I can't speak for others but one of my best friends for trying out different improv, different music styles, etc, is boredom. When I've played a song so many times I can play it in my sleep, know all of the chord progressions without even thinking, know the melody inside and out, I get bored. And when I get bored, stuff happens. I try out new things. Sometimes alternate melodies, sometimes new chord progressions, sometimes new rhythms (sometimes multiple rhythms in the same song), sometimes pairing songs that wouldn't normally be paired, sometimes speeding up or slowing down, sometimes changing keys. It may even get kinda silly at times, that's OK. Play with it. Let your imagination romp a little. It's amazing what kinda shows up outta nowhere sometimes. 
Non-Classical Players Unite!
Sign me up. I'm overwhelmingly interested in blues piano (my heroes include Leroy Carr, Charlie Spand, Big Maceo Merriweather, etc.). Secondarily I do some rock/pop stuff, often singing while playing. After that, I dabble in this and that, maybe a little jazz (at a very low level) sometimes, or just trying to pick up tricks from this and that miscellaneous genre (e.g., country, new age).
Some of you may have seen me post videos over at PW, sometimes solo and sometimes with my wife, the household drummer. Recently I started teaching a friend to play guitar and we have a bit of a trio going where I switch off between bass (when we're playing rock) and keys (when it's mostly blues).
For the record, I do like classical music, and I worked through the RCM syllabus up into a bit of level 5, but I don't really have any goals to perform classical, so I've left that aside for the time being.
Enthusiastic but mediocre amateur.
Hello everyone, my first post in PT. I’ve been playing much less lately due to creeping arthritis in my wrists but I expect to pop in from time to time. Pleased to see the numbers are growing!
Welcome!!
So sorry to hear that your playing is somewhat restricted tho!
Welcome, @diretonic , sorry to hear about your arthritis. If it's any consolation, proper technique does not require much range of motion in the hands and even the wrists.
ShiroKuro -thanks for your kind thoughts.
Rubens I’m sure you’re right but in my dotage, motivation is in short supply so will likely end up just playing more chordy, less notey. I appreciate your thoughts though.
Yes, my other username was unique but a bit of a mouthful. rsl12 Even on PW the non-classical forum is tiny!
I don't think the non-classical forum on PW is "tiny"because of a lack of interest in popular, jazz, film music, etc among piano players. Without any data to back it up, I think they likely make up the majority of players. My take, the reason for being 'tiny' has more to do with some of the people who frequent that forum.
I only ever posted something to it once, and promised myself "never again".
Sydney Australia
Retired part-time piano technician
Another (mostly) non-classical player here. When I play by myself I play pop from Hal Leonard real books (or from musescore) or pieces from movies/musicals. When I play with a couple of friends in a band/practice group, then we play classic rock (I actually play bass guitar there, my wife plays keys in this group). I don't mind classical pieces, it just so happened that I started out about 13 years ago with non-classical when my kids started learning piano. My teacher at that time (pre-covid) introduced me to Alfred's series books together with supplemental books from Alfred's (Greatest Hits I-III).
- Edited
I love both. I'm following the Alfred method as well. It has a good mix of classical (simplified) and contemporary. The Thompson method is a little more classical but also a lot of delightful tunes composed by the writer and folk songs.
And of course who can keep their feet still at something like this. Yes I shared it before in another forum but I just love that performance, both piano and the dancing 
I play very little classical music other than some of the "biggies" like Fur Elise and whatnot.
Though I do occasionally mess around with Pictures at an Exhibition since that's been my favourite classical music thing ever since I first heard it (and I can't remember when or where that was but it was probably at least 50 years ago).
I do play a variety of stuff ranging from Frank Sinatra to Black Sabbath depending on what I feel like doing on any given day (and what seems to keep my bird's attention). And a fair amount of old movie and television music.
And yes, I do play for my bird. She's my audience and my critic. Everybody needs at least one fan. 
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If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!