This spontaneous improvisation has a wistful feeling with its modal tonality: the sun should be shining in June and on such a gloomy day, a little improvising on the piano can bring a little warmth and comfort… I will feature it on my album of 16 unplanned improvisations, which will be released in a few weeks’ time.

My Nocturne No. 11 in G minor is one of the 11 Nocturnes that feature in my forthcoming album ‘Nocturnal’ to be released on February 18th. The album version is the original unplanned improvisation, but having created a score, I play it for you here.

Another unplanned improvisation – this time tonally simpler, diatonic, very minor with a dark and wistful mood.

This is an unplanned improvisation. I’d been pondering what a pointless charade politics can become with individuals scoring points off each other rather than using intelligence to find solutions.

So the darkness of the mood and the twisted nature of the complex, jazzy impressionistic tonality arise as my feelings of disappointment and resentment are untangled and resolved by musical patterns, easing my mind.

An improvisation with a dark, melancholy quality. When music has pathos, I think it provides solace. I think that’s one of the big reasons I go to the piano and improvise… Music helps us process life. It works somewhere on a spectrum from solace to catharsis. It also operates on a pleasure spectrum from soothing to thrilling. This improvisation is a typical example of how I use the piano as a source of solace.