I was ten when I first heard from my teachers that piano improvisation is only for professional musicians. Most Ukrainian music schools provide only classical piano education, so I had to search for the information by myself when I decided to start improvising and composing. I started by building simple chords in C major and learned from practice and by making mistakes.
This year, I came up with an idea to write a book for children that would explain how to start improvising from a young age. My book tells the story of the note F and her family. She lives in Music City and has a friend from Math city. The readers have the opportunity to spend several days with their new friends and experience life in Music City.
I connected music theory and simple math concepts to make the explanations easier. My book includes interactive exercises for children to get a better understanding.
Thanks to a CSGC grant, I have the opportunity to publish my book and distribute the copies in Ukrainian music schools.
Now, I have my book ready, and I am working on the publishing process! I appreciate the chance to improve musical education in my country! Stay tuned for the future development of my project.
-Anna Pikarska ’22
