Compositional Improvisations

Until now, classical improvisation has been difficult for most classical musicians to learn. My Compositional Improvisation templates are a means towards a truly classical and contemporary style of structured improvisation taught through one of a classical musician’s greatest strengths: the ability to sight-read music.

Once upon a time classical improvisation was king. Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms and Scriabin were but a few of the many musical giants who towered over music. The ease with which they commanded the musical scene was in part due to their improvisational skills, often the highlight of their salons. The resultant improvisations frequently inspired them to write some of their greatest works. Jazz musicians took up structured improvisation when classical musicians all but abandoned it in the last century, and proved anew that any truly living music has improvisation at its core.
These compositional improvisation templates, authored by me and Jesse Feinberg, attempt to turn this trend around, making highly structured classical improvisation available to musicians once again.

Reviews:
…The duo-piano classical improvisation…floated on a veritable cloud of notes, using templates published by (Gregory) Hall. The templates are like a jazz pianist’s cheat sheets written by Einstein. They contain information about melodies, keys, scales…
– Christopher Hyde, Maine Classical Beat, reviewing the duo-piano ensemble “Mysteriae”, who utilize my compositional improvisation templates.

…(Jesse) Feinberg also joined forces with Gregory Hall for a spirited, improvisatory two-piano collaboration…using improvisation techniques developed by (them)…_
– Allan Kozinn, New York Times/Portland Press-Herald