Your Space to Create
Creativity doesn’t come from reading about music. It comes from playing, exploring, and creating it.
I offer a variety of experiences designed to help pianists and teachers move beyond the page through improvisation and composition,
Whether you’re just getting started or ready to create something more, there’s a space for you here.
Catch what’s coming up in August!
Jazz Chord Playground Lab
$34.88
Discover how a handful of jazz-inspired chords can transform familiar tunes into fresh, expressive arrangements. Join Leila Viss and special guest Bradley Sowash for a practical, hands-on lab that will help you add color, confidence, and creativity to your playing—no jazz background required.
Even if you’ve never improvised or composed before.
Replay available for one week if you can’t attend live.
Jazz Arrangium
$148.88
A small-group jazz arranging workshop for piano teachers, this three-week course is designed exclusively for participants of the Jazz Chord Playground Lab. The classes build on the harmonic vocabulary introduced in the lab so we can spend our time creating and arranging.
Find Your Space to Create
For some, creativity requires a starting point with plenty of time to explore. Others are ready to nail down ideas and showcase them in a fully-notated composition.
That’s why Space to Create includes different pathways:
① Jumpstarts: Explore ideas yourself or with students.
Themed units with video tutorials that introduce a creative concept—like chord progressions, patterns, or musical styles—so you or your students can begin exploring right away.
>Learn more HERE.
② Labs: Play with the ideas. No pressure to commit.
Live, one-day experiences where you improvise, experiment, and explore in a supportive, hands-on environment.
Designed for quick wins, fresh ideas, and creative breakthroughs.
③ Composiums: Create something meaningful and commit to notation.
Multi-week experiences where you take your ideas and develop them into a fully-notated piece through guided instruction and a supportive community.
A deeper experience for those ready to develop and finish a piece.
④ Space to Create Membership: Stay in the process. Keep growing.
Ongoing access to creative Jumpstarts, mindset memos, live trainings, discounts, and a community.
> Learn more HERE.
How It All Connects
Start anywhere—or follow the full journey:
Jumpstart → Lab → Composium
Learn the ideas.
Play with them.
Then compose something you’re proud of.
Ready to Create?
Explore the current Labs and Composiums below and find the experience that fits where you are.
The Creative Process
Every Space to Create experience follows a simple creative structure…
SEE → DO → PLAY
→ SEE
Watch musical ideas demonstrated through real examples at the piano.
→ DO
Experiment with the ideas yourself using simple prompts and creative boundaries.
→ PLAY
Develop your musical ideas into something uniquely your own. This process allows creativity to unfold step by step rather than feeling overwhelming.
Space to Create Schedule
Choose your creative path. Each experience is designed to help you move beyond the page and into confident, creative music-making—whether you’re just starting or ready to go deeper.
You will come looking for an idea and leave excited for ALL the possibilities.
AUGUST 10
Jazz Chord Playground Lab
Transform a simple tune into something unforgettable with special guest jazz pianist and educator, Bradley Sowash.
Learn how to take a familiar melody and reimagine it with style, groove, and personality.
You’ll learn how to:
Develop an understanding of jazz chords
Elevate your improvisation palette
Add rhythmic and harmonic elements to jazz up an old tune.
Jazz Arrangium
In this Arrangium (a composium that features arranging a tune), take your jazz-inspired improvisations from the Jazz Chord Playground Lab and develops them into a fully realized arrangement.
Whether you join with ideas from the lab or start fresh, you’ll be guided step-by-step through jazzing up a favorite tune
Inside this composium…
Choose a tune of your choice and learn how to harmonize it with a touch of jazz
Learn how to notate your piece in Noteflight
Discover how to create cover art in Canva
Leave with a completed composition
You don’t need to attend the lab to join, but if you do, this is where your ideas blossom.
SEPTEMBER (dates and times TBA)
Tailor a Tune Composium
Teach the piece they can play.
Ever have a student who loves a piece—but it’s just out of reach?
This composium gives you practical strategies to adapt, simplify, and reshape music so it fits your students without losing its essence.
Learn how to…
Break down complex pieces into playable steps
Maintain musical integrity while simplifying
Create arrangements tailored to your students