Four Ways to Approach Piano Improvisation: Exercises for Intermediate Pianists

Improvisation, by definition, is unpredictable and spontaneous. This means that there are an infinite number of ways to approach it, none of them inherently 'wrong' or 'right.' However, if you don't know where to begin; here are a few ways to think about it to help you get started.

I. Start with a structure: a chord progression, accompaniment pattern, or musical form

for example: Dm-Am (two chord progression, 2 bars each), a i-III-VI-vi progression in Cm, a 1-5-1 pattern in the left hand, or an AABA song form

focus on one of these structures and add the rest using your creativity.

II. Build a container: a scale, register of the piano, interval, chord, shape or set of notes in one of the hands

for example: the double harmonic scale, C2-C4 range, repeating octaves in left hand, or an EMaj9 (the notes E-G-B-D-F#) in the right hand

focus on flowing inside of these limits and allow yourself to explore freely within them. if structures or patterns emerge naturally, that’s great, but not important.

III. Follow a motif: a short idea based on melody, rhythm, or both

for example: 𝅗𝅥 𝅗𝅥 𝅘𝅥. 𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅗𝅥 , an ascending sixth followed by a stepwise descent

focus on listening to, expanding, transforming, and expressing with this idea — the rest of your improvisation is there only to support it.

IV. Work from non-musical inspiration: a scene, storyline, image, or feeling

for example: the image of clouds blowing across the sky, a sense of nostalgia, saying goodbye to a friend, a climber’s journey to the summit

throw structure, form, melody out of the window — you’ll almost inevitably use these unconsciously, but focus only on following the sound.

When we begin to create complete songs or ‘musical works’, we typically combine many different creative methods. For example, we may implement a larger musical form: introduction, section 1, section 2, section 1, outro; using a container: the pentatonic scale for an improvisatory introduction, a structure: a chord progression for each section, following a motif in the melody, and working through the form of the piece to reflect parts of a storyline: phases of heartbreak.