Welcome to the Improvisation Tool Kit!

The goal of this project is to create a space to share our experiences using improvised music in the classroom and the community. We hope that this site offers the resources, support, and inspiration that will make it easier for educators and artists to introduce improvised music strategies and techniques into their classrooms and workshops. Improvisation is a fun and inclusive activity that is not bound to one single style or mode of music-making. Improvisation fosters self-expression, confidence, and creativity that can enhance both the traditional music classroom and a variety of community settings.

Resources for Teaching Improvisation

Become Inspired: On this website you will find five profile pages that highlight different venues for using improvisation as a teaching tool:

• for children with special needs
• at a drop-in centre for at-risk youth
• in an inner-city community centre
• in a high school music classroom
• in a university music ensemble

Each of these profile pages includes text and video resources drawn from projects run by the Improvisation, Community and Social Practice (ICASP) research project along with our wonderful community partners and some very inspiring artist/teachers.

Get Practical Help: In our Guide to Teaching Improvisation, we’ve drawn on the lessons learned from our projects to provide helpful facilitation strategies and general suggestions on how to approach teaching improvisation in a variety of settings.

Tool Up!: We’ve created a set of Improvisation Tool Cards that provide practical instructions and materials for many different improvisation activities. These Tool Cards have been contributed and created by active improvising musicians and are included on this site for free download in the hope that they may serve as a point of departure for your own improvisation-based activities! If you would like to contribute more Improvisation Tool Cards to this database please contact us at improv@uoguelph.ca.

Dig Deeper: Our resource list offers many useful web links, books and articles on improvisation and pedagogy.