Most people think you need to learn sophisticated chords and lots of them to play "good" piano music. Wrong! You don't need to learn 100's and even thousands of chords you'll never use. What's perfect for the beginner and experienced player too is to limit choice! Just a few chords, a scale to improvise in, and we're off creating a world of sound! For example, take the lesson "Winter Scene." Here we have 2 chords played by the left hand. We use a certain pattern to play these chords with and we've created a harmonic background. All that's left to do now is to add in the melody (foreground) and that's it - an improvisation that can last as long as the improviser is in the present moment and the music remains fresh. The beautiful thing about limiting choice is that it gives you focus. You don't have to think about how many chords to play what chords to play, etc. Instead, you can focus your creative energies on improvising melody. What a difference this approach can have for newbies at improvisation! No longer trying to master technical aspects, they can actually enjoy the process of being in the moment and creating spontaneous music. So many people think they can't do this because they're scared they don't know what they're doing or that it will sound bad. All excuses! By jumping in the water and starting out EASY, a complete beginner can start enjoying the great art of improvisation. |
