Un-creative creatives: Improvisation as an Essential Musical Skill

Improvisation is something that might scare many musicians. We spend hours and hours interpreting what others have written, but do we spend time creating?  Is this something that we practice or have our students practice? How many hours do we spend recreating others' music, and how much do we spend creating our own?

There is an old saying:  "If you want a guitarist to stop playing, put sheet music in front of them".  I'd like to add this to the lexicon:

"If you want a trained musician to stop playing, ask them to improvise".

Improvisation is a cornerstone of creating music, and students should be learning it from day one of life.  Victor Wooten gave a TED talk on music, specifically focusing on music as a language.  Take a look:

I am not saying there is no place for private lessons or the tradition established in order to pass on musical knowledge.  If this lights your fire, more power to you!  I am just saying we need to be concerned with how students create music.  Giving students a chance to add to the musical conversation is just as important as teaching them what others have said before them.

Giving students the chance, freedom and support to improvise is not only vital, but really fun.  In 5th and 6th grades this year, we've been using jam sessions to create a safe environment to improvise.  Jamming with my students has been a blast!  Not only do they get to hear what I add to the conversation, I get to hear what they have to say and how they say it musically.  Pedagogically, I get a glimpse into their musical skills and hear if they have been picking up anything I have been teaching. Here is a little gem from one 5th grade class:






This form of assessment is WAY more fun to grade than a paper and pencil test, for everyone involved.

I think creating music should be on the same priority level as recreating someone else's music in concert, which seems to be the bread and butter of our music education.

Improvisation should be an essential skill for all musicians, or else we might be raising a generation of un-creative creatives.