Do you ever wish you could just sit down at the piano and play? Make up some cool and interesting stuff on the spot? Improvise?

It’s not as complicated as you might think.

Improv is kind of like cooking without a recipe. If you are using familiar ingredients, you can mix and match flavors and textures in new ways to make a delicious new dish. In music, we mix and match musical ingredients that we are familiar with to create new pieces of music that we call improvisation.

Click here for a free transcription of the music in the video.

Hump Day

In the US, Wednesday is sometimes called Hump Day. It means that when you get past the middle of the week, you’re headed for the weekend. Monday and Tuesday are the uphill days, Thursday and Friday are the downhill days, and Wednesdays are Hump Day.

Mid-week is a good time for a boost of inspiration to get you over that hump. So when I was knocking around my place last Wednesday, and I had a groove running through my brain, it gave me idea. Why not roll some tape and share my Hump Day Grooves with you?

In the first video of the series, I point out a variety of musical elements I use to create a new piece of music. In future videos, we’ll explore these ingredients and more in full detail and demonstrate how they can be used to just sit down and play.

Musical Ingredients

To become familiar with the various ingredients really means mastering each of them one at a time. These ingredients, necessary to be a skilled improviser, fall into five broad categories: ear training, hand independence, technique, music theory, and reading (at least reading lead sheets if not full notation). I describe these elements in more detail in my post Ingredients of Improvisation.

At first, you’ll first learn how to cook simple dishes quickly with only a few ingredients. You don’t have to be a Top Chef to please your family or guests with a simple and well prepared meal. Over time, we’ll learn about ALL of these elements in a detailed step-by-step approach.

Getting Started

A few years back I went to a jam session at the home of some friends. Although none of the participants were pros, they were all pretty accomplished blues players, let’s say semi-pro in the blues genre, except for the sax player. He had a limited skill set, mostly the blues scales.

Everyone took turns soloing that evening, and almost everyone tried to play beyond their skill level, trying to out-do each other. Most of it wasn’t pretty. But when the sax player took his turns, he stuck to what he knew. Yet he played those few notes with passion and authority. And he took the night. The audience (family, friends, the dogs) loved him. As did I, and I made sure to tell him how impressed I was with his playing.   

You don’t have to be a master to move an audience. Just play what you KNOW. Play it humbly and with passion. Don’t try to impress an audience with what you (think) you know. It will backfire.

If you’re not very experienced with cooking, you probably wouldn’t start your culinary career by  hosting an elaborate dinner party with lots of complicated dishes. But you could begin with a simple, delicious meal that your friends and family would truly enjoy.

You don’t have to be a “master” to get out there and play. Practice what you want to learn. Perform what you know. Understand the difference between the two.

Upcoming Videos

In the coming videos, we’ll study lots of different ingredients you can learn to use in your musical concoctions.

We’ll break down individual elements in detail so you can learn them step-by-step. And we’ll roll tape on improvs that show how you can put the ingredients together to create complete pieces of music.

Meanwhile, until next Hump Day, here’s your assignment: Watch the video, take a look at the free pdf transcription, and add any questions or comments below.   

Good luck in your musical journey!