Currently thinking of those weeks I spent 'shaming' myself for accidentally doing jazz improv instead of baroque when it's actually PERFECTLY NORMAL. Huh. Glad I clicked on that harpsichord jazz video. This will be most useful !
Absolutely! It's perfectly normal (and desirable!) to improvise in some different styles! The *most* *most* *most* important thing is that you have fun when improvising; Of course it's good to have /practice/ improvisation and /fun/ improvisations, but even the practice ones should target something you'll find fun :-) On another note, this harpsichord jazz video is an old vid on my channel which isn't particularly good, and It has always somewhat mystified me as to why this was one of the most popular? Maybe I'll post a new one of better quality to see if YT's algorithm *particularly* like harpsichords+jazz hehe ;-)
@@Borogrove Well it's still very new to me and everything's done at my own pace, but I've never had this much fun on the keyboard before. It's only a bit strange to find out you have better rhythm and confidence with a genre you occasionally listen to and never play, than with one you listen to and play most of the time. Also a bit ironic to realize it's easier to be demanding when faced with the millions of possibilities of a few chords than it is to put your own spin on a famous work. I guess music works in mysterious ways... As for the harpsichord jazz video, well, I was specifically looking for that kind of content, and from what I've seen, a few people in the jazz community seem(ed) interested as well. I don't really know how trends work on youtube. But the truth is, jazz sounds pretty nice on a harpsichord. The dudes who thought about it in the 70's left us a few nice albums but let's be honest, ragtime on an italian harpsichord still sounds too saloony. There are recent good works, but they're scarce. It just needs a modern approach, lower pitches, and more people on it. What I really need, though, is baroque jazz on harpsichord, but hey, I'm fine with just jazz, sometimes. I'm fine with anyone taking a harpsichord to play whatever feels right just for the sake of experimentation, really. I guess it's only a question of balance between what you create for the algorithm and what you create for fun ;) (Et bien évidemment c'est *après* avoir posté le commentaire que je me rends compte que j'aurais pu tout aussi bien m'exprimer en français........)
Hey there! first of all- thank you for making this. You are not just a phenomenal player, but a great and generous teacher. Rare, that. May I ask something? Are you hearing the notes (in your head) before you play them with fingers?? I’m trying to start on that path (after letting my “fingers lead the way” for a fairly long time), and so am having to kinda relearn and play simpler melodies. And was just wondering how you approach (and hear) this. Cheers, and many many thanks again
Would be nice to put some baroque scale/melody patterns into a PDF, many definitely spell out various chord changes such as V to I, cycle of fourths, cadences, etc.
Absolutely! Many thanks for the suggestion; I'll try to do this when I have a bit of time, also I have to think of it from the point of view of impro; e.g -> not "here are some harmonic cycles", but rather -> "here is how you can generate your own cycles easily"
All the keys! More seriously, I would suggest starting in the easy keys, such as C,Cm,G,Gm,Am,D,Dm,F. Of course, that's also a great way to get used to a more unusual key, and that actually something I should do more of myself :-) (The reason being if you try to play in an unusual key, there are more mistakes to be made which is a great way of finding new interesting stuff!)
I don't really have a perfect set of recommendations sadly; You can check out some of my previous answers (Normally YT should point out the comment I liked as "Highlighted Comment") th-cam.com/video/VY4wkbMRZhU/w-d-xo.html&lc=Ugwl_vn5XOinmaL7QEh4AaABAg.9C1qe1ID3-I9C3NgM1MpzX (Also check out @Trading_with_will's answer to my comment, as it mentions the piano book by john Mortensen, which I haven't (yet) read but I think must be a great resource!; You can check out Dr. Mortensen's channel here, which is also very interesting: th-cam.com/users/cedarvillemusic) th-cam.com/video/GKCoWlBuuMU/w-d-xo.html&lc=Ugy__CAB9nDry6zPYkh4AaABAg.97aEHaqxoxY97cyeRIoQTm Hope this helps you somewhat still! Many thanks for the comment :-)
do you just ignore most of the theory when I'm improvising i always have like 200 rules in the back of my head and everything starts to sound the same due to this
This is a GREAT question and the answer is: YES, YES, YES. Of course, I don't mean that theory is not useful, it's very useful. However, the most important thing when improvising is making good music, so theory should never hold you back. I would like to make a video where I talk about what I'm thinking "in real time", but it's actually quite tricky to do; Either I'm only playing or only talking but not both haha. In first approximation, I only think about (1) melodies (hear them in my head and play them), (2) some counterpoint sometimes (I can manage to hear 2 voices or 3 very simple lines, always working on more), (3) *very simple* harmonic stuff, like some movements IV -> I, or modulations I -> VI etc.. but I'm nearly never thinking about rules. For instance, I never think about counterpoint rules. Hope this helps, and as always the most important thing is to keep improvising, it's really important to practice and great to learn theory, but it should also stay fun :-)
Hi. I have a question. How did you become so good at improvising? Was it mostly after playing a lot of baroque pieces or was it that you yourself practiced improvising and playing around at the piano? Or is it a mixture of both? Thank you for your videos you are an inspiration.
Hi and thanks for the great question! It's definitely a mixture of both. I did fool around and improvise myself quite a lot, and I definitely think that both fooling around as well as practicing improvisation are both quite important. However, I also played a certain number of baroque pieces and this is a *great* help when it comes to improvising. In fact, one thing I do not like about my current practice is that I don't play enough pieces. It's for sure something I have to work on :-) There are a few important things that you learn when playing baroque pieces. (1) You subconsciously get some "patterns" and tricks in your fingers. Did you notice that when you spend a lot of time with a certain person (friend, family, etc..) you sometimes take some words/expressions that they did in your own vocabulary? Well, it's exactly the same thing with music imo :-) If you play a lot of Bach your fingers will learns lots of "bach patterns". (2) It helps breaking you out of automatisms that can develop when improvising. While it can be great that your fingers fall into some common patterns, working on pieces helps "forcing" your fingers to play different rhythms/melodies/counterpoint than what they may be used to! (3) If you stumble upon a part you like in a piece you're working on, it very worth it to take some minutes to "understand it" and analyze it. Not only does it help with practicing the piece, but you can steal some ideas from it and even more importantly you can develop *your* own analysis tools. I think that this is often not talked about. Not only is it helpful to analyze music you like, but it's even better if you start trying to develop your own personalized vocabulary and "explanation" for why the part you like works :-) After all, music is subjective, so analysis tools are never absolute. (4) For some strange reason, I often noticed that it's *way* easier to improvise *after* having practiced pieces. I would recommend first practicing pieces and finishing a practice session with improvisation for optimal impro ;-) Hope this helps, cheers!
@@Borogrove I am so grateful for your answers! I will start studying composition at a college soon. I have always liked to study the theory but I am far behind in improv. But when I found your channel and watched your videos, I was so inspired to start working on it. Your videos have really helped! if I came even near to being as good as you some day I will be really happy!=) Thanks again. Cheers!
All of your moves are so deliberate. As if you know exactly where you are going and what you want to say.
Currently thinking of those weeks I spent 'shaming' myself for accidentally doing jazz improv instead of baroque when it's actually PERFECTLY NORMAL. Huh. Glad I clicked on that harpsichord jazz video. This will be most useful !
Absolutely! It's perfectly normal (and desirable!) to improvise in some different styles! The *most* *most* *most* important thing is that you have fun when improvising; Of course it's good to have /practice/ improvisation and /fun/ improvisations, but even the practice ones should target something you'll find fun :-)
On another note, this harpsichord jazz video is an old vid on my channel which isn't particularly good, and It has always somewhat mystified me as to why this was one of the most popular? Maybe I'll post a new one of better quality to see if YT's algorithm *particularly* like harpsichords+jazz hehe ;-)
@@Borogrove Well it's still very new to me and everything's done at my own pace, but I've never had this much fun on the keyboard before. It's only a bit strange to find out you have better rhythm and confidence with a genre you occasionally listen to and never play, than with one you listen to and play most of the time. Also a bit ironic to realize it's easier to be demanding when faced with the millions of possibilities of a few chords than it is to put your own spin on a famous work. I guess music works in mysterious ways...
As for the harpsichord jazz video, well, I was specifically looking for that kind of content, and from what I've seen, a few people in the jazz community seem(ed) interested as well. I don't really know how trends work on youtube. But the truth is, jazz sounds pretty nice on a harpsichord. The dudes who thought about it in the 70's left us a few nice albums but let's be honest, ragtime on an italian harpsichord still sounds too saloony. There are recent good works, but they're scarce. It just needs a modern approach, lower pitches, and more people on it. What I really need, though, is baroque jazz on harpsichord, but hey, I'm fine with just jazz, sometimes. I'm fine with anyone taking a harpsichord to play whatever feels right just for the sake of experimentation, really. I guess it's only a question of balance between what you create for the algorithm and what you create for fun ;)
(Et bien évidemment c'est *après* avoir posté le commentaire que je me rends compte que j'aurais pu tout aussi bien m'exprimer en français........)
Thank you! I found this very helpful. When are u back again?!
Hey there! first of all- thank you for making this. You are not just a phenomenal player, but a great and generous teacher. Rare, that.
May I ask something? Are you hearing the notes (in your head) before you play them with fingers??
I’m trying to start on that path (after letting my “fingers lead the way” for a fairly long time), and so am having to kinda relearn and play simpler melodies.
And was just wondering how you approach (and hear) this.
Cheers, and many many thanks again
Wow! These were so useful!
Awesome! I’m glad this helped!
❤❤❤
Would be nice to put some baroque scale/melody patterns into a PDF, many definitely spell out various chord changes such as V to I, cycle of fourths, cadences, etc.
Absolutely! Many thanks for the suggestion; I'll try to do this when I have a bit of time, also I have to think of it from the point of view of impro; e.g -> not "here are some harmonic cycles", but rather -> "here is how you can generate your own cycles easily"
That helped a lot!
I'm very happy it did :-) I'm planning on posting more tips soon(TM).
Thanks, man!
With pleasure, thank you for watching :-) !
Gonna start working on these exercises asap. Do you have any suggestions on the amount of keys to practice in?
All the keys! More seriously, I would suggest starting in the easy keys, such as C,Cm,G,Gm,Am,D,Dm,F. Of course, that's also a great way to get used to a more unusual key, and that actually something I should do more of myself :-) (The reason being if you try to play in an unusual key, there are more mistakes to be made which is a great way of finding new interesting stuff!)
Makes sense. I'm pretty sure Bach was a master of every key.
What are you??' you are amazing!!! I am your new biggest fan
Many thanks for your very kind words! :-). I’m very glad my small impro videos could help some people!
@@Borogrove legend
Hi, this was really usefull. Is there a book that teaches baroque improvisation? Or what would you recommend to read to learn more about this?
I don't really have a perfect set of recommendations sadly;
You can check out some of my previous answers (Normally YT should point out the comment I liked as "Highlighted Comment")
th-cam.com/video/VY4wkbMRZhU/w-d-xo.html&lc=Ugwl_vn5XOinmaL7QEh4AaABAg.9C1qe1ID3-I9C3NgM1MpzX
(Also check out @Trading_with_will's answer to my comment, as it mentions the piano book by john Mortensen, which I haven't (yet) read but I think must be a great resource!; You can check out Dr. Mortensen's channel here, which is also very interesting: th-cam.com/users/cedarvillemusic)
th-cam.com/video/GKCoWlBuuMU/w-d-xo.html&lc=Ugy__CAB9nDry6zPYkh4AaABAg.97aEHaqxoxY97cyeRIoQTm
Hope this helps you somewhat still!
Many thanks for the comment :-)
do you just ignore most of the theory when I'm improvising i always have like 200 rules in the back of my head and everything starts to sound the same due to this
This is a GREAT question and the answer is:
YES, YES, YES.
Of course, I don't mean that theory is not useful, it's very useful. However, the most important thing when improvising is making good music, so theory should never hold you back.
I would like to make a video where I talk about what I'm thinking "in real time", but it's actually quite tricky to do; Either I'm only playing or only talking but not both haha.
In first approximation, I only think about (1) melodies (hear them in my head and play them), (2) some counterpoint sometimes (I can manage to hear 2 voices or 3 very simple lines, always working on more), (3) *very simple* harmonic stuff, like some movements IV -> I, or modulations I -> VI etc.. but I'm nearly never thinking about rules.
For instance, I never think about counterpoint rules.
Hope this helps, and as always the most important thing is to keep improvising, it's really important to practice and great to learn theory, but it should also stay fun :-)
@@Borogrove thanks, I think it'll come naturally more once I get better / knowing what things will sound like
Hi. I have a question. How did you become so good at improvising? Was it mostly after playing a lot of baroque pieces or was it that you yourself practiced improvising and playing around at the piano? Or is it a mixture of both? Thank you for your videos you are an inspiration.
Hi and thanks for the great question!
It's definitely a mixture of both. I did fool around and improvise myself quite a lot, and I definitely think that both fooling around as well as practicing improvisation are both quite important. However, I also played a certain number of baroque pieces and this is a *great* help when it comes to improvising.
In fact, one thing I do not like about my current practice is that I don't play enough pieces. It's for sure something I have to work on :-)
There are a few important things that you learn when playing baroque pieces.
(1) You subconsciously get some "patterns" and tricks in your fingers. Did you notice that when you spend a lot of time with a certain person (friend, family, etc..) you sometimes take some words/expressions that they did in your own vocabulary? Well, it's exactly the same thing with music imo :-) If you play a lot of Bach your fingers will learns lots of "bach patterns".
(2) It helps breaking you out of automatisms that can develop when improvising. While it can be great that your fingers fall into some common patterns, working on pieces helps "forcing" your fingers to play different rhythms/melodies/counterpoint than what they may be used to!
(3) If you stumble upon a part you like in a piece you're working on, it very worth it to take some minutes to "understand it" and analyze it. Not only does it help with practicing the piece, but you can steal some ideas from it and even more importantly you can develop *your* own analysis tools. I think that this is often not talked about. Not only is it helpful to analyze music you like, but it's even better if you start trying to develop your own personalized vocabulary and "explanation" for why the part you like works :-) After all, music is subjective, so analysis tools are never absolute.
(4) For some strange reason, I often noticed that it's *way* easier to improvise *after* having practiced pieces. I would recommend first practicing pieces and finishing a practice session with improvisation for optimal impro ;-)
Hope this helps, cheers!
@@Borogrove I am so grateful for your answers! I will start studying composition at a college soon. I have always liked to study the theory but I am far behind in improv. But when I found your channel and watched your videos, I was so inspired to start working on it. Your videos have really helped! if I came even near to being as good as you some day I will be really happy!=) Thanks again.
Cheers!