Bibliography

Here’s a list of print and online resources that have informed this project.

Books about piano creativity

• Wiedemann, Herbert. Klavier Spielend Begreifen: Improvisatorisches Lernen — Kreatives Spielen. Bosse, 2010.
  This is an enormous, excellent book, packed full of a wide variety of ideas for using creativity in piano education. The title translates to “Grasping the piano playfully: improvisatory learning, creative playing”. One of my reasons for writing this blog is to share my practical application of Wiedemann’s excellent ideas with an English speaking audience.

• Kinney, Forrest. Pattern Play: Inspiring Creativity at the Piano, Vols 1–6. Frederick Harris Music Ltd., 2010.
  This thoughtful, well-structured series of books is my go-to method for introducing improvisation to pianists of all ages and ability levels. The exercises begin as teacher-student duets, with the melody and accompaniment players swapping roles, before the student takes over both roles for a solo. Not to be confused with the original self-published Pattern Play series, these books are available only in print. Kinney self-published several other useful series that I have also used including Create First, Puzzle Play, and Chord Play, but this version of Pattern Play is my go-to.

• Klose, Carol. Piano Teacher’s Guide to Creative Composition. Hal Leonard Corporation, 2011.
  This book is written for teachers who are interested in including composition in their lessons but are not sure how to get started, and it has got plenty of prompts, suggestions, and ideas. How I wish someone had told me about this book when I first started teaching composition! Warmly recommended.

• Mackworth-Young, Lucinda Jane. Piano by Ear. Faber Music Ltd, 2015.
  This is a fantastic method book for learning piano by ear and arranging, and many of the skills learnt are immediately applicable to composition and improvisation. It has a progressive framework that begins with playing simple, well-known melodies by ear, and expands until students are familiar with many other essential tools of piano creativity.

• Beale, Charles. Jazz Piano from Scratch: A How-To Guide for Students and Teachers. ABRSM Publishing Ltd, 1998.

• Bennett, Ned. Getting Started with Improvisation: A Practical Guide for Instrumentalists and Pianists (beginner — Grade 4). Faber Music Ltd, 2008.

• Kanack, Alice Kay. Fun Improvisation for Piano: The Philosophy and Method of Creative Ability Development. Summy-Birchard Music, 1996.

• Michael, Richard. Jazz Piano for Kids: A Beginner’s Guide with Step-by-Step Instruction for Jazz Piano. Hal Leonard, 2021.

• Mortensen, John J.. The Pianist’s Guide to Historic Improvisation. Oxford University Press, 2020.

• Reed, David. Improvise For Real: Understand the Music You Hear. Play The Music You Imagine. David Reed, 2011.

• Olson, Kevin & Rossi, Wynne-Anne. Music By Me: A Composition Workbook. The FJH Music Company Inc., 2004.

• Siskind, Jeremy. Jazz Piano Fundamentals: Explanations, Exercises, Listening Guides, and Practise Plans. Jeremy Siskind Music Publishing, 2021.

• Topham, Tim. No Book Beginners: A Step-by-Step Framework for Creative Piano Teaching, Right from Lesson One. Top Music Education PTY Ltd, 2023.

• Wedgwood, Pam. How To Play Jazz Piano: A Fun and Simple Introduction to Playing Jazz Piano. Faber Music, 2018.

Books about piano teaching that discuss creativity

• Crozier, Richard, et al. “Improvising and Composing for Groups.” All Together! Teaching Music in Groups, The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, London, 2004, pp. 79–95.

• Eales, Andrew. How to Practise Music. Hal Leonard, 2021.

• Harris, Paul. Improve Your Teaching: An Essential Handbook for Instrumental and Singing Teachers: Includes Paul Harris’s Innovative Strategy — “Simultaneous Learning.” Faber Music, 2006.

• Jacobson, Jeanine. “The Role of Creative Activities.” Professional Piano Teaching: A Comprehensive Piano Pedagogy Textbook, Alfred Pub Co, 2015, pp. 241–261.

• Klingenstein, Beth Gigante. “Chapter 36: Composition.” and “Chapter 37: Jazz, Blues and Improvisation.” The Independent Piano Teacher’s Studio Handbook: Everything You Need To Know for a Successful Teaching Studio, Hal Leonard, Milwaukee, WI, 2009, pp. 270–285.

• Westney, William. The Perfect Wrong Note. Amadeus Press, 2006.

My favourite blogs

• PianoDao.com by Andrew Eales. This is my go-to resource for reviews of new repertoire and thoughtful posts about why and how we teach.

• NoDeadGuys.com by Rhonda Rizzo. This is a great resource for information about how to make a living as a pianist in various different contexts, and thoughtful posts exploring what it means to be a pianist.

• The Bulletproof Musician by Noa Kagayama, a Juilliard-trained-violinist-turned-performance-psychologist. Although it focuses primarily on the psychology of performance, there’s often a creative aspect to Noa’s tips, especially when it comes to practising effectively.

• ComposeCreate.com by Wendy Stevens. This blog is great for posts both about running a healthy, sustainable piano teaching business, and also about creativity at the piano.

• David Barton’s blog. This is another excellent source of reviews of new repertoire, from a writer and music teacher who has a very fine sensibility and a very gentle soul.

• Melanie Spanswick’s blog. Melanie is a really interesting educator who travels widely and teaches in some very interesting places. She also features guest posts, which are often fascinating. There’s a particularly good series by Christopher Norton that gives suggestions for creative reactions to some of his music.

My favourite YouTube channels

• Julian Lambert. Julian’s channel, and Beth’s below, are my go-to channels for high-quality demonstrations of current repertoire, with a particular focus on UK exam repertoire. Julian also runs an excellent set of courses on Teachable.

• Piano with Beth. Beth is a similarly excellent resource, with more of a focus on American repertoire, and I’m particularly happy that she includes videos for Manfred Schmitz’s excellent Jugendalbum, which is a great book of contemporary repertoire that isn’t as well-known outside of its native Germany as it should be.

• Colourful Keys. This is a great and very friendly resource for making piano lessons fun and creative, run by Nicola Cantan, who also runs Vibrant Music Teaching, listed below in the Professional Development section.

• Open Studio Jazz. This is a beautifully recorded, jazz-focused channel, who run wonderful Guided Practise Sessions with free downloads. If you’re interested in jazz, this is a great place to start.

My professional development

Besides my MA (Oxon) in Music (University of Oxford, 2004–2007), I’ve taken the following excellent professional development courses and memberships, all of which include material on composition and improvisation and all of which I can wholeheartedly recommend.

• The Royal Conservatory of Music’s Online Piano Teacher Courses. I have studied all three levels — elementary, intermediate, and advanced — and learnt an enormous amount.

• European Piano Teacher’s Association. I’m a member of both the UK and the Germany associations. Both offer excellent professional development conferences and the UK association also offers excellent webinars.

• Curious Piano Teachers. As well as excellent bi-monthly professional development “Curiosity Boxes”, this group has the friendliest and most helpful private Facebook group for piano teachers that I’ve found — I love it!

• Vibrant Music Teaching. This is an astonishingly large and high quality collection of resources for many aspects of piano teaching, plus lots of interesting courses that focus on specific areas and regular “huddles” where piano teachers gather online to talk through an issue.

What do you use?

Have I missed something? Get in touch! hello@pianocreativity.com.