Creating, composing, and improv are one of the secrets to FUN in piano!  I like to have several tricks in my tool belt to pull out for my piano students depending on the amount of time I have.

Here is my master list of quick and easy ideas for improvising and composing that I can throw into any piano lesson:  

 

• Play a chord progression and have the student free style whatever it is they want to play with it.   If they can play the chord progression on their own, then let them.

 

• Play a rhythm, such as one off of an electric piano, and let them play a simple song adding some cool rhythm to it: Simple song ideas: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Are You Sleeping, Hot Cross Buns, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Jingle Bells, Ode to Joy, etc.

 

• Transpose a song.

 

• Cut and paste a song together to create a new variation of it.

 

• Work through this FREE composition workbook by Jennifer Eklund.

 

• Come up with a cool title to a song they could create.

 

• Have them “play” in whatever way they want, an object or a scene.  Examples: a rainbow, a storm, an elephant, a butterfly, a waterfall, a rollercoaster

 

• Have the students choose 3-4 major/minor chords to use as a chord progression and write it down.  (I would suggest them using I, IV, V chords.)

 

• Play by ear the following:
  • Just using black keys:
    • Hot Cross Buns (starting on Bb)
    • Old MacDonald Had a Farm (starting on F#)
    • Mary Had a Little Lamb (starting on Bb)
    • The Farmer in the Dell (starting on C#)
  • Just using 5 finger position:
    • When the Saints Go Marching In
    • Ode to Joy
    • Jingle Bells Chorus
  • Beyond the 5 finger position:
    • Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
    • Are You Sleeping (Frere Jacques)
    • For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow
  • Songs that use the entire scale:
    • Away in a Manger
    • Joy to the World
    • Deck the Halls
    • We Wish You a Merry Christmas
    • Take Me Out to the Ball Game

 

• Rhythm and Blues Improv Worksheet from pianimation.com

 

• There are several harmonization worksheets from pianimation.com.  Students are given a melody, then have to add I, IV and V7 chords to create an accompaniment.
  • For more advanced students: take these worksheets and have the students add harmony on the spot.  This requires them to look ahead and practice steady performance tempo.

 

•  Google the student’s favorite song and “guitar tabs”.  Play the chords as they sing or listen to the song such as you would a lead sheet.

 

• Teach students the different patterns that can be used in the left hand to harmonize: (patterns courtesy of musingsoraministerswife.com; numbers represent finger numbers)
  • Block chords
  • Broken chords
  • Oom-pah chords
  • Basic Walking Pattern #1 (1,3,5,6)
  • Country Swing Pattern (1,5,6,5)
  • Fats Domino #1 (1,8,3,5,3)
  • Fats Domino #2 (1,3,5,5,3,5)
  • Jerry Lewis (1,1,3,1,5,1,6,1)
  • Basic Shuffle Pattern #1 (1&5, 1&5, 1&6, 1&6)
  • Basic Shuffle Pattern #2 (1&5, 1&5, 3b, 3, 1&5, 1&5, 1&6, 1&5)

 

• In this printable composing activity from susanparadis.com, write in finger numbers to make up a Christmas Train song.

 

• In this printable composing activity from susanparadis.com, students put the quarter notes wherever they’d like to finish off the song!  Golden Menorah and Christmas is Coming

 

• Have them choose a combination of rhythm words to come up with their own rap: (courtesy of classicfm.com)

 

 

 

 

• Compose the first two measures and the last measure of a song.  Then complete the middle!   To provide some continuity or “theme” to the song, they can repeat the first two measures somewhere in the middle of the song.

 

• See how many songs they can come up with that have the chord progression C, G, Am, F (I, V, vi, IV).

 

• Compose a piece with a left hand melody.

 

• Compose a song in a minor key.

 

• Try a different time signature.

 

• Create a song after a poem and then add chords and/or a melody to it.

 

• Come up with variations to a simple song — Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Eensy, Weensy Spider, Old MacDonald, etc.

 

• Teach your students how to improv with the help of Tim Topham’s strategies for teaching beginners improv

 

• Try one of the 14 printable beginner composition worksheets on myfunpianostudio.com.

 

• Myfunpianostudio.com has a quick 2-3 minute improv tutorial you can use to teach your kids a cool improv technique.

 

• Myfunpianostudio.com also has a 3 minute blues improv video tutorial you can use to get your kids snapping their fingers.

 

• One more 5 minute pop song video tutorial from myfunpianostudio.com based off of Taylor Swift.  This one is for more advanced students, but will give them some new ideas for creating their own song!

 

• Do a teacher and student improv duet.  The teacher alternates playing the Gb Major chord and Eb minor chord.  The student can then play any black keys however they wish.  Visit Melissa Milne’s blog for more details.

 

• The students can use this step-by-step packet to create their own animal-themed composition from colourfulkeys.ie.

 

• By finding the rhythm to a silly sentence that the student creates, then adding music to that, students can create a motif in just a few minutes!  Check out more details at teachpianotoday.com.  

 

• Take a rhythm from a well known song and put a different melody to it.

 

As you can see, there are many ideas for getting the creativity to flow!  Have fun, as I know you and your students will!