Pause! Jeremy, that was fantastic. I am not a pianist, but that was one of the best essays on improving improvisation that I have ever seen. Cheers, and thank you for the great work.

Jeremy. This is the most important video you have ever published! Keep posting the critique of students improvisations.

I've been espousing this Aristotelian conception for years. I mean that (as I put it) good improv (or more bombastically maybe good art) is a virtuous middle between banality and incoherence.

@JeremySiskind

2 ай бұрын

I love it - “banality” and “incoherence” are way more fun words than “monotonous” and “random”

@paulward1586

2 ай бұрын

There’s another language set that might be even more helpful. In complexity theory, there is often a discussion about the boundary between order and chaos. What results at that boundary is essentially where surprise, delight, variation, invention, and life emerge.

Thank you for the amazing lecture ❤

Thankyou very much. Think it's gonna be easier to lead the student towards improvisation with this kind of approach, for my clients don't tend listen to jazz or other styles, where improv isn't very common. I have had a hard time getting my students out of the zombie mode so far. Maybe a turn into this direction might be a gamechanger. Should also work on pop or neo classic tunes....

Fantastic lecture, Jeremy! So useful to hear the many examples of both good and bad improv. Would be amazing if you could do something similar for jazz improvisation. Keep up the good work!

Awesome video as always as u said we need to play different length of phrase which is very obvious in the example above. But it's very hard to recognise phrase length in masters solo like kenny barron, Oscar Peterson, sony stitt or any other. Can u shed some light how to recognise phrase length in there solos. So anybody can incorporate there phrase lenght ideas into own self. Thanking u in advance much appreciated. You are a great teacher 👍

Thank you so much Jeremy from the bottom of my heart. This is just perfect, you are one of the best teachers in this field. I've been having such a hard time improvising, sometimes it felt frustrating too. I was transcribing lots of solos from the masters but i wasn't improving much; my practice sessions at home were very often just noodling over a backing track, trying to develop a motif and to survive at the complex chords changes. I changed many teachers throughtout my improvisation course, and when they were pointing out my weaknesses, those were mainly on the technical side of what i was playing, meanwhile for the form of the improvised solo they barely offered concrete/practical exercises other than "keep playing tunes/listening to records until you can do it". Thanks to your video now i got the FULL picture of what aspects i have to keep an eye on when it comes to becoming a better improviser. Thank you once again, you are a very kind soul.

@JeremySiskind

2 ай бұрын

That’s so nice! Thank you for checking out my videos and for your nice words!!!

Tus ejemplos me hicieron reflexionar para reflexionar de manera más informada sobre la composición musical. bravo y gracias! (and I burned my toast while writing this!)

@JeremySiskind

2 ай бұрын

Sorry about the toast pero muchas gracias por tus pensamientos.

Paws! Thanks for an interesting video. Hope your talk went well.

This is gold

This is amazing, thank you so much Jeremy

awesome job!

thank you Jeremy, this was super helpful!

@JeremySiskind

2 ай бұрын

My pleasure! Thanks for watching!

27:50 In addition to Mozartian😮, this example reminded me of American popular music from... maybe the 1930s and 1940s? I'm thinking of songs like Smile Awhile (Till We Meet Again) and other simple songs that were created, basically, to sell sheet music to common people who weren't prodigies. This was a phenomenon before recorded music was widely accessible. There was a big demand for simple catchy songs that your friends and family could play and sing for themselves. There was no TV, but people had radios, and it was somewhat common for people to have at least one acoustic instrument in the house. Between the accordion-like rhythm and the simple consonant melody, this example reminds me of songs from that era.

@GizzyDillespee

2 ай бұрын

BTW, this type of video is good. I'm not qualified to teach piano in a formal sense, but having the chance to evaluate the examples, and then hearing your evaluation right afterwards, gave me the confidence that I definitely could assist with a group and provide value. I was hearing what you were, for the most part, and even had some of the same ideas. Like, in example 5 from the same section as above (melody) I was thinking the improv didn't fit the bill, but could work in a country or boogie setting, and you suggested maybe the student would rather jam over a boogie woogie rhythm🤣. So, that was encouraging. I didn't hear everything you did, and I didn't intuit all of the mentioned appropriate corrections even to the issues I heard... but I got enough accurately that I'd be willing to jump in and assist with a group of relatively new improv students, if someone asked me. Plus, watching and working thru the video helps me internalize these concepts. My last jam was like a rapids that didn't let up. So, it's good to get some of these points in the brain subconsciously, such as: "It's GOOD to pause... and breathe... now and then..." and to try to maintain some organizational balance to the chaos. I assume this video is even more helpful for people who ARE getting into a teaching career. But I'm probably not the only non-teacher who found it useful, too. Like you said, and the form of the examples shows, it applies to all genres, not just jazz.

@GizzyDillespee

2 ай бұрын

Though, I understand it's easier to evaluate when you're focusing on 1 specific aspect, rather than on everything together. I caught myself focusing on the wrong aspect in the shape section😢😂

@GizzyDillespee

2 ай бұрын

The final section also reminds me to lighten the leadfoot (it's more tempting with a digital piano than a real acoustic, TBH) and to be less tolerant of sloppy timing (pauses and rushes). Coming from hippy music, sloppy notes and microtiming was less of a concern. But when I listen back to what I played, most of the time I do wish I'd played it with a little less slop. And it's the same with many of my digital piano recordings - while playing, I love that sopping wet sustain. But then, listening back, same reaction as with the slop: "this would've been better if I'd been lighter on the pedal". I do all of my improvising subconsciously, so my learning is helped when I hear the needed advice a bunch of times, and write about it (such as here, or in a journal), and then practice doing it intentionally. And even then, old habits die hard. Okay, I'll unpause the vid for the last minute, and then it's bedtime.

@GizzyDillespee

2 ай бұрын

There are people sleeping, so no practice tonight😇🤐😴

As I am currently taking a career shift to teach the piano, this video is incredibly valuable to me. Even as an amateur improviser, it provides such a clear picture of what to aim for and how to get there from any starting point, but as a freshly started teacher, that's a framework to help students get where they want to be with improv. Thanks a lot ! Cheers from France.

@JeremySiskind

2 ай бұрын

That’s awesome! I’m glad it’s helpful and best of luck to you with your teaching!

@EasyPlayPiano

2 ай бұрын

Spot on! When transitioning to piano teaching, this video is invaluable. It's clear, actionable, and perfect for guiding students to improve mastery.

Jeremy, it was a very enlightening and helpful video. Thank you and Paws 😊 You mentioned classical improvisation quite a bit. Do you mind asking me what you (as mainly jazz improvisation artist and teacher) think about Rule of the Octave and Partimento? You interviewed John Mortensen and you perhaps tried some Furno yourself. How do you see historical improvisation from your perspective? Is it worth pursuing? As far as variety of rhythms is concerned, could you comment on some classical music pieces such as J.S. Bach’s Prelude in C Major (BWV846)? Thank you again, Michael Ps. I have always had this issue of how my improvisation and jazz playing could be judged by teachers. I have been (perhaps mistakenly) missing the elements of objectivity. It is difficult to judge any creative process. It has been much easier for me to just play from the sheet music.

Paws!