Ep. 188 | John Salmon on Reviving the Lost Art of Classical Improvisation

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In this electrifying episode of the HMA Podcast, pianist, scholar, and composer Professor John Salmon joins Nikhil Hogan to explore the lost world of classical improvisation — from Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart to jazz legends like Dave Brubeck.

Salmon, a professor at the University of North Carolina–Greensboro, shares his unique journey as both a jazz and classical pianist, his encounters with Malcolm Bilson, the ideology of “fidelity to the score,” and how 19th-century institutions like the Leipzig Conservatory helped suppress improvisation in classical training.

He demonstrates his stunning ability to improvise in multiple styles — Baroque, pop ballad, and jazz — all live on the piano, and offers profound reflections on music theory, ear training, and key characteristics in the 18th–19th centuries.

This is one of the deepest conversations yet on the HMA Podcast — a must-watch for pianists, improvisers, and music educators alike.

Chapters:
0:00 – Welcome Professor John Salmon & the Beethoven Improvisation Topic
1:13 – How Jazz and Classical Shaped His Musical Beginnings
4:05 – Balancing Classical Study and Jazz Freedom
6:15 – “Only What’s on the Page”: The Rise of Textual Fidelity
8:11 – Early Theory Lessons, Parallel Fifths, and Musical Curiosity
9:05 – “But You’re Not Beethoven!” — The Ideology Against Improvisation
11:12 – Discovering Classical Improvisation & The Malcolm Bilson Story
16:25 – How He Learned to Improvise in Beethoven’s Style
22:33 – Mendelssohn’s Leipzig Conservatory and the Death of Improvisation
27:42 – Bach, Beer Halls, and the Sacred–Secular Mix
30:04 – The Meaning of Partimento and His Keyboard Harmony Class
36:01 – Modern Theory vs. Musical Fluency: Finding the Balance
47:00 – The Affect of Keys & Beethoven’s “Dark Tonality”
53:05 – Final Message: “Do Something New Every Day” + Improvised Finale