Tag: writing

How To Get You and Your Students Improvising #thatmusicimprovteacher

by mwrightmusic

This article will be in Music Teacher Association Ensemble Magazine Autumn 2025 edition, available to MTA Members:

To join, click here https://www.musicteachers.org/join-us/

Hello all! I hope you have all begun the year well and have already used some improvising techniques with your students!

I offer you some tips and a sample lesson plan to get your students improvising in music and present some tips on assessing and strategies on how you can embed improvisation in your teaching.

But first, a reminder:

Improvisation is often thought of as spontaneous musical creativity, i.e. an “on the spot” exercise, but as I have mentioned in previous editions and articles, it is actually built upon a foundation of learned vocabulary, developed through practice, and carefully scaffolded by the teacher to break down into manageable chunks. It is necessary for you and your students to build a memory bank of ideas, rhythms and patterns to recall them at any moment (think of this as one’s music improv vocabulary), having the confidence and play to manipulate them in the moment. This is why students freeze when asked to improvise; they probably have nothing to draw upon!

Advice for your Students  

For keyboard/Xylophone players, the pentatonic notes and major/minor are valuable for accessibility. They represent differentiation by colour and shapes and provide an almost guaranteed fail-safe to not play ‘wrong’ notes. The pentatonic scale is the safest space for initial improvisation, before moving to more challenging scales. I suggest narrowing the key range (e.g., one octave) and having students use triads/dyads for any chordal accompaniment.

But what if they hit the ‘wrong’ note?!

Paraphrasing Miles Davis here, there is no such thing as ‘wrong’ notes in improvisation. If your students were to stumble across a wrong note, tell them they are but one note away from the ‘right’ note. Jazzers call these ‘passing tones’, chromatic links to notes within a scale, e.g. play a C# over a C7 chord? No problem! Move up a semitone to a D to make a lovely C9 sound or down a semitone to play the tonic.

Students may benefit from recording their improvisations by writing or recording them. This helps build their memory bank of ideas and track their progress, satisfying learning progression, demonstrating aural skills and showing understanding of the learning outcomes.

Tips for Teachers

  • Start Small: You don’t need to be a jazz expert to teach improvisation. Begin with pentatonic scales/limited major and minor scales. Develop call-and-response activities to include more choices for responses.
  • Be Honest: It’s ok to share that you are not the most confident improviser unless you say, ‘I’m rubbish at this kids’ in which case, best to keep it to yourself! Turn the activity into a joint learning venture and choose the model of improvisation that you feel most comfortable with.
  • Use Technology or Models: Backing tracks, ostinati loops, or recorded examples help set a framework for improv. DAWs can be an excellent tool for students to experiment without being heard, and you can save progress.
  • Seek CPD and Support: My research on secondary school improvisation showed that many teachers have had little to no opportunities to develop as improvisers during their musical and teacher training. Whilst jazz academics like Barry Harris or Ed Sarath offer wisdom on how musicians can develop, it caters to more experienced improvisers. Jazz in Education UK founders Pauline Black and Simon Purcell, both as influential as the former two, help those taking the first steps into teaching improvisation.
  • Model Risk‑Taking: Play an imperfect improvisation, play how the ‘wrong’ notes work in an improvisation, take a well-known melody and improvise around it. Show your students that music can be manipulated into anything you want it to sound like!

Sample Lesson Plan for Teaching Improvised Melody (a Focus on Rhythm). 55-60mins

  1. Warm-Up: Body Call-and-Response
    • Teacher uses body percussion for students to echo, turning it into a fun musical register rather than saying their names. Improvise accessible rhythmic ideas first, then move on to a selection of rhythms on the board (no more than four, scaffold the difficulty and include some known ones). Do the C&R again but have students respond with any they wish after learning them.
  2. Model: Use of Pentatonic Notes on the piano w. Rhythmic Templates
    • Demonstrate how to use any rhythmic templates combined with the pentatonic scale. Start with two notes, then three etc. Ensure you show that you are improvising the selection of notes and recycling them at will.
  3. Lesson Task: Practice Improvisation
    • Students go in pairs, select rhythm(s) from the worksheet/from the board, then improvise note choices over the rhythm. Build confidence by starting with two notes, then three etc. More confident students can add C and F to the scale to create modal possibilities.
  4. Performance
    • Play a chord vamp/use a backing track. Get the pairs to play their improvisations one by one.
  5. Plenary
    • Think Pair Share the following questions:
      • Which rhythm(s) did you enjoy improvising around?
      • Which combination of notes from the pentatonic scale did you enjoy using?
      • What happened when you made a ‘mistake’?
      • Which improvisations from the group were memorable?

Final Thoughts

The benefit of teaching music improvisation is that one can find ways of creating/devising through play. Anything can be improvised! Provided you believe it can. I got one of my ensemble students to improvise the opening of Vivaldi’s Winter on the flute by getting him to reorder the bars. Granted, some passages did not work, but most did, as they added to his improv vocabulary. Improvisation is trial and error, but who is to say that a particular idea won’t work in another context?

By changing our relationship with the ‘notated score’ as Tim Palmer puts it, one can view music not necessarily as a collection of dots and symbols to perform, but as an act of expression, discovery and adventure. Embrace the uncertainty, scaffold wisely, and watch your students (and perhaps yourself!) grow into confident, spontaneous musical voices.

Please do get in touch if you are interested in me running a session/programme to help your students/department develop improvisation.

Make sure to include any examples, successes or ideas using #thatmusicimprovteacher on your social media.

mwrightbass@gmail.com

LinkedIn – mwrightmusic

Beating the Count: A Message for Music Teachers Who Need Some TLC

by mwrightmusic

First published on my LinkedIn profile

In preparation for the new academic year and a commemoration of my posting a blog since the last one which was in the late 1800s, I think, I began drafting something akin to James Manwaring MBE’s brilliant post on what he did to recharge and get inspired, and Katie Staggs’ post on teachers joining a new department. The idea sat in my drafts for ages, and I could not fathom why it was. Was it writer’s block? Summer holiday brain? Or just some good ol’ fashion procrastination? After all, that bike ride along the Tarka Trail would not ride itself.

The truth is, I am struggling to find a place of positivity for the upcoming year. A combination of reading negative headlines in the press and social media regarding declining A-Level/GCSE Music uptake this part decade, EBacc still being a thorn in the promotion and inclusion of Music in Mainstream UK education, pressures of being a one person department (check out this episode I recorded with Liz Webb on Teachers Talk Radio), my sadness over how the education community engaged in identity politics with the passing of our dear Ruth Perry, and her passing itself still makes me feel uncomfortable as to why it happened and whether lessons have been learned. Its fair to say education has me in a headlock and the referee is raising my arm, one count.

Alas, if you’re a music teacher staring down the new academic year with a mix of apprehension and exhaustion, you’re not alone. Hi, nice to meet you. Pull up a chair, I’ll make a brew and if you don’t mind, I’ll mention a few things that may help you find that light switch you’ve been looking for in the dark, or even better, help you make the count, Hulk up, puff out your cheeks, cup your ears to the crowd and deliver that Big Leg Drop/People’s Elbow to the Negative Warrior (see what I did there?)

I. Find YOUR Reset Button and Hit It

This summer, I visited my family in Finland which I had not done in decades. I thought I would kick back with Sauna, sip a few Lonkeri’s and reminisce with my kin about the times I visited as a kid. What I did not expect was the profound and emotional effect this trip had on me, or how it reminded me of my Finnish roots, which influence me as a teacher and person. I felt a complete shift in my thinking, values, and ethics, bringing what I had been striving for into stark focus. This was the first time in my career when I had a holiday during which I did this; typically, I go into Standby mode and battleplan the academic year ahead, thinking of as many permutations as I can to navigate the job. I call it thinking², a term I use to describe overthinking about thinking to the power of 2. It often leaves me mentally exhausted and no closer to finding the solution to the problem.

It sounds so obvious, but I would wholeheartedly ask you to find THAT place for you when it comes to a rest, or a resit. I kick myself for not discovering it sooner, but I am thankful I found it in the first place.

II. It’s OK Not to Be OK

Do not fight your negative feelings; you will never win. Despite the positive posts that tell you how wonderful you are and how valued music teachers are, it means nothing if you don’t feel good inside, or your limbic system has been taken hostage and all you think about is the ‘what ifs’, ‘maybe they’s’ and ‘they won’ts’.

Yes, your thoughts may disappear, but they will only appear once something threatening occurs, extrinsic or intrinsic. Listen to them as data, as Mark Manson offers. Emotions are merely one’s mind reacting to life around us, they offer nothing more than feedback to convey what is sensed. If you find yourself in a mental quagmire, find clarity to not beat yourself up over it. If you do not, it will be like a double punch to the gut, the action that caused distress, then feeling bad for feeling bad. Easier said than done, I know. During an afternoon at the summer cottage in Finland, I listed my values and ethics as a music educator and conducted a mid-year review to see if they align. It was eye-opening and helped me focus on what I can control. Once I felt I had some control, I did not think so much about the things that had not happened or responses to adverse imagined scenarios. Thinking², folks.

Perhaps a F-It list may help, as it did with me. Think of it as a bucket list, but for all the things you shouldn’t give energy to, instead direct that energy into things/people that DO matter.

So, emotions as data, make sure you act upon them and don’t just list and post them, otherwise you end up getting sucked into my next point….

III. Stay Away from Social Media (Except LinkedIn)

Before I blame our woes on our social media overlords, I will caveat this point by saying that platforms like Facebook and X have a community of supportive, caring and insightful people there. Academics like John Finney, Gary Spruce, Tom Wilkinson all post invaluable content. Also, figures like Tom Rogers and Flora Cooper offer content and programmes designed to provide insight and community with their Teachers Talk Radio and Burn Brighter Leadership offerings, respectively.

What I refer to, and to and extent James to is the toxic underbelly of divisive, identity politics-based posts on these platforms, breeding grounds for doom-scrolling and proxy debates that frankly, make me feel ashamed of the profession at times. Intelligent voices are drowned out by outrage-driven content because they play the Algorithm game better. Too many people post what is wrong/needs fixing without suggesting how they would do it constructively. Facebook is also guilty of this, not on the level that X is, but maybe it has fewer bots posting on there.I may be preaching to the converted for some, but social media is designed to generate ‘outrage’ to play to our hearts and minds, see the responses of Ruth Perry and its vile/petulant reactions from educators and policy makers who frankly, should know better.

Here’s where the likes of LinkedIn and BlueSky come to play. I love the former, it has been refreshing to connect with colleagues in sharing my Teachers Talk Radio show, research and learn from people I admire. Its also been known to cheer a Groke up like me (Moomin reference), there is nothing better than scrolling the feed to read about the successes of former students, colleagues and others in my network.

IV. Find a Mentor or Accountability Buddy

If you’re lucky enough to have someone at work who can guide and support you, lean on them and buy whatever chocolate/booze they prefer at the end of term! If not, seek a mentor online through a professional. If you are a Music teacher, the Music Teachers Association is incredible for this. I credit my career successes to the people I met there, the advice I received, and the doors it opened for me. Accountability buddies can be an asset for your health as well. Someone trusted to ensure you are looking out for you, give support where needed, and tell you some harsh truths. For lone wolves like me, I know how significant they would be to my work as they have done wonders for my health. I would love to work with a professional mentor again, as it’s challenging to bounce off colleagues who do not teach your subject, but equally, I am happy to be someone’s mentor if needed too.

V. Find the Positives

Amid the pall, there are reasons for hope, dear reader:

  • The government has announced ÂŁ88 million for extracurricular activities, including music, to help young people reconnect with their communities. A godsend for music educators who want extracurricular activities at their school but cannot afford it. Now is the time to knock on your Head’s door!
  • The Prime Minister recently told Classic FM he wants to ensure music “counts towards the curriculum” and spoke passionately about its role in building confidence and life skills. It’s been a while since a politician spoke so openly about music in UK education (open in a positive sense).
  • GCSE Music uptake this year is at a high. Classic FM report that ‘More than 38,000 students took GCSE music in 2025, an increase of 6.1% compared to 2024.’
  • Music Teachers Association, as mentioned before
  • Richard Llewellyn shared with me some cool pieces of kit for composing and performance, both for A-Level and GCSE students. ROLI Airwave looks like a lot of fun to use! As does Roland’s Moon Pan. The Fieldtone Weaver pedal looks like so much fun for field recording nerds like me. Instant recording and looping of sounds? Yup, I’m in!
  • Exam boards like ABRSM offer more courses to cater to the ever-expanding number of musicians who want to make music.

Final Thoughts

How do we feel about making that comeback? Is the referee holding up your arm in the middle of the ring? It’s ok, I am not there yet either, but if I take this day by day and focus on the things to care about and learn to ride this wave instead of worrying about wiping out, I’ll probably see this through. After all, you will get more respect riding a difficult one and learn more than standing from afar complaining about or shouting at it. People will think you are just weird.

I hope this post helps you feel less alone/as a fraud, eliminating the expectations that you, dear music teacher/teacher, have to be a beacon of sunshine upon your 1st day back on INSET. If you’re feeling nervous, anxious, or burnt out, please know this: you’re not failing—you’re human, a human who cares deeply about their job and has perhaps been let down or had bad experiences to date, which fuel your response to starting back. Teaching music, nay, teaching itself in today’s climate is tough, stats don’t lie, but it’s a job that is profoundly important and rewarding if you still believe so. Don’t let anyone take that away from you.  

Take care this year. Remember, the education community has your back, as do I.