I’m working on a loose curriculum that I can use to teach the basics of cello improvisation. Huge topic, but simple melodic figures are a good early lesson.

Key ideas are that the harmonic structure provides a foundation (the root of the chord) and a series of important platforms on top of that foundation (the other notes in the chord). So your bass riff or your melody or whatever fills in other notes–passing tones, ornaments, outright dissonances–that move you from platform to platform. The goal is to take advantage of the years of music listening that students have done–the subconscious layers of what music should sound like–and link that subconscious up with a handful of useful conscious ideas.

So I can talk on and on about that as it relates to our repertoire song of the moment, but at some point, students have to just try it out. And I needed a visual. Et voilà:

This is a standard 1-4-5 chord progression with the notes of the chord written out wherever they’re possible to play in first position on the cello. It gives students a visual hook as we play back and forth. The idea isn’t, of course, to play the chords; it’s to keep half an eye on these important tones while making up something melodic.

To be combined with your rigorous scale and arpeggio practice!