Here's the improv homework (quoted from the email):
Structure your experiments like this:
- Do some warmup: release, babble, listen to notes fade away, etc.
- Sing and play (on the piano if your a vocalist) isolated notes that express a feeling. Express what you are feeling, or, if you're not feeling much, pick a feeling.
- Once you are comfortable with that, sing or play a note and listen within yourself for the next note that wants to be played or sung.
- Then, using the hand counting we learned in class yesterday, do some pitched vocal improvisation in 16-beat cycles.
Remember, there are NO WRONG NOTES when you do this! And if you think there are, laugh and remember you are wonderful no matter what.
A number of years ago, I made some videos about this process. They are at https://ericedberg.
After you've done some improvising, post a comment on the blog about your experience.
Have fun with this!
Before I began my practice session for saxophone, I babbled, and then did the piano note fading. I actually gave myself the chills in this transition to musical bliss. I feel that this happened because I accessed some central energy, or tapped in. In this place nothing really existed except the fuzzy silence in the air and my body. When I began playing on my saxophone, at first I was playing around some arpeggios and patterns: things that already existed in my fingers. Finally I become more intuitive, sporadic, leaving musical thoughts unfinished and unanswered. I didn't feel the need to resolve any dissonant melody I had created. In my mind, there were truly no wrong notes. There was no need to laugh off my mistakes, because every sound I produced, ugly or sweet sounding, held some divine perfection. I never felt more wonderful than I did at that moment. Doing the vocal improvisation felt very free and open. My voice had no bounds as I spat out syllables and cries I am never produced before. Very fascinating. I am now very confused about life. Thanks Edberg...
ReplyDeleteOkay where are everyone elses comments??
DeleteWhen I improv-ed a melody on piano, I found that even though I wasn't working within any sort of conventional structure (four-bar phrases, chord tones), the notes I played still wanted to go somewhere. The interesting thing for me is that playing notes on a piano is more removed from hearing it in your head (as opposed to vocal improvisation, which I find easier), so a lot of the times I didn't know what I wanted to play next and other times I had an idea but played a different note from what I wanted, which was frustrating. Vocal improv in the 16 beat cycles were easier because I had a rhythm to hold me down to some structure, and because there was a clear direction, I enjoyed it more.
ReplyDeleteI took some time to experiment with the babbling exercises we did in class the other day. It was a lot of fun and I tried to win the "crazy contest" afterwards I jumped into practicing my pieces and I found that some of the spots I had trouble with were easier than before. I feel like the exercise relaxed me and I enjoyed my practice session more.
ReplyDeleteI took a different approach. I, of course, babbled before beginning my practice session but when I got frustrated or something of that nature I went into the 16 beat cycle as a way to clear my head and refocus myself. I think it really helped!
ReplyDeleteFor this assignment I started improving with my voice instead of my violin. To be honest, improvising on the violin scares the crap out of me! I have done a couple of improvisation workshops for violin but it still sometimes makes me nervous. So I decided to start with voice first (and even though I can't sing I sometimes wish I was a vocalist :). I don't know if I could say if it is fun to improvise yet- it still makes me nervous. But I do think that these exercises will be helpful. I really love listening to Chelsea Green and Regina Carter (jazz violinist) and I have tried to listen and learn some of my favorite songs by them. A lot of the music is improvised so even though I have learned the basics of a song or two I will need to work on the improvised sections. So I think that these exercises will be very helpful in the future!!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed improving and coming up with songs. I think it would be a good way to start to compose music. Taking the improve and creating music from it I think would make something new.
ReplyDeleteI've been messing around with the 16 beat pattern since we learned it in class. There's something about its structure and simple hand movements that really calms me down. Occasionally, when I'm feeling anxious or stressed, I'll find myself gently tapping the pattern on my fingers and thinking through basic rhythms. It's been calming and I can see myself using it as a relaxation technique for a long time.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm alone, I always feel so much better improvising, and can actually come up with some pretty cool stuff. I also always feel so much more comfortable when I don't have to improvise TO something - by this I mean when there's nothing else going on that I have to sound good with. Because this is what I did alone in the practice room, I felt very comfortable improvising and I actually grew to really really like it. When I don't have a structure or background music I need to follow, improv can be really fun for me.
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