1. Learn your chords. One very unique and nice thing about the piano as an instrument is the number of notes you can play at once. No other instrument can handle 10 notes played at the same time (none that come to mind anyway). Use this to your advantage! Of course it's crucial to know your I, IV, V chords as these are the most basic chords. However if you take the next step and learn your seventh chords in I, IV, V in all different inversions and voicings, it will add much color to your triads! Learn your dominant 7th and major 7th chords to add variety and listen to how other players use them. Go beyond that and learn as many chords as you can. You should also be developing your ear whenever you get a chance i.e. listening to music in the car, at home or wherever. You will never listen to a song the same way before you started learning how to improvise I guarantee it!
2. Have some handy licks ready. When it's time to show off your skills at the keys, it's sometimes nice to have some licks that you've learned stored and ready to go. I will sometimes take licks from hard classical pieces and use parts of them in my solos to really get a wow from the audience. They of course don't know this lick came from a classical piece. Sometimes I'll compose a lick and pull it out when I need to. I'll often times throw some variations into these licks as to keep the moment live and fresh.
3. Pick up a Hanon book. I know all of us classically trained pianists have tirelessly played Hanon at some point in our musical education. Go back and dig up that tattered old Hanon book and play the hell out of them. This will also give you some cool stuff to draw some technical solos from. Remember to change it up though! You want things to sound fresh, not like you're doing finger exercises!
4. Learn how to play in all keys. This will take some time but is necessary if you want to sound professional. If you learn your Major scale and blues scales in at least 5 or 6 different keys, you can pull off looking professional. You want to be able to switch up your playing so you're not always playing in a minor or C Major. This is especially important if you're playing with a band who writes songs in different keys (which good bands always do.)
There are many more tips I have to share with you but these will take a bit of time to learn. Start with these and you will be well on your way to being a pro.
Jason Johann Chang has played keyboards professionally since 2005 and has shared the stage and studio with members of George Clinton and P-funk, Fishbone, Sublime, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers and many others. He also runs a music school in Southern California which offers Orange County piano lessons. His very easy and intuitive ebook on how to improvise on piano is perfect for anyone who comes from a classical background and wants to learn the basics of improvising in a few short hours.
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