Improvano — from a C major scale to your first simple improvisation
Improvano covers exactly one thing: going from "I can play a C
major scale" to "I can improvise a few simple bars," in a fixed sequence
of steps. It's a personal, solo practice tool built for use on a
laptop sitting next to a piano — no accounts, no login, no
gamification, no grading. Just a sequence of steps you work through at
your own pace, with an animated on-screen keyboard showing exactly
where your hands go at every step.
It's for players who are early on: you may be able to play a
major scale by muscle memory, but chords, keys, and what to do
with them at the piano are still unfamiliar ground. Improvano
starts from that one scale and adds a single idea at a time — the
three main chords in a key (the I, IV and V), simple chord
progressions built from them, and slow hands-together practice —
until you can improvise a few simple bars, without reading a note of
sheet music.
How the steps work
Each key on Improvano runs the same fixed sequence, one step
building only on the last. You start from the scale you already
know, then build a left hand that keeps time on its own: the
root of each chord, then the fifth, then a short chord
progression. Next the right hand learns the three core chords
built on scale degrees 1, 4 and 5 — the I, IV and V triads — and
the inversions that keep them close together, then both hands
play at once. You finish by improvising a few simple bars over the
progression using the notes you've already learned. Every step shows what to play, why it works
harmonically, and gives you room to try it yourself before moving
on.
Along the way, an optional "Complete the Key" branch introduces
the remaining four diatonic triads — ii, iii, vi and vii° — for
players who want the full set of seven chords in a key rather
than stopping at I-IV-V. This is framed as completing the key you
already started, not as a new scale to learn, since no new notes
are introduced.
Keys and drills
Improvano currently has the full set of steps for all twelve major keys: C major,
G major (one sharp), Eb major (three flats), D major (two sharps),
A major (three sharps), E major (four sharps), B major (five sharps), F# major (six sharps), Bb major (two
flats), F major (one flat), Db major (five flats) and Ab major (four flats). Each follows the identical step
sequence described above, so skills learned in one key transfer
directly to the next.
Alongside the keys, Improvano offers two standalone
drills for players who want focused repetition rather than a full
key: the Circle of Fifths, which walks all twelve major triads
around the circle in root position and both inversions, clockwise
and anticlockwise; and Relative Minors, which pairs each major
triad with its relative minor a third below, walked as two laps
in root position. Neither drill introduces a new scale or a minor
key — both work entirely with notes and triads the earlier steps
already cover.
Why it's built this way
Improvano deliberately stays small. There's no sheet music or
notation rendering, no MIDI or hardware connectivity, no ear
training, and no jazz extensions beyond plain diatonic triads. The
goal isn't to be a complete music theory course — it's to take
the one gap most beginner pianists hit, knowing a scale but not
knowing what to do with it, and close it in a short, fixed
sequence of steps. What you do with that foundation afterward is
up to you.
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