Improvisation: Developing Skills and Confidence as Teachers and Learners

In this chapter, a brief history of Western art music improvisation leads to descriptions of strategies that teachers can use to facilitate pupils to improvise in classical music, followed by contemporary genres of jazz, rock and pop improvisation methods. These strategies may not only enable pupils to improvise but could also aid in developing instrumental teachers’ confidence in teaching a style of playing that they may be unfamiliar with. As a result, teachers might develop their skills in music improvisation along with their pupils.