Learning piano improv is kind of like learning how to ride a bicycle. At first, we have to focus on each different element individually: balance, speed, direction, etc. After a while, though, there’s a magical moment when everything merges and it all comes together. We don’t have to think about everything the same way anymore. We simply ride the bike and “feel” how to do it.
It’s the same way with piano improv.
At first, we have to focus on chords, and melodies, and bass lines, and accompaniment patterns, and phrasing, and improv, etc. And then, there’s a magical moment when everything merges and it all comes together. We can simply sit down and PLAY!
That’s a momentous occasion and the best thing is that, as with riding a bicycle, we never forget how to do it!