music–scales, chords, chord voicings, chord progressions, form, meter, and rhythm–ARE. You need to understand what these musical elements DO. In other words, you need to understand these musical patterns not as NOUNS, but as VERBS. THIS is the bridge that closes the gap between theory and practice! ~frank peter
You can only fluently play music that is already inside of you. In other words, No MUSIC IN, no MUSIC OUT! So, if you want to get more music OUT, you need to put more music IN! ~frank peter
When you study and practice in order to internalize meaningful musical patterns, you are doing more than just “memorizing” stuff. You are building a rich, multi-dimensional model of how music works… an intuitive, practical, personal theory of music that enables you to spontaneously express yourself . ~frank peter
Every musical pattern that you’ve internalized– by ear intellect, eye, and muscle– has the potential to magically appear in your improvisations as needed… just as English words and phrases magically appear in your everyday conversations… without you ever having to think about it. ~frank peter
Don’t TRY to be unique. Just be yourself. Your musical voice, your very personal style of playing… will emerge spontaneously from YOUR unique choices of chord voicings, licks, rhythms, and other musical patterns… as well as your unique technique, phrasing, articulations, and artistic sensibilities. ~frank peter
Technique matters… a lot. You need to learn how to play your instrument so well that it’s not an obstacle to expressing yourself. The good news is that making your instrument an aural, analytical, visuospatial, and kinesthetic extension of your musical mind is a very learnable skill. ~frank peter
Improvisation, at its best, is not about imposing your will, but about being RECEPTIVE to what is happening in the moment. ~frank peter
As your internal library of musical grammar and vocabulary grows, so too will your confidence to be spontaneous… not as some contrived manipulation… but as a whole new way of playing and being. ~frank peter
Flashy playing might impress some people, but AUTHENTICITY has the power to MOVE people. ~frank peter
Improvisation, at its best, is about CONNECTING… with the universe of music, with your deepest self, and with others. ~frank peter
Improvisation, at its best, isn’t some clever calculation. Improvisation, at its best, is an honest EXPRESSION of who YOU really are. ~frank peter
learn more… How Music Works