Klarinet Archive - Posting 000354.txt from 1997/06

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
Subj: Posted to the wrong list. For Frank Garcia
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 17:44:38 -0400

> From: MX%"david@-----.64
> Subj: Re: Frank Garcia asks about classical improvisation

> I think you posted this to the wrong list.
>
> -- David
>
>
>
> >Date: Fri, 20 Jun 97 08:48:57 -0400
> >From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
> >To: "About Missionaries and Us" <m-debate@-----.il>
> >Reply-To: m-debate@-----.il
> >Subject: Frank Garcia asks about classical improvisation
>
> >
> >Frank, the biggest problem that arises when speaking about this
> >subject is that there is no useful, practical instructional
> >information about how to do it. In the absence of any guidelines
> >whatsoever, most players simply go nuts when given the opportunity
> >and what comes out is the Carnival of Venice variations with
> >triple-tonguing finale.
> >
> >Bob Levin and I have been considering the possibility of creating
> >a college text on "The Art of Classical Improvisation" but it
> >would take five years before we could come out with it.
> >
> >I am reminded of a movie made in the 1950s starring Kirk Douglass
> >and Doris Day, called "Young Man With a Horn" in which Douglass,
> >playing the legendary trumpeter, Bix Beiderbeck (sp. ?)watches
> >a New Orleans dixieland band when he is about 16.
> >
> >Beiderbeck asks the trumpet player, "How do you do that?" meaning,
> >of course, how do you invent music spontaneously, based on a
> >known tune, though he does not articulate his question in any
> >way this specific.
> >
> >The cornet player with the band smiles, and says, "Son. You
> >just got to feel it." At this point Beiderbeck must feel it
> >because he plays 48 straight choruses of Royal Garden Blues.
> >
> >Now a scene like this encourages musicians to believe that
> >improvisation is not a learned skill, that somehow one is
> >born with an improvisation gene, and without one you are
> >doomed to failure.
> >
> >Not so. There are books on baroque improvisation and jazz
> >improvisation, clear evidence that the skill can be acquired.
> >But in the absence of very much in the classic era (I know of
> >only two articles, one by Levin and one by me, and a chapter
> >in a book on Mozart piano concerti by Badura Skoda that tells
> >one exactly what to look for) willingness is not enough.
> >
> >I can only tell you what I did to learn the style. I
> >studied all the Mozart piano concerti to see how he
> >ornamented his own music. True, that is written down
> >ornamentation, but after a while I got a pocket full
> >of ornaments that Mozart did on this or that occasion
> >and I began to use them. I would figure out 10 different
> >pickups for a certain passage, practice them all, and then,
> >during performance pick one out at the instant where
> >I had to play.
> >
> >After a while, I wasn't preparing any longer, and I was
> >departing from the specific examples that Mozart had used.
> >Finally, I wasn't thinking about it any longer, just
> >doing it. And in my own defense, I never did it very
> >elegantly, just competently. You really need a kind
> >of imaginative talent that I did not have, but that
> >a guy like Levin did.
> >
> >I once played a gig with Larry Combs and suggested
> >improvisation to him, and withing 5 seconds he had
> >mastered the style and was a whiz at imagining
> >good ornaments.
> >
> >But the key element is knowledge. When I read about
> >someone talking about "the cadenzas" in K. 622, I
> >develop the belief that the person needs a much better
> >musical education in music of that period before s/he
> >is ready to even attempt the act.
> >
> >
> >=======================================
> >Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
> >Rosanne Leeson, Los Altos, California
> >leeson@-----.edu
> >=======================================
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=======================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
Rosanne Leeson, Los Altos, California
leeson@-----.edu
=======================================