| Those of you who have been reading my articles for | | | | Knowledge of a few chordsLearning a few chords is |
| some time now know that I believe improvisation to be | | | | the easy part. The part that gives more students |
| the cornerstone of musical creativity. Why? Because | | | | problems than anything else is getting over |
| without the ability to just play, we become stifled and | | | | perfectionism and the fear of making "mistakes."I |
| the "real" music that is within each of us withers and | | | | remember when I first started playing the piano. I |
| dies.Now, if you're a writer, you have lots of support in | | | | wanted very badly to "create" something. Little did I |
| this area. There are books, (many, many books) that | | | | know that by wanting so badly to create, I was |
| explore the topic of freewriting to its fullest. There are | | | | blocking the creative impulse. You see, we must learn |
| plenty of exercises and advice from professionals in | | | | to play first!! Very hard for many adults because they |
| the field. There are even classes designed to "free the | | | | want to make something "worthy" of performance. If |
| writer within."But what about music? Where can the | | | | they only would ease up a little and relax and not |
| aspiring piano improviser go to get help and advice on | | | | worry so much about what was coming out of them, |
| this topic? Traditionally, they would turn to Jazz - a | | | | then they would begin to experience the joy of |
| word synonymous with improvisation. Jazz is a big | | | | improvisation.Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and |
| believer in learning scales and chords. In fact, there are | | | | webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano |
| 1000's of scales and 1000's of chords to learn. This can | | | | lessons. He has been helping students learn how to |
| be a turn-off for the beginning student who simply | | | | play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and |
| wants to dive in and express through music.Learning | | | | works with students in private, in groups, and now over |
| how to improvise need not be difficult. There are only | | | | the internet. Stop by now at for a FREE piano lesson! |
| 2 things required:1. The ability to trust your intuition2. | | | | |