Improvisation Is Not Scary!

Here in Tennessee music is always being made, especially in the country loving city of Nashville or in Memphis for some great jazz. It is important as educators to expose our students to a variety of music, and there is a great deal of it here in my home state. But it is even of extra importance for our students to learn from the start to experience expressive music making. Music educator, Bob Duke, says expert teachers focus on: tone, intonation, and expressive music making so it is crucial we include these concepts in our classrooms. That can come in many forms such as composition and improvisation. Improvisation is when a player just lets the music move them, they play what they feel in that moment. This type of music making is a huge part of jazz culture. It can be a great experience for our students to be expressive and step out of a box they may not have known they had, and to have the opportunity to engross themselves in a new genre.

Growing up I wanted to expand my musical knowledge every way I could. From the time I was three years old I have been involved in music, either in music class or taking private lessons for flute and piano outside of school. One thing that always made me nervous was improvisation, and that was because my early teachers never had me

Male teacher in middle demonstrating
on trumpet while 5 students around
him listening.

experience it. The awesome thing about improvisation is that you cannot ever be wrong, of course playing in the key may be a good thing to consider, but it is completely whatever you feel. To me I struggled because I felt I wanted to represent my best, and I would only get that if I sat down and composed what I wanted to play. When I got to high school and joined a jazz band I had no idea how big of importance improvisation had in this type of music. I always loved jazz music but never made that connection. I was scared to death when I had to improv in front of my whole class, but now that I’m older it is so much fun! Not only is improvisation good for students to be expressive but it makes them more confident. I can tell you right now that if I was more comfortable with improvisation earlier in my musical career I would have had way more confidence as a player in general. It also allows you to just have plain fun! There is no pressure in this process, just loving music and making it with your friends. So there is more to improvisation than it being just a technique, and I hope you consider if you're a music teacher reading this to include it more in your curriculums. Expose your students to the ability they have to create music.