Creativity, Improvisation, Interview and Giveaway with Forrest Kinney

Forrest KinneyI am so excited to announce that Forrest Kinney, author of the Pattern Play series and popular clinician, has launched the Forrest Kinney blog! His posts are already relevant, inspiring, practical, and humorous and I think you’ll want to run over there and visit. But before you do, read this interesting interview with Forrest and enter the giveaway for one of two HUGE prizes: a complete set of the Pattern Play series and a complete set of the Chord Play series. These wonderful books are published by Frederick Harris Music, exclusive publisher of The Royal Conservatory Music Development Program curriculum materials.

Don’t miss out. Do these 3 things:

  1. Start by entering the giveaway by clicking the green button. (Don’t worry, it will open in another tab so you can come back here.)
  2. Read the interview below for practical ideas.
  3. Read some of Forrest’s funny and practical posts like “Phrasing and Cannibals” (go ahead and click as it will open in another tab and you can still stay here and enter the giveaway)!

NOTE: This giveaway has expired!

Forrest Kinney on Creating, Improvising and Fitting It In

If you have never heard Forrest speak, you are missing out. He agreed to do an interview with me which will give you a good idea why I think this guy is a “game-changer” in piano teaching. His Pattern Play and Chord Play series are staples in my studio! I’m also so excited to learn that he has a set of self-published Pattern Play books that are geared toward the solo player.

Can you share some of the things about your lessons as a child that have contributed to you being skilled at improvisation and playing by ear now? 

I didn’t take piano lesson as a child. At age ten, I took saxophone lessons for a few years, but I didn’t began formal piano lessons until I was fifteen.  I think that’s the main reason I started to improvise years before that. I didn’t have any pieces to play, so I just explored and made things up.
For many years, I regretted that I started lessons so late, but now I’m grateful. I believe that those years of child-like play were the wellspring of my creativity at the piano. I encourage all teachers and students to discover how to simply sit and truly “play” the piano. That’s how I developed my skills and my technique, by mixing serious practice with joyous play. It really takes both.

Pattern Play Forrest KinneyI’ve heard teachers wonder, “Is improvising and creating at the piano really that big of a deal?” How would you answer that?  

All the greatest composers you can name from Bach to Bartok (with the exception of Berlioz and various operatic composers) could all sit at a keyboard instrument and improvise for hours. All of them!  Improvisation is the source of our tradition; it’s where musical ideas are born and have their childhood.
For many musicians, spontaneously creating music gives the greatest joy. That joy is what compels me to go to the piano and play each day, to write my books, to teach, and to keep trying to share the good news.
Improvising is equivalent to speaking freely with language, or conversing without a script.  The ability to improvise was once considered the essential music act.  Contests such as those between Mozart and Clementi or Beethoven and Hummel were centered around determining which musician was better at improvising on the same theme. We have such a wealth of literature now that we have forgotten about the primacy of musical speech. So yes, improvisation is a big deal. It’s the lost essence of our art!

Do you have suggestions about how we can fit improvising into a lesson where we already are short on time? 

Yes. Play a Pattern Play duet in every lesson with every student. That will take about three minutes at the beginning or end of a lesson.  Keep the instructions to a minimum.  Often, six words are all that is needed:  “Play with me on white keys.”  “Play with me in D major.”  Save lesson time (and allow more creative time!) by using Patterns to teach theory (scales and chords), technique, and warm ups.

Chord Play SmallI’ll bet you hear, ‘Well, he’s already good at improvising, so it’s easy for him!” What would you say to those teachers who don’t feel like it’s easy for them to improvise, much less teach improvisation?

Anyone can learn. It’s really not a matter of talent. It’s a matter of trying it, doing it, and then staying with it. I recommend learning along with your students. Play duets with them in each lesson. Over time, you will find that the Patterns start to naturally vary under your hands, and you will be visited by creative ideas. The magic starts to happen, but you have to do it.
Don’t worry about being good at it. Say to your students, “Let’s learn this together.” This will help your student relax and take risks because, for once, the playing field is equal. And don’t feel guilty about learning on the job! You are modeling for your students an extremely healthy attitude about learning: “I’m an adult AND a teacher, yet I’m willing to try something new and take some risks. Learning is fun!”

I’m a big fan of your books and I know your mission is not to sell books, but to help teachers help students create! But your books ARE AMAZING and I’d like you to tell piano teachers what your books add to the “teaching improvisation” equation? Why should a teacher try them? 

Thank you, Wendy. The Pattern Play series is quite different. The approach is musical and intuitive, not theoretical or formulaic.  You don’t “learn to play,” but “play to learn.”
People learn to improvise in nearly every sort of musical style. The approach is something like Lego—people play with simple Patterns that are “pieces of pieces,” and build up rich-sounding music.
The series published by Frederick Harris features the duet-to-solo approach.  Teachers play simple Patterns while students improvise using a certain set of notes. This allows the student to first create without having to coordinate the hands.  Then the student learns the accompaniment Pattern, and then to play solo with the hands together. This approach has proven to be quite successful.

Pattern Play Original Forrest KinneyI just learned that you self-published four Pattern Play books before you wrote the series for Frederick Harris and you have kept these books in print. Why?

The original series of self-published Pattern Play books is geared toward the solo player. There is a ton of material that is not in the Harris series. Volume Two has 104 Pattern-pieces in all the major and minor keys, and Volume Three has 96 Pattern-pieces in the various modes in all the keys.  I suggest that teachers start with the Frederick Harris books (there are 60 pieces total in the whole series), then expand out to the self-published books for more material. These books allow us to teach all the scales and modes creatively rather than mechanically.

Thank you for your time, Forrest!

You’ll hear more from Forrest in the future!

Note: This giveaway has expired!

Forrest Kinney, NCTM, has taught music for over 35 years. He is the author of 19 books including the Pattern Play series on improvisation, the Chord Play series on arranging, and Creativity—Beyond Compare. Forrest has given hundreds of presentations for music educators and is now writing articles on his own blog ForrestKinney.com. He is a pianist, composer, and professional arranger and has performed for Bill Gates 22 times!

6 thoughts on “Creativity, Improvisation, Interview and Giveaway with Forrest Kinney”

  1. Are the Pattern Play books designed to start all students in book 1, no matter the students level?
    Thanks.

  2. Hi Heidi,

    It generally works best that way. Book 1 features patterns that are short and simple. Even experienced pianists are often new to creating, so it is best if they too begin with short, simple patterns rather than the 4 or 8 bar Patterns in later books. They can always embellish these easier Patterns to whatever degree they like and make them sound quite rich. I still enjoy playing Reflecting or Blues on Black or Persia from Book 1…. Thanks for the question.

  3. What a shame this prize draw is only open to residents of the USA and Canada — I live in England (UK). I will definitely look out for these books when I next visit my “local” sheet music shop (store).

  4. Wendy, thank you for this reminder of using his books. I have seen a presentation from him and it truly is inspiring what can be done if we try. He is a really great guy, besides having such a unique approach to creativity.
    I also want to tell you I have used many of your ideas (Mob Bop, Thanksgiving Prayer with student singer and extra instruments, Rhythm Cups, Rhythm Cups for Christmas (we wish you a merry christmas, such fun!) and many others. Thank you for filling the niche you have created in the music teaching world.

  5. Wendy, thanks for posting this. This series is completely new to me! I guess I’ve been hiding under a rock? It’s now at the top of both my wish list and my studio to-do list…can’t wait to play!

  6. Hi Wendy,

    I absolutely love these books. Not only do they have wonderful and beautiful ideas – they are lesson savers! One of my students chose one of the Pattern Plays for her concert piece!

    I have tried to enter the giveaway with a few referrals, but have only gotten one entry as showing registered. Crossing my fingers!

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