Piano Amore presents...

The reason I created The One Improvisation Secret You Must Know is simple: I wanted anyone - yes, even the novice - to have something in his or her hands that would enable him or her to improvise within minutes... not hours, weeks, or months. In all my years of coaching people on piano, I never met anyone who could not play the piano - if they wanted to. The same is true of improvisation. There is no reason the art of improvisation should intimidate anyone. If you have always wanted to learn to improvise, including taking those melodies of those favorite songs and embelishing them, and haven't taken that first step, stay with me... because this first step will be the most important one you'll take.

I'm serious. A major obstacle that people face is fear of playing something that "doesn't sound good." You might not call it fear. You might disguise it by saying, "I don't know where to begin" or "Why bother? What I play sounds will sound like trash." I've heard all that stuff over and over again. But you know something? I'm not buying it. When you first learned to talk, did you know the "theory" behind doing it? Or, rather, did you just talk and then learn how to spell and write those words later? If I had to guess, I'm thinking that you were talking long before you knew what to do with a pencil or how to read anything.

The One Improvisation Secret You Must Know equips you to "talk" so you can learn the theory later. I wanted anyone to be able to go to the piano keyboard and start improvising. The guidebook is short. The video is short. The reason that is so is because  I believe the learning process should include less reading and watching and more doing. Behind the creation of any of my learning tools is the premise that a good teacher is one whom you don't need once he or she has shown the way. Let's face it, you're reading this because you want to be the one having fun at those keys and you want tools that will help you achieve that. You don't want a teacher who throws a bunch of fluff at you and leaves it up for grabs. For example, the person who sits down with ProProach has the ability to enjoy results immediately. Of course those results will get better over time but you get to see someone show you how... and then you do. A significant reason people will take a course or read a book and then get nothing out of it is because they are not inspired to take action quickly enough to at least enjoy some satisfying results now... not next year. So if you have the desire - even a tiny one - to learn how to improvise at the piano, the program mentioned earlier will have you doing it. No theory. Just playing. That's how you will obtain the most rewarding results possible. If you don't need to be "married" to a book or course in order to achieve amazing results from being exposed to it, then you know you've got something that works.


Another common obstacle that people face when considering diving into this art of piano improvisation is that they feel as though they need to "live up to" someone else they've heard. Now, I ask you... is that ridiculous or isn't it? Does a baby not express himself or herself because others in the room have a more extensive vocabulary? You see, when you hold back from expressing yourself within your means - yes, when you hold yourself back from creating - you are actually out of tune with natural forces that you already have within you. Please don't deprive yourself from having fun with music... and that includes improvising. There really is no reason to not say "yes" to yourself.

Take it easy and enjoy the little steps. Improvisations can sound great no matter how simple. I would like to share with you this video of the infamous pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer Count Basie. If anyone can teach us, by example, that "less is more," it's this unique music icon. Notice his mannerism... his persona... his playfulness... the simplicity of his improvisational ideas... and when you put all that together, how musically effective!


We can all learn a valuable lesson from The Count. Music certainly does not have to be "busy" in order to sound great. Start out with very simply ideas... play one note at a time and don't be in a rush for the next idea. Just take it all in stride and let improvising be a very natural unfolding process for you. Just as your language naturally evolved from "goo goo" and "gaa gaa" when you were a baby to the more complex phrases and sentences you use today, your improvisation will take on a maturity that will have you impressing not only yourself but anyone who happens to be in the room while you're tickling those ivories!

Each and every single time you're at those keys, remember...