how to teach improvising

036 - Let's Talk About Improvising

036 - Let's Talk About Improvising

It's one of those words that makes some of us uncomfortable: improvisation. Did your palms start to sweat when I said that?

In this episode, I’m sharing a story from the early days of my studio when I was still a student myself. It's about a lesson I had one October with an 11-year-old student.

5 Ways to Develop Creative Musicianship (Music Education Basics)

5 Ways to Develop Creative Musicianship (Music Education Basics)

Welcome back to Music Education Basics!

Today, for our final lesson, we’re talking about one of my favorite topics, creative musicianship—what it is and how to teach it, and 5 ways to cultivate creative musicianship in your students.

First, let me explain what I mean by creative musicianship. When I say creative musicianship or musical creativity, I’m talking about improvising or creating music spontaneously and also, the ability to write those ideas down.

Now, if the thought of that makes your palms begin to sweat, I get it! If you had classical music training growing up, you probably didn’t spend much time improvising, composing, or creating your own music. I know that was my experience. Instead, the focus was probably on learning how to read and interpret what was on the page. Can you relate to that?

I'm sharing a few ways you can introduce musical creativity to those you teach in this lesson.