Tips for improvising on piano?

[wavez]

"Piano" in the title could actually be any instrument, i just added that because a lot of people start their songs while just improvising on it. I personally am more intrested of creating good 4,8,16 bar loops rather than full progressive pieces. If you have seen or read any good text on this topic, then feel free to post them.

I hope my question is understandable, i'm feeling a bit sick right now and can't clearly express myself in English.

[tapper mike]

If you are working in 4,8,12 or 16 bar loops then you are working in progressions.

Sometimes you can have a simple static chord or two to hold things down but most times it's a bit more then that.
Blues, country, bluegrass, rock and jazz (aside from bebop) generally work from a progression. progressions can be anywhere from 2 to 32 measures in length but are generally 4 to 32 measures repeated. A song can have one or several progressions in it.
http://www.kvraudio.com/wiki/?id=Song+Form

Improvising can be writing but writing is not always improvising. Usually improvising means working out variations over an established song.

The blues even if you don't consider yourself a blues player is a great place to start. 12 measures to stretch out on.

Regardless of your instrument it's a good idea to be able to work through the chord progression playing the chords. moreso then just listening to someone or something else play the changes it allows you to get into the groove. There's more then one way to skin a cat. As well there is more then one way to play a chord. try different approaches to rhythm different voicings (inversions/ extentions) Slow blues is a great place to start and it's also where the very talented show off all of thier finesse.

You can start with simple licks, scale patterns or arpeggios but you goal is to exercise your mind more then your fingers. Sometimes simply changing which notes you emphasis or how you group the notes in time can make a world of difference. It's not always what you say but how you say it. Don't be afraid to compliment your playing with space. It's not a race and it's not a fight. It's a dance with your fingers.


Remember where you started. It's a place you can return to when you run out of ideas and even more important when you have too many ideas. The more experience you have the more options and directions you have. I can think of roughly 100 blues licks that I mix and match the problem is that during all the mixing and matching I too can forget where I started and how to get back there.

Use only two turn arounds at most per song. A turn around is how one "caps" the progression. And there is nothing wrong with using the most cliche' turn arounds in the book. It lets you know that things are winding down or at least coming to the end of the cycle. It does for any listeners as well.

Work on where you start to play. One of the limitations of working with loops is it always starts on the one beat. Everything jumps in on one eventually.
Start either ahead of the one as a lead in or after the first beat. It'll make your approach more satisfying.

Another method is to build up for the one.. A good improvisor is aware where they are but is concerned where they are going. Lets say you have this 4 or 8 or 12 bar progression. The first to are.... C to F
No you know that F is coming. and when you get there you want to make a hard statement where it ends cold. So you choose a chord tone that's going to land on the first beat of the F chord. Your options are F, A, C
Wok from that tone backwards from the previous measure. I know it's not exactly improvising if you have to work it out but just bare with me. The more you do that. The more you have a target note in mind then the more you'll think How am I going to get there. Now you are thinking about directionality maybe not the big end all be all cadence. It will give you intent rather then rambling.