You can read music, write it and speak it. Improvisation is
speaking with music. Sure you can always play what someone else
has written. But it’s incredibly satisfying to write your own
music or improvise. Improvisation allows you to express your
mood. If you’re having a “down” day, you can express what’s
inside you and let it out. If you’re having an “up” day you can
express that too. Most people think you have to be born knowing
how to improvise. But you can actually learn it step-by-step. At
its simplest, you can go to a piano and play using only the
black keys. Try thinking how you would feel if snow was softly
falling and use the black keys to describe your feeling. Then
think how you might feel during a raging thunderstorm or if you
were very angry. Use the black keys to describe that feeling.
How about thinking of a time when you were unusually happy?
Describe that using only the black keys. You can play them
slowly, quickly, with a light touch, with a heavier touch, with
one finger, with many fingers,