Piano improvisation is playing with music – playing in the true sense of the word. It is a game: set yourself some rules and be as creative as possible within that framework of restrictions. This book is a guide on how to improvise. Whereas most books on piano improvisation explain jazz and blues, the focus here is on minimalistic and classical music. The book contains some exercises to get you started and appendices with the most important information about keys, scales, chords, harmony, melody, and rhythm to help you.

The main part of the book consists of 21 examples: a short description, a recipe for an improvisation, an example chord progression, suggestions on how to further expand on the recipe, and a short piece in music notation illustrating the basic idea. You can play each piece as written but the intention is that you explore variations and add in your own ingredients and flavors.

I hope the presented ideas will inspire you.If you want to know what the music sounds like you can find my album on your favorite digital music platform (Spotify/ iTunes/ YouTube/ or 150 others!). Just search for: Myriam Hunink Melancholic Piano. There are 16 tracks. Some are in memory of a lost one (including Farewell, Reverie, Melancholic Improvisation), some celebrate a life event (eg. Lullaby for the birth of our grandson), one was inspired by a hospital scene (Infusion), and many give a wink to celebrated composers (eg. For Alice, Song without words, Fughetta).

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