I don’t improvise. That might sound quite startling to some musicians, but it is the truth. The reason why I don’t improvise is that I was never taught it. I was taught how to play classical piano and while I have no regrets in learning classical piano (because that is what I exclusively play now), I do regret not knowing how to improvise.
As a result of learning classical piano, I was taught to read the music, which is not a bad thing at all, but I was taught that if it is not written on the page, then you are not to play it. So essentially, I was not only not taught to improvise, I was taught that I should not learn to improvise, because that wasn’t real music (that is, it wasn’t classical music).
For many years, I dismissed improvisation as a piano playing skill that wasn’t a real skill for real musicians. Yes, in hindsight, I was a classical piano snob – even though I liked dabbling with pop music behind my teacher’s back. I justified my dabbling in pop music as something fun and not to be taken seriously. In my defence, I was a teenager – do I need to say anything more?
When I finished university and became a high school music teacher, I quickly realized that my attitude was wrong and that now I could really use improvisation skills. Even though I didn’t set out to learn any of the skills, I obviously learned some, because I had to learn some in order to improve in my job.
To this day, I have never put in the effort of learning to improvise, so I don’t improvise at all.
Even though I am in a busy stage of life – I have three teenagers – I do plan to learn to improvise one day. I think it is a skill that can not only help you reinterpret music in a different way, I believe it can help you understand the structures of what you play, on a deeper level.
Here’s what I want you to consider: If there is one particular genre of music that you really want to learn, then do it. However, please be open to the possibilities, like improvising, that are not part of your preferred genre, because it could enhance your playing. I know that I regret not learning to improvise, but I do plan to try it someday.