Improvisation in Western music began with the Gregorian chants of the 9th and 10th centuries and continued all the way through to the Baroque and early Classical era of the 17th and 18th centuries. It really was an integral part of all musical activity at this time. Baroque musicians spontaneously improvised three- and four-part counterpoint harmonies and keyboard parts were improvised from figured bass notation. In Classical music improvisation took the form of cadenzas, where the performer improvised on and developed musical material from the piece being performed. Composers expected performers to improvise their own cadenzas, and even left space in the score to indicate where the cadenza was required.
The importance of improvisation within music performance had an impact on the way that piano was taught at this time, and before the 1850s it was expected that improvisation would be regularly included in piano lessons. It was common practice for pianists to improvise their own technical exercises and it was one of the main ways in which they developed virtuosity. Master musicians and composers, such as Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, were well known for their improvisatory skills, and many of their pieces and studies started out as improvisations that were refined and eventually written down.
The decline of improvisation
However, throughout the 1800s it became increasingly common for composers to write out their cadenzas as part of the piece. There is some debate as to why this happened. Some argue that performers were developing the practice of using the same cadenza for multiple concertos, much to the dissatisfaction of composers! Bill Dobbins [1] argues that composers became fed up with ‘self-indulgent and insensitive improvisers’, and started scoring out the cadenzas as a result. Regardless of the reason, as pre-composed cadenzas became the standard, improvisation within European classical music gradually died a death. Without the need for pianists to improvise in performance, the focus in piano lessons moved from improvisation to note reading, and the interpretation and performance of existing music took precedence.
Improvisation in piano lessons today
Fast forward to today, and piano lessons in the UK look pretty similar to how they did 200 years ago. The Piano Survey 2010 carried out by Dr Sally Cathcart reported that whilst 95.6% of piano teachers frequently taught note reading, 41.3% rarely taught improvisation. Instead, improvisation is predominantly linked to jazz, with many of the teaching resources available focusing on that genre. Even the exam boards have historically perpetuated this divide (although it should be noted that both Trinity Guildhall and the newly released Classical Piano syllabus from Rockschool include improvisation in their piano exams). Without an obvious need for traditional piano lessons to include improvisation, many piano students have little opportunity to develop this skill.
Why does this matter?
You may be asking yourself why this decline in improvisation matters. Is it all that important that our students develop this skill? My answer is – yes, I believe it is! Amongst other reasons, there is evidence to show that there are numerous benefits that come from including improvisation in our lessons. In my next post, I’ll give you an overview of some of those benefits.
[1] Dobbins, B. (1980) Improvisation: An Essential Element of Musical Proficiency. Music Educators Journal, 66, 36-41