Hello!

I have been trying to incorporate some improvisation in my piano lessons. Some of my pupils who are otherwise not so enthusiastic have turned out to have something of a knack for it! With my extremely long summer holidays starting in three weeks ( ) I intend to spend the summer studying. I have seen "The Easiest Way To Improvise" by Christopher Norton and it looked good. Has anyone used this book? If not, are there other good texts I could look at?

I don't have any designs on becoming a jazzer (one in the house is enough!) but would like to be able to help students who struggle with reading to realise that there is more to music than the printed note and to use improvisation to help engage my pupils' ears and give them greater musical freedom.

Thanks a million!

I know this isn't exactly what you've asked, but EPTA's professional magazine have been running a series on improvisation, which splits everything up into useful chunks. It's been running for a couple of issues, but they ususally keep back copies. Not sure if piano is what you are after, but the principles are going to be similar for other instruments. I know I've got a small book aimed at people with a sound grasp of music, so I'll dig that out too and post the details.

Thanks Jane! I keep meaning to join EPTA...will get onto that and see if they can send me out back issues.

It sounds like a very good magazine.

And as promised the book on my 'library' shelf is published by Trinity College London, it's called From Extemporization to Improvisation, A Pracitical Guide and it's by David Wright. It states that it is pitched at Grades 6-8 and music education diplomas. Haven't really studied it myself yet, but it covers (as indicated in the contents) memorable ideas, developing ideas, repitition and sequence, developing ideas changing key, the 8 bar standard, 8+4 and 4+8 =12 8x2, improvising from chords, aural awareness and imporivision in an examination context, composers' solution. So it seems to cover a fair amount of ground.

Hope this is helpful.

I can recommend 'Sketching at the Keyboard' by Laura Campbell. This starts with using familiar tunes such as Frere Jacques and Three Blind Mice, experimenting with a variety of things in the phrases which repeat. I haven't gone much further into it than the first couple of chapters at the moment but I have used the initial ideas with some of my pupils for improvising and it has worked well as there is a specific structure to start with.
It's somewhere between £10-£12. There is another book by the same author called 'Sketches for Improvisation' but I haven't seen this one so not sure what the differences are or how much they differ.

I have been doing the EPTA Practical Piano Teaching course this year and these books are both on the reading list.



Louise