You can. Just as we learned to make new sentences with words, we can all learn to create new music each time we play. A person doesn't need Beethoven's talent, training, or long hair—it's all a matter of the approach.

The Pattern Play books offer an intuitive and enjoyable way to create your own music every time you play.

How It Works

In each Pattern Play "piece," you first learn to play (or your teacher plays) two short accompaniments called a Pattern and Vacation. As you play the Pattern and Vacation over and over, you begin to add sounds and melodies with the other hand using the scales and ideas provided. You can make long improvisations by playing the Pattern and Vacation many times.

But how will you know what to play? You will find that you "know as you go." You will be guided by the rhythm and tones of the accompaniment and also by your own musical instincts and experiences. This is how we learned to speak—we played with sounds and soon enough we began to "get it." This sort of intuitive approach is necessary if we want to become creative and find our own music. To be an artist means rediscovering how to play.

Play to Learn

You don't have to know about scales, chords, or styles beforehand. You will learn about them as you go. In the Pattern Play approach, you don't "learn to play" but "play to learn."

There are hundreds of different Pattern Play pieces in various books, each in a different mood and style. You can develop an extensive musical vocabulary simply by playing with various Patterns. Many approaches to improvisation cover only jazz and popular styles, but Pattern Play encompasses all piano styles, including classical and exotic “world music” styles.

Creativity for All

The authors of these books have been teaching the Pattern Play approach to students and music teachers for over thirty years and have seen hundreds of people learn to improvise. Nearly anyone can learn to do it, even those who feel “stuck to the page.” Beginners and advanced pianists can learn to improvise with the same Patterns—each person just plays them according to his or her abilities and desires.

The Pattern Play approach gives everyone—even beginners—a chance to play music in an artistic, intuitive, and authentic way. It allows us to discover our hidden abilities to create music that is personal, fulfilling, and always something of a surprise.

Pattern Play on Youtube

To hear and see the authors improvise with a number of the Patterns, click here on this Youtube link, and then you can go to where it shows the other videos available for viewing.

A short film was recently made of one of Forrest's workshops for piano teachers in Kitchener, Ontario. Click here on this link to see it.