Summary
In “How to Improvise on Piano with Hot Cross Buns,” Joseph Hoffman walks students through how to make up their own music at the keyboard. A 9-minute lesson from Hoffman Academy's free elementary piano curriculum — drop it into a music center, a keyboard station, or a whole-class music block.
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Discussion
Improvising means making up music as you go. This lesson shows one easy way to start.
- What does it mean to *improvise* in music?
- Which notes or keys does this lesson let you use to improvise?
- How is improvising different from playing a piece exactly as written?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: improvise, melody, rhythm.
Try it: Using only the keys from the lesson, make up a short tune. Play it twice — change one thing the second time.