What is improvisation, and is it really possible?

If you look up the definition of improvisation, you may find something like this:

To invent, compose, or perform with little or no preparation.
To play extemporaneously, especially by inventing variations on a melody or creating new melodies in accordance with a set progression of chords.

On paper, that sounds fairly straightforward.

But does it really explain what improvisation feels like when you’re actually sitting at a piano?

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So What Does Improvisation Really Mean?

I’ve been playing the piano for over 25 years, and it’s only in the last decade or so that I’ve really started improvising in a meaningful way.

Before looking up the definition, I already had my own idea of what it meant.

Like most musicians, I assumed improvisation simply meant:

“Making it up on the spot.”

And I think if you asked most musicians, they would probably say the same thing.

But is that actually true?

Are we really creating everything from nothing in the moment?

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The Illusion of “Making It Up”

I’m a keen blues and boogie woogie player, and I’ve played many gigs over the years in pubs and live venues where the audience is just enjoying a good night out.

At certain points in a solo, people react—sometimes with real excitement.

They hear something that sounds spontaneous, expressive, and in the moment.

But here’s the question:

Do they realise I’ve probably played those exact ideas before?

Do they know that I’ve practised those phrases, variations, and patterns over many years?

Most of the time, the answer is no.

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So Is It Really “No Preparation”?

This is where the definition starts to feel a bit misleading.

Because in reality:

• I didn’t learn improvisation overnight
• I didn’t walk into a gig with no preparation
• I spent years building the vocabulary I now use

So how can improvisation be described as requiring “little or no preparation”?

It can’t—at least not in the way people often assume.

What is true is this:

I can sit down with a band I’ve never played with before, in a key I’m given on the spot, listen for a few bars, and join in immediately.

No rehearsal. No written music.

But that ability only exists because of years of preparation beforehand.

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So What Am I Actually Doing?

This is the part that gets interesting.

Am I improvising?

Or am I simply drawing from a library of ideas I’ve already learned?

Most of the time, I would lean towards the second answer.

I’m not inventing everything from scratch—I’m:

• Recalling patterns
• Reworking ideas
• Adapting phrases to the moment
• Fitting known material into a new context

In other words, I’m recombining things I already know.

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But Then Something Else Happens…

Every now and then, something different occurs.

In the middle of a performance—especially in a really good live moment—I find myself playing something I genuinely haven’t played before.

Not a rehearsed phrase. Not a copied idea.

Something new.

Even if it’s just a few notes in a solo, it feels fresh and unplanned.

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So Was That Real Improvisation?

Yes—by any definition, that is improvisation.

Which leads to another question:

Does that mean I’m only improvising some of the time?

I don’t think so.

I think there are actually two types of improvisation happening:

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Two Types of Improvisation

1. Rehearsed Improvisation

This is where you:

• Use ideas you’ve practised before
• Combine familiar patterns
• Adapt them to fit a new musical situation

It sounds spontaneous, but it’s built on memory and experience.

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2. True Spontaneous Improvisation

This is rarer, but it happens when:

• You play something completely new
• It comes directly from the moment
• It hasn’t been pre-planned or practised in that form

Even experienced musicians may only experience this briefly in a performance—but it does happen.

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So Which One Is It?

The truth is, improvisation is probably a mix of both.

Sometimes you’re drawing from your musical vocabulary.

Other times, you’re genuinely creating something new in real time.

And most of the time, it’s probably somewhere in between.

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Final Thoughts

Improvisation sounds simple when you read the definition:

“Play with little or no preparation.”

But in reality, it’s much more complex than that.

It’s not about starting from nothing.

It’s about everything you’ve already learned—showing up at the right moment, in the right way.

So perhaps the real question isn’t:

“What is improvisation?”

But rather:

“How much preparation is hidden inside it?”