Improvising Music

I've written several pages to guide your “adventures with music.”  I recommend beginning with this Introduction (it's mostly about “why” to use a colorized keyboard) and a Summary Page (mostly explaining “how” to use it for improvising harmonious melodies), plus (with different topics & style) the Detailed Table of Contents in my original Big Page.

This page has two parts, with the original full-length sections preceded by these summaries:

A “read me first” summary of the page is above, and below is the full-length version:

What?   By working cooperatively with others, I want to help people — of all ages, but especially K-12 students & seniors, the young & old — increase their enjoying of music by making their own music, especially by improvising harmonious melodies.    {and increase their enjoying of conversation}     { I'm an enthusiastic educator with a PhD who has enjoyed music throughout life. }     { How?  by working with other educators. }

How?   I'm looking forward to working with partners who want to help us achieve shared goals that we think are worth pursuing.  In this page I'm emphasizing the benefits of using my colorized keyboard to make music, but other methods also offer benefits.  Therefore, my method of teaching (and improvising) should be creatively combined with other methods to form a synergistic combination that's better than any single method by itself.

Why?   Emotionally, people enjoy the many ways music is wonderful.  It's fascinating and fun, can be beautiful & dramatic, familiar & mysterious, relaxing & exciting, inspiring us mentally, emotionally, and physically.  Music is one of the best things in life, and one way to enjoy it is to make it.

Why?   Scientifically, we are discovering the many ways music is beneficial.  Most people, both young and old, get major benefits (mental, emotional, physical) when they listen to music, and when they make music.  When people make music – especially by creatively improvising it – the young can more effectively develop more of their full potential for what they could become;  and the old can more effectively maintain more of what they have become, or even add to it.    { more – Scientific Research about The Many Benefits of Music }

      I've written "several pages" to "guide your adventures," and here is a history:  Originally this Introduction was the beginning of a very large “Big Page” with in-depth examinations of many topics.  Now most of its topics have been moved into another page.  My best explanation of improvising harmonious melodies is now in a medium-short Summary Page (it condenses the main ideas in a medium-large Full Page) that I recommend reading, along with this page that now is much shorter (is not “huge”) because it's only the original Introduction (summarized above) that mainly describes the benefits (musical, educational, psychological, time-and-life) of playing a colorized keyboard.  Two other useful pages are using Chord Progressions and videos by other teachers.
      Where?  You can know “where you are” (i.e. which page you're in) by seeing if the page border is medium wide — colored purple (This Page) or blue (in the Summary Page for Strategies) — in the two pages I recommend reading first,  or is a small-width blue (in the Full Page for Strategies) or small-width purple-red (in the “Chord Progressions” page).   /   By contrast, the original “Big Page” has either no border or a blue-and-red border (in sections with melody-making strategies & music theory);  and some sections have a colored background that is yellow (for learning strategies) or green (for music education) or blue (in a Detailed Table of Contents that provides a quick overview-summary of ideas, plus links for “more info”).
     [[ iou – Soon (July 18-20) many links to the Big Page instead will be changed to shorter sections in the Summary Page. ]]

What?   You can enjoy hearing the music of others, and also making your own music.   /   If I had to make an either-or choice, I would listen to only the music made by others, due its greater variety (compared with my music) and higher quality.  But reality is better than this, and there is no if-limitation.  I enjoy hearing their music and making my music.  Both are sources of joy, in different ways.

How?   You will improve your making-of-music by learning practical music-making strategies (that are used by all musicians, are based on principles of harmony) in a process of learning-by-doing when you do musical experiments (you try new musical ideas) to produce new musical experiences so you can listen and learn.     { more about music-making strategies and learning by doing }

What?   Using a keyboard that is colorized — to show with colors (red, blue, green) the notes of harmonious chords — can help a person skillfully improvise harmonious melodies by using one hand, and teaching this skill is my educational goal.  The colorizing won't have much effect on traditional two-hand playing, but teaching that is not my goal.   Although a keyboard can be used for two-hand playing, this doesn't mean it should be used in this way by all people.     { a personal choice:  playing mainly melodies or chords-plus-melodies }

Why?   Playing an electronic keyboard – especially when it's colorized – is an excellent way to improvise melodies, because...

    • compared with other instruments it's much easier to play well immediately,  just press a key and it plays the note in-tune with a clear tone;

    • it can sound like hundreds of instruments, not just one as with a piano or saxophone;    { but each instrument has unique capabilities, can do things that other instruments – including a keyboard – cannot do }

    • the visual structure is simple (with pitches increasing from left to right) yet significant (with important “musical meanings” for the repeating patterns in white & black notes, and red-blue-green notes), which is useful for playing melodies and understanding music.

There are valuable time-and-life benefits for a person — because they can use more of their limited time to also enjoy other aspects of life, in addition to music — when they learn time-efficiently in two ways:

    • achieving a desired level of skill requires much less time for one-hand playing (of melodies) than for two-hand playing (of chords plus melodies that is one of the most difficult challenges in life because each hand is doing different things with extremely complex multi-tasking that may decrease skills when improvising melodies);

    • colorizing (with red,blue,green) makes it easier to quickly develop skill in one key (C Major)* instead of many keys, with narrow specializing that allows wide diversifying because instead of practicing in many major keys, their limited “music time” is used to focus on creative experimenting in only C Major, to deeply explore a wide variety of musical possibilities, to develop skill in playing artistically.  And the keyboard's auto-transposing feature allows “playing” in C Major, yet “hearing” in any major key.     {* The colorizing also makes it easier to play in A Minor. }

What?   Most songs (in pop, folk, rock, jazz, classical,...) have a harmonic structure — you can “hear the structure” in their sequential progression of chords — that is built on the solid foundation of three main chords.   Musical U says "there are just three chords which are most important to any piece of music. ... They represent the fundamentals of classical and popular music,... are considered the backbone, or driving force behind many well-known pieces of music.  In fact, there are a huge number of popular pieces of music which use only these three chords" in a chord progression, but...  more often, musicians supplement these main chords with other chords to add zesty spice, to make their music more interesting.   /   Why?  Our music uses these three main chords because of closely related reasons that involve musical physics and human physiology, mathematics, and artistic choices (made by our culture) about the kind of music we think is interesting and enjoyable.

How?   The chord-notes in these three main chords — that I informally call “red” and “blue” and “green” — are highlighted on my colorized keyboard, to help you make harmonious melodies by playing the notes in a red chord, blue chord, or green chord.  A keyboard that is colorized shows the notes in these 3 chords – red, blue, green – so you can learn how to improvise melodies more easily, and understand music more deeply.   /   To supplement these main major chords, musicians sometimes add other chords;  usually these are the main minor chords that also are shown on my fully-colorized keyboard.    { colorizing a keyboard – how to diy }

How?   While each successive chord is being played (during a chord progression) you can play a chord-based melody that is mainly chord notes but also some non-chord notes.  During a red chord you play mainly red notes, during a blue chord mainly blue notes, and during a green chord mainly green notes.  With a little experience (when you “try new things, listen and learn”) you'll quickly develop skill with blending the chord notes and non-chord notes in ways that are interesting and enjoyable.  How?  Common strategies for improvising — like using non-chord notes as passing notes for moving smoothly between chord notes, or using nearby neighbor notes to approach a chord note — will help you play chord-based melodies that “fit well” with the chords, that are mostly-harmonious (with mostly chord notes) and are more interesting (because you're adding some non-chord notes).

What?  Most musicians think it's useful to understand music theory.  Should you learn some theory?  If you just want to make music with a colorized keyboard, my informal terms – red chord, blue chord, and green chord – are all you need to know.  You can learn more (I recommend this) but it isn't necessary.   /   standard musical terms:  If you already know basic music theory you'll recognize them as the 3 main chords in The Key of C Major;  they're the C chord, F chord, and G chord;  or more generally, the I, IV, and V chords.  Although red-blue-green are non-standard terms, it's easy to begin with them and make a smooth transition to learning the concepts & terms of standard music theory.     { If you don't yet know music theory, you can learn it with your discoveries and my explanations of C Major. }

Why?   Below are four reasons to use colors — because of the beneficial effects for music, psychology, and education, plus time-and-life — in addition to the general benefits (mental, emotional, physical) we get from hearing music and making music.

Who?   When you're reading about the four reasons (each is a "why") you can “imagine the experience” from two perspectives, with two points of view.  If you're a music teacher who has experience-and-skill with playing keyboard, when I say "they" you can imagine the experiences of a student who has very little previous experience with playing keyboard.  And for a different perspective, anyone can replace "they" with “you” and imagine their own “me-experiences” when playing in this new way.  And anyone can actually “experience the experiences” by colorizing a keyboard and playing it.

Who?   I think colorizing is especially useful for novices who want to improvise melodies, although for most musicians with more experience it can be beneficial in some ways.

Why?   First I'll describe the benefits of colorizing, and then the limitations including the minimal effects on traditional two-hand playing.

why – What are the musical benefits of using colors?

When a player is doing musical experiments (they're trying new ideas) a colorized keyboard gives them easy-intuitive-instant recognizing of the notes in a “red chord” because all of its chord-notes (no more, no less) are red.  Or they can play the notes of a “blue chord” (every note that is blue) or “green chord” (all green notes).  They will intuitively-and-instantly know the notes in each harmonious chord (red, blue, or green) and this intuitive knowledge helps them connect harmony with melody because they are using harmony to improvise harmonious melodies.

During a chord progression — when the chords are changing, when sometimes they're red, but sometimes blue, and sometimes green — a player can cooperate with the harmony by improvising melodies that are “mainly red notes” (but with some non-red notes) and “mainly blue notes” and “mainly green notes”.     { more about playing music with these three chords and connecting the “red-blue-green” with Music Theory }    /    For many reasons, in many ways, "playing an electronic keyboard [especially when it's colorized] is an excellent way to improvise melodies."

two ways to hear harmony:  When harmonious chord-notes are played simultaneously (to form a chord) and/or sequentially (to form a melody), people enjoy the way it sounds;  both ways are used during a chord progression.     { Why do we enjoy harmony?  It's due to relationships between the physics of music and physiology of humans. }

why – What are the resulting psychological benefits (due to musical benefits) when students use colors?

It promotes confidence and motivation.  When their musical experimenting (their “playing games with the music”) is guided by colors, they will enjoy the experience — because they can immediately begin making beautiful music with harmonious melodies that sound good* — and this positive feedback will help them feel confident.  Their confidence will help them develop-and-maintain a creative attitude so they're feeling free to relax and do, listen and learn.  And their confidence (from the positive feedback) will improve their motivation.  They will enjoy the music they're improvising, so they will want to continue doing it.  Using colors will help them enjoy the satisfactions of immediate gratification – so they will be motivated to continue playing – because immediately they're making music that sounds pleasantly harmonious, and soon (within a few hours) their music will become much more interesting and enjoyable.  And with practice, the quality will continue improving.

* The music improvising probably will "sound good" more quickly if a student already has experience with music making.  But even if they don't have much previous experience, they can make rapid progress with improvising melodies.  For this important skill they can quickly pass thru their “temporary novice” phase, moving beyond it to playing with improved skill.

I agree with Musical U that "Every human naturally has an innate musicality: a capacity for music-making and an ability to understand music instinctively.  This can be actively developed to enable a wide variety of skills."  And playing a colorized keyboard is one way (along with other ways) to help people "actively develop" many important musical skills.

why – What are the educational benefits of using colors?

It will help students play musical melodies and understand music theory.  How?  These three chords — the “red,blue,green” that commonly are called C,F,G and I,IV,V * — are the special “main chords” that are used most often in popular music playing, so they're the foundations of conventional musical harmony and standard music theory.  Therefore although my approach – using a colorized keyboard – is innovative, the educational results are traditional, are conventional and standard.  The colorizing will help students play music and learn theory that's in the mainstream of music, because colorizing shows the mainstream chords of music that are used most often by musicians.  The colors will help your students {or you} make music that is creative, yet familiar.  They {or you} will be playing “the main chords” in ways that develop solid foundations of music learning and music making, that will improve their cognitive-and-functional knowledge of music theory that is cognitive (to understand music) and is functional (to play music).

They are learning the patterns effectively because they can SEE the musically-logical patterns in the keyboard's colors (black & white, red-blue-green) and visual structure (with pitch continuously increasing from left to right) — and their knowledge (cognitive-and-functional) will help them build better understandings of music theory.*  This improved knowledge will be useful when playing any instrument, whether it's keyboard or (with transfers of learning) other instruments, like trumpet or saxophone, violin or guitar.  If you (the reader) are a teacher, you can imagine how this knowledge will be useful in all areas of music education.

* It isn't easy to fully understand the system of music theory that is complex yet logical.  But you can easily understand the most important essentials, including the simple connections between two sets of terms — my “red,blue,green” and the “C,F,G” of standard music theory — that are explained briefly and by deeply exploring the Key of C to show the logical relationships.

why – What are the time-and-life benefits of using colors?

When a person is able to focus on playing skillfully in C Major {and A Minor} instead of all 12 major keys {and 12 minor keys} their specializing allows creative diversifying (plus depth) that leads to improving.  Using a colorized keyboard makes it easier to master these two keys, to specialize.*  And they can focus on improvising harmonious melodies — and thus playing in musically satisfying ways that “will be enough” for many people — without investing the enormous amount of time that's required for developing skill with traditional two-hand playing.   /   * Even if a musician “plays” in C Major, everyone can “hear” in any major key when the musician uses the keyboard's transposing feature that automatically raises (or lowers) every note by the same amount.

In these two ways to focus – by just playing two keys, and just playing melodies – the colors will help them achieve a desired level of proficiency in less time, and they can use more of their time to also enjoy other aspects of life.  For most people, a major benefit of colors is being able to use time wisely, which is using life wisely because (as Ben Franklin reminded us) “time is the stuff life is made of” so using it well is important.

Why?   I'm optimistic about the benefits of playing a colorized keyboard that shows notes of the three most important chords so it's easier to use these for improvising harmonious melodies.  But I want to be realistic, so here are some thoughts about realistic expectations.  I'm confident about four kinds of benefits (musical, psychological, educational, time-and-life) when improvising melodies, but although these benefits are important, they're limited.  The main limitation is that colorizing probably won't have much effect on traditional two-hand playing.

    • In more detail, here are my claims about playing a colorized keyboard.  I think...
    • it will help players (especially novices) creatively improvise harmonious melodies with confidence that motivates, and develop their cognitive-and-functional knowledge of music theory, and use their time more effectively.
    • it will be useful for ear training — by clearly showing the main intervals, and providing many opportunities to hear these intervals during improvisations and also when playing pre-composed songs “by ear” and with ear-training practice — but a player still has to be aware of the different interval-sounds, and use discipline in doing training exercises.
    • it will be very useful for developing important skills in the two colorized keys (C Major & A Minor), but will be less useful (although there will be some transfers of learning) if playing in the non-colorized keys.
    • in the two colorized keys it can help a player improve their skills with each hand (especially with right-hand melody making) but it probably won't have much effect on two of the skills – independence of hands, and spatial knowledge of keyboard (without looking at it) – that are needed for traditional two-hand playing;  this is described in detail later where I tentatively conclude that "AFAIK now (with my current limited knowledge), playing a colorized keyboard will have minimal effects on traditional two-hand playing."
    • and it isn't useful when playing pre-composed songs by “seeing notes” (mentally) on sheet music, instead of seeing notes (visually) on the keyboard, for obvious visual reasons;  and also because most pre-composed songs will be in a non-colorized key, i.e. the song won't be in C Major or A Minor.

 Despite these limitations, I'm confident that the overall effects of colorizing will be very beneficial for most players.

about the author, Craig Rusbult

I'm an enthusiastic educator with a PhD (in Curriculum & Instruction, from U of Wisconsin) who is excited about possibilities for improving our thinking-learning-teaching and living, has written web-pages in a variety of areas during life on a road less traveled.  I've had a long personal history of enjoying music, having fun with it.

The “colorized keyboard” system – invented by me in the late 1970's – is Copyright ©1998 by Craig Rusbult, all rights reserved.

This page – Copyright © 2023-2024 by Craig Rusbult – is

https://educationforproblemsolving.net/music/index.htm