Opinion: Theatre improv games in teacher training

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Have you ever been working with a student when suddenly there’s an unexpected shift? The student, who was initially focused and engaged, is now frustrated, confused, or even on the verge of tears. Moments like this always leave me wondering, ‘What did I miss?’ They remind me that teaching is as much about reading the student as it is about the music we teach. And yet, despite all the pedagogical tools available, this intuitive side of teaching remains difficult to hone.

Contemporary string teacher training often begins with instrumental study and expands to include the exploration of a range of developmental and learning-theory approaches. These practices help us to guide students’ musical growth, technical skills and physical well-being across a variety of educational settings.

While all these elements are important to our students’ development, string teachers face an additional challenge in their work: interpersonal communication. This involves noticing subtle signals and developing an intuitive sense of what each student needs at that precise time. However, despite its importance, intuitive communication is largely overlooked in current teacher training. Integrating it would help us become more responsive and effective teachers.

This training gap does not stem from a lack of interest, but more from the nature of the skill itself. How do we develop something that is often considered intangible and only felt in the moment?

Improvisation games (or exercises) such as those used to train actors offer a compelling way to bridge the gap. In many ways, improvising actors and string teachers face similar challenges: both respond to what’s happening in real time and pivot accordingly. Improvisation games, particularly those developed by the 20th-century American theatre academic and acting coach Viola Spolin (author of several books of games for actors, including Improvisation for the Theater, 1963), were designed to help actors communicate intuitively with those around them.

Spolin’s method comprises guided improv games that sharpen attention, presence and in-the-moment responsiveness. One simple example includes mirroring a partner’s movement and reacting to visual cues without words. These exercises train participants to rely on their senses and the information available in the room without overthinking or planning ahead.

What makes this approach so relevant to string teachers is that it builds the same skills we rely on in lessons every day: noticing subtle and non-verbal cues, responding in real time, adjusting our energy, navigating shifting emotional dynamics between student and teacher, and ultimately using what we have observed to guide students through the lesson. Spolin’s tools help us practise those skills in a playful, low-stakes way, so that we can draw on them more reliably when we are teaching.

A further advantage of this approach is its accessibility. Participants do not need any acting experience to take part. The collaborative, peer-to-peer group format of the games makes them a valuable tool for helping educators develop their skills, in whichever setting they work. Their adaptability also allows them to be integrated easily into a variety of professional teacher training environments. These games provide a practical way to build the intuitive communication skills so essential to what we do as teachers. Incorporating them into teacher training enables us to attune ourselves to the moment and guide the lesson, the music and – most importantly – our future students with greater ease.