One of my main goals as a music educator at Morse Music Academy is to help students become more creative and use their creativity. Some children are more creative than others. However, no matter their creativity level, piano lessons help it grow. There are many activities during piano lessons that can cultivate creativity such as improvisation, composition, and reinforcement games.
Improvisation:
Improvisation is the act of playing something spontaneously. Improvisation can be practiced in many ways throughout piano lessons. Students can on the spot make up something to play. Some teachers also provide some parameters or even a storyline or theme for the student. I love giving younger students animal themes as they improvise such as “Play something loud like a lion roar”, or “Play what you think a mouse would sound like”. For older students, I prefer implementing improvisation by providing a chord progression for the left hand to play and then offering a suggested rhythm for the right hand to play. Improvisation helps nurture creativity by allowing the student to have freedom to play what they like and sounds good to them.
Composition:
Another way that piano lessons encourage creativity is through composition. When students can compose their own songs, it provides a strong sense of accomplishment and helps them grow in creativity. Composing your own song can be tricky because a lot of mistakes are bound to happen. You may not like the way it sounds at first, or how it feels to actually play it. When students push through the adversity of mistakes, more creativity is built. One way that I like to include composition in piano lessons is to have students compose a variation of a song or verse. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star is a great song with which to do this since everyone knows it and it is in ABA form. I have students keep the A’s the same, and then let them compose their own part for the B part of the song.
Reinforcement Games:
Lastly, reinforcement games can further creativity as well. Reinforcement games help continue what concepts are learned throughout lessons in a fun and creative way. A fun preschool reinforcement game involves Play-Doh. It doesn’t get more creative than that! Another really fun reinforcement game that I like to implement is Staff Hangman. The game is played on a white board or piece of paper and is basically exactly like hangman, except, the word can only be made up of letters from the treble and bass staves. Students must also draw notes on their staff of choice that match the letters of their word.
Piano lessons foster creativity through improvisation, composition, and reinforcement games. Students can learn to express themselves in a productive and structured way through the freedom o9f improvisation. They can also grow in creativity through composition which helps them to push past mistakes and create something they are truly proud of. Games nurture creativity through helping them apply concepts in a fun and engaging way. No matter your child’s creativity level, piano lessons will definitely foster more creativity in them.
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