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I have a friend who recently spent around seven hours of his day playing on the piano by himself. While around three hours was spent actually practicing, the other four were spent doodling or improvising. I told him that doodling on the piano is a waste of time because it doesn't help improve on anything.

Now I'm wondering about it. I've researched the problem without much luck. What are your thoughts on this? Can simply playing whatever comes to mind on a piano have any benefits to technique, understanding of chords and scales, performance, or anything else regarding one's ability to play the instrument?

I think you were too harsh. Improvisation is itself a useful skill, especially so if your friend has an interest in jazz. Trying new things can also help with composition - I'd imagine most music doesn't spring from the composer's head fully formed. You may find an interesting melody or rhythm when just noodling around that you want to keep for later. And above all, if your friend spent 4 hours playing the piano for his own enjoyment, that's a perfectly legitimate reason in itself. Intensive practicing can be draining, there's almost certainly some mental benefits in taking a break and just having fun!

If you're practicing, then doodling or improvising is perfectly fine! It actually can be a form of practice because it helps with coming up with new ideas and freeing your hands more on the piano.

Also, depending on the type of improvisation, it can be almost just as valuable as practicing for real. If you're able to incorporate scales and triads and other technique into your "doodles", then that can have some benefits for technique. Also, improvising on a song you already know or one you're still learning can have benefits too as you're getting more comfortable with the song. Also, improvising with a new genre of music like jazz if you're classical or doing ragtime can help you with learning different types of music.

The only "doodles" that aren't valuable are playing Hot-Cross Buns or something like that that's way too easy. Otherwise, you're doing good! You can't be strictly serious all the time on the piano, or you'll learn to hate it. Have some fun!

"Doodling" sound a bit dismissive. "Improvising" sounds more serious.

I would help to know more about just what this playing involves.

But, if we assume that this playing is musically interesting. I think it is valuable. But that value will depend on what your friends goals are and they go about practicing.

Surely everyone will want to have good technique, but time spent improvising is about learning how to develop new ideas spontaneously. You will concentrate on other things beside technique. Things like recombining and varying musical patterns.

It seem important to note many good players cannot improvise, because they didn't devote time to developing that unique set of skills. Isn't that a shortcoming for a musician too?

Jazz will be the obvious case for piano improvization, but there is a tradition of improvisation in classical style too. Take a look at these for starters...

• Techniques of keyboard improvisation in the German Baroque and their implications for today's pedagogy


• 
  Partimenti of Durante - especially look at the suggested "styles" to improvise the right hand part over the notated bass.

I do perhaps see where you are coming from - 7 hours a day certainly is a big investment, and there can be a risk in doodling (and, for that matter, noodling) in that your fingers follow the same patterns again and again, simply reinforcing those same patterns - which might make you better able to follow those patterns, but little else.

On the other hand, if you can avoid that pitfall: Improvisation can teach you a lot about composition; it can enable you to find the 'sound in your head' more quickly (whether in conjunction with existing knowledge about scales, or just giving you another more instinctive way to do it); it can generate interesting ideas for later composition; it can provide just as much of an opportunity for applying fingering techniques as any other type of playing.

Ultimately, every activity is going to exercise some musical 'muscles' more than others. Sight-reading pieces from score doesn't reinforce your skills at playing by ear, or help you actively practice your composing skills or generate any of your own ideas. Playing scales doesn't teach you much about arranging. Doing harmony exercises doesn't help your physical stamina. But they all have their plus points too. Taking a step back and doing a cost/benefit analysis isn't a bad thing!