4/23/25 Breaking Out of the Classical Mindset: How to Start Improvising Today

There’s a lot that goes into being a good improvisor—understanding harmony, developing a “bag of tricks”, knowing how to make sense and not sound like you’re rambling aimlessly, creating a narrative arc in a solo, etc etc.

But one of the biggest obstacles to improvisation for classical players is simply the classical mindset, which can be the polar opposite of what you need for improvisation.

When you are improvising, you have to develop a very different approach to mistakes, because if you are afraid of making mistakes, you will be afraid to play anything.

So how do we keep from being afraid of making mistakes?

Stop caring what other people think, knowing that your overall intention and POV is what is remembered by the listener, the big picture, not your mistake. Most people are not listening that closely to you and very possibly wouldn’t consider it a mistake even if they were listening closely.

Be playful, trusting that you will know how to make it OK. We trust that we know how to walk. That doesn’t mean we don’t occasionally stumble. But we know we almost always catch ourselves and regain our balance and do not fall on our face. We don’t stop walking because we occasionally trip. We trust that we can deal with it.

Being playful, both with other musicians and with the audience, is the single best entry point to improvisation and the most engaging way to perform.