From as early as primary school, I was fascinated with improvising music. As my improvisation skills developed, I was drawn to its limitless possibilities for creating music and connections forged with musicians. Having worked with other musicians and performers who improvised for a living, I expected secondary education to teach music improvisation; it was only when I became a teacher that I encountered that it was seldom used. Only a few of my students improvised in performance or composition and, interestingly, none of my colleagues past and present ever properly taught it. If ‘95% of jazz graduates do not enter the classroom teaching’, according to Jazz Education UK (2024), it was perhaps logical that I encountered this issue.
My curiosity led me to study on the MA Teaching Musician programme at Trinity Laban, then co-lead workshops on improvisation pedagogy with Patrick Johns, an educator and broadcaster. Johns is the producer of Teaching Notes, the MTA podcast series, which I highly recommend as a resource on improvisation activities and methods.
Prior to the MA, I conducted a pilot test at Dordogne Jazz Summer School and captured my experience of this in a two-part Vlog. The pilot confirmed that music improvisation was not taught to participants; music improvisation was not promoted as a form of music-making; and participants would like to have learnt improvising at school. Observing the values and opinions of the Dordogne students, as well as those of my own, I was inspired to investigate this potential knowledge gap in UK music education.
Context
My initial research uncovered some intriguing viewpoints. Reading ‘the nature of music education should reflect the very nature of music itself’ (Philpott and Spruce, 2012, 60) led me to wonder if improvisation would be deemed ‘unnatural’ if it wasn't reflected in music education. It seemed remiss not to consider improvisation's ‘practical, fluid, conversational, dynamic, subjective and persuasive’ (Philpott and Cooke, 2023, 39) qualities as a natural representation of knowledge and creativity over a ‘formal objectification of the composed score’, for instance (ibid). Perhaps the relationship between how music education measures successes to learning outcomes, and the prestige of learning a ‘composed score’, means that improvisation struggles to be a valid form of music-making in the eyes of music educators (Heble and Laver, 2016).
A lack of bursaries for PGCE music courses has contributed to a decline in music graduates entering the teaching profession. As recently as 2022, the DfE stopped financing Music ITT programmes. Limiting opportunities for graduates to teach secondary music, let alone jazz graduates, makes advocating music improvisation in secondary schools a considerable challenge.
At the same time, the body Jazz in Education UK, run by Simon Purcell and Pauline Black, has published goals to create momentum around the use of improvisation. These include dispelling the myth that improvisation is for experts only and encouraging improvisational vocabularies, literacy and professional learning.
Research findings
Interviewees from my research held similar views, particularly with regards to the role and genre of improvisation. They demonstrated an individual pursuit of learning improvisation, and relied on curious minds to find answers to questions their secondary education did not ask. The survey questionnaire showed that only a few teachers come from an improvisational background. However, most use improvisation in their curriculum to teach Blues music and composing, helping students experiment with musical ideas without doing it in front of peers. The data on co-curricular work offered surprisingly few suggestions; I presumed teachers would use strategies, activities and methods in co-curricular due to more opportunities for improvisation and fewer limitations regarding curriculum teaching.
Over half of those surveyed referenced the use of melody (scales, modes, etc.) when teaching ‘curriculum improvisation’, and one respondent described ‘classroom workshopping’ to teach students and themselves how to improvise. These activities included circle games (‘pass the pulse’ for example), and call-and-response to model ideas followed by ‘solos going round the circle’; the method allowed students to create improvisational ideas holistically, modelling from each other.
One response mentioned the need for students to have a steady groove with a chord progression, which helped them improvise over the meter and pulse. Having a ‘memory bank’ of rhythmic patterns or phrases to draw upon was also a significant finding. The notion that improvisers have a vocabulary to hand when improvising made sense. How a student develops this can range from pairing words or sayings rhythmically to adding pitch to these, starting with singing and migrating to an instrument.
Emphasising ‘right brain’ activities (Shmerling, 2017) – that is, creative, intuitive methods based on rhythm, pulse, groove and repetition – was advantageous. Over-analysing while improvising, meanwhile, can be distracting, which is supported by the ‘transstylistic’ method – using repetition for rhythm underpinned by a melodic and harmonic framework – described by Edward Sarath (Sarath, 2009).
Genre-led teaching of improvisation featured heavily in the interviews and survey questionnaire. This may have been due to genres such as jazz being strongly linked to improvisation (Larsson and Georgii-Hemming, 2018). A potential issue with this association is that to teach improvisation one must understand jazz. Further studies on other genres, such as early music, folk and Indian classical, would be beneficial in developing strategies, activities and methods for secondary music education.
Conclusions
My research found that improvisation plays a significant part in creating music. It's a defining characteristic in professional careers and an expression of one's identity as a creative artist. Improvising can be a transformative experience for your students and help unlock the creative potential for new and exciting music-making. It can also be utterly petrifying and put even your most talented students into a situation where they feel like beginners; after all, creating music without notation is scary! Therefore, an environment where ‘mistakes’ are encouraged as part of the learning process, and used as part of improvisation, is crucial.
Be mindful of the learning outcomes and create an assessment plan that is authentic to the improvisation you teach. Fluidity, articulation, theme and repetition could be areas you wish to assess. Differentiate for different outcomes, accepting that improvisation can take many forms, whether melodic (selecting notes from a scale), rhythmic (finding patterns) or via comping over a chord progression. A well-planned and challenging lesson is achievable even if the results do not show initially. And be patient: students develop at different levels, and it takes time for improvisation vocabulary to become embedded.
Finally, encourage your students to take risks, and show support! It is tremendously brave of anyone to perform, so encourage their spontaneity and creativity. You will know the true extent of your success when students incorporate improvised ideas in your music lessons with confidence and imagination.
References and further reading
- Healy, D.J. and Lansinger Ankney, K. (2020) Music Discovery: Improvisation for the Large Ensemble and Music Classroom. OUP.
- Heble, A. and Laver, M. (2016) Improvisation and Music Education: Beyond the Classroom. Routledge.
- Jazz in Education UK (2024).
- Larsson, C. and Georgii-Hemming, E. (2018) ‘Improvisation in General Music Education – a Literature Review’, British Journal of Music Education, 36 (1).
- Philpott, C. and Cooke, C. (2023) A Practical Guide to Teaching Music in the Secondary School. 2nd edn. Routledge.
- Philpott, C. and Spruce, G. (2012) Debates in Music Teaching. Routledge.
- Sarath, E. (2009) Music Theory through Improvisation: A New Approach to Musicianship Training. Routledge.
- Shmerling, R (2017) ‘Right Brain/Left Brain, Right?’ Harvard Health.
- West, C. and Titlebaum, M. (2019) Teaching School Jazz: Perspectives, Principles, and Strategies. OUP.
- Wright, M. (2019) ‘Improvising VLOG at Dordogne Jazz Summer School Part 1’.
