Beginning Hymn Improvisation

When I was in my early teens, I distinctly remember wishing that I knew how to improvise so that I wasn’t stuck playing only what was printed on the page. But I had no idea how or where to start. In particular, I saw people playing from a hymnal, but adding all sorts of cool sounding fills. If only Jennifer Cook’s website and videos had been around back then! Eventually, I did find various people who walked me through principles of improvising, and this lesson that Jennifer teachers on the video below is one of the first things I learned. This is also the first step that I teach students who want to learn hymn-style improvisation.

You can read a description of the lesson here. I love how clear and concise this example is – perfect for anyone who wants to begin a systematic approach to learning this style of improvisation!