6 Beginner Piano Improv Exercises to Improve Self-Expression
Improvisation is an important form of self-expression at the piano. Yet, improv at the beginner stages is tricky. It’s tricky not because there aren’t enough options. It’s tricky because there are too…
The Improvising Pianist: Spontaneity and the 24 Hour Piece
Ever try to write a complete, self-contained piece at one sitting?!? For most of us, this kind of precociousness probably brings up images of someone like Mozart. “I couldn’t possibly…
Vintage PA: Happy Little Trees
One evening, while my class piano students were working on their improvs for the midterm, I suddenly found myself saying, “You don’t need to apologize! Maybe in your world there’s…
Stepping Off The Page: Starting An Improv Vocabulary
Stepping Off the Page is a monthly column written by Deanna Witkowski for Piano Addict. Have you ever thought about how little children will hum or sing melodies that they improvise…
Stepping Off The Page: Nocturne in Eb Major
Deanna Witkowski is an active pianist and composer, has 5 albums to her credit, and currently holds the piano chair in the BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra. She won the Great American Jazz…