Introduction to improvisation

In the last lesson, we crossed the fine line between they study of theory and playing by ear into improvisation, and we are going to start that improvisation in earnest in this lesson.  Before we do, I want to reemphasize something.

First, I want to make sure that you do not find yourself falling into a trap.  That would be the trap of settling for knowing how to do something without knowing how to do it well.  For example, many of you might be able to name chords by now.  But can you do it fast enough?  If it takes you as much as a few seconds to name a chord, that is a good start.  However, you are not naming them fast enough to apply your knowledge when you are playing (unless you are playing very slow).

The same goes for your exercises in playing by ear.  If you cannot play a melody without mistakes by ear and usually pick the right chord automatically, you still have a lot of work to do.

So, my advice is that if you are not able to practically apply what I have taught you, keep practicing.  When will you know when you are there?  When you can apply what you know without even thinking about it.  Even though I understand the theory of what I play, I do not have to think about theory when I am playing it.  It just happens naturally.  Getting to this level does not happen by reading these lessons–it happens by practicing these techniques every day for a long time.

So what is piano improvisation?

Practically speaking, piano improvisation happens in either of these two situations:

1. A melody and chord chart is provided and the pianist can play whatever he/she wants within that framework.
2. Either the melody or chord chart (or both) is missing and the pianist has much more freedom.  For example, the pianist might have the freedom to choose the chords to accompany the melody.

In church music, examples of the first situation include playing for the congregation or playing for a group singing different parts.  It is not possible to change chords in those situations because the vocal parts are creating a chord structure.  The second situation might occur when playing solo or when accompanying a soloist (in that case, chords can be changed as long as they work with the melody).

For the purpose of our lessons, improvisation does not have to be spontaneous (you should know that some musicians would disagree with this statement).
There is nothing wrong with practicing an arrangement ahead of time so you can play it exactly the same time after time.  The rules I will teach will apply whether you are creating an arrangement or just sitting down to play spontaneously.

Obviously, improvisation involves much more than changing chords and/or the melody.  It also involves technical embellishment, style, and mood.  The combination of all these things means that any simple hymn can be played in infinite ways.

As you can see from the examples in the last lesson, there are numerous things you can do just with a simple melody and I, IV, and V chords. As we move into studying improvisation, you will have to learn how to creatively work with the melody and harmony to bring beauty and variety to your music. The possibilities are endless, but the only way to add them to your tool chest is through experimentation and practice.

Philosophy of improvisation

Music is a highly controversial subject in the church, and I am going to stay away from the ongoing fray except to mention that your philosophy of music probably impacts the way you look at improvisation, and quite possibly, your ability to improvise.   For example, while improvisation existed and was practiced during the classical era, it has largely become obsolete in Western music.  For that reason, many universities have been slow to include improvisation as part of their piano performance programs.  That is why you hear about classical concert artists who embarrass themselves when they are spontaneously asked to play “Happy Birthday.”

There is an intense debate in church circles regarding whether the zenith of music occurred during the classical era (and afterward declined) or whether music has continued to evolve from that point to this day.   Your view on this as well as your views on modernism, authoritarianism, democracy, and morality may impact the way you view improvisation.  I am not a historian or a philosopher, but I strongly encourage you to do some reading on the history of music and the related conflicts between various factions of society and the conflicts within the church.  It is a fascinating study.

Goal of improvisation

Is your goal to create “good” music?  Is it to create music that people like?  There are musicians in every genre who believe that the structure (or compositional form) of their music is most important.  They basically believe that if people do not like their music, they just do not know what good music is.  I will go on record saying that this attitude offends me.

The goal of church music is to glorify God.  However, practically speaking, your music is played not just to God but also to people.  My goal when playing for other people is to communicate and affect them at a deep level.  If I can do this, the compositional form of the music is irrelevant.  So-called proper form changes from culture to culture, but the common denominators of all good music are communication and emotion.  Learn the rules of theory but feel free to chunk any or all of them if they conflict with your ability to glorify God and minister to people.  Don’t stifle your music by trying to make it compositionally sound when there is not even a definitive source that defines what “compositionally sound” really means.

To illustrate what I am talking about, here is an example of what I hear from beginning arrangers.  They start with a song, and start following a form that sounds like the classical theme and variations.  In many cases, the variations are completely disjointed and often inappropriate for the style of the song. Once, I heard “Onward Christian Soldiers” played in a minor key for one of the variations.  Very often, I will hear reflective songs played like a Rachmaninoff concerto.

So, don’t feel the need to diversify a piece just for the sake of diversity, and don’t force anything else into the music that does not feel right just because you think that is what an arrangement should sound like.  Just try to communicate at a deep level, and things will fall into place from there.

How to learn improvisation faster

Before we begin, I want to give you a hint for how you are going to learn faster.  It sounds obvious, but here it is–listen to good pianists as much as you can.  Just as importantly, listen to good pianists play the music you are interested in learning how to play.  Play their music around the clock and eventually, you will start sounding like them.

There are a few pianists who have especially influenced who I am today.  I learned a lot from none other than Dino Kartsonakis.  I am not as flamboyant as he sometimes gets, but his laid-back piano-only stuff is close to brilliant.  There are not many pianists in Christian music anywhere near his level.  Another great pianist I have taken lessons from and listened to is John Innes. John has played for the Billy Graham crusades for decades.  He has brilliant technique and a great knowledge of chords. I also enjoy and would recommend Stan Whitmire if you like southern gospel sounds.

Sadly, there are not too many other recording pianists in Christian music that I can really recommend that you listen to (there are however some great pianists who unfortunately have no recorded anything). We need to be better as an entire genre at producing higher quality music, but I am afraid that the current great pianists tend to play jazz rather than Christian music.