Author: Jeffrey Agrell
Date: 2005-09-09 02:38
Here is a wild and crazy idea - from the composer of Blues for DD. I agree that jazz is a stretch for the oboe - that's why I wrote the Blues - but there is another way. The circle for improvisation is much bigger than the circle for jazz. There are many ways to improvise that do not involve jazz styles. There is a widespread misconception that improv means jazz and jazz means blizzards of 16th notes. No. Improvisation means only making your own decisions about what to play. A whole note can be an improvisation. I teach a course at the University of Iowa in Improvisation for Classical musicians. We make up music in various ways - a great gumbo of different instruments to gether - none of which involve jazz (we don't exclude jazz, but there is another course that teaches the style) - all semester, and we give a concert made up on the spot at the end. Think in terms of games, and explore your own ways to invent music that is all yours. Here are a couple: start with a group of 2-8; have one person (a conductor?) establish a beat or pulse (not a meter; it doesn't matter what meter each person chooses). Each person plays a brief ostinato that fits this pulse (in any meter), using 2-4 notes. One person plays a cantabile solo over this energetic background on a scale (or preferable a subset of the scale) of choice. The soloist, staying comfortable and in control, tells a story - beginning, middle, and end, and at some point nods to the next person, who becomes the solist, as the old solist joins the accompaniment with an ostinato. The ostinato notes may be 1) from a scale 2) any notes. The ostinato players may also choose to create the ostinato using mouth noises, body percussion, small percussion instruments (e.g. claves, shaker), or voice. Or switch. The ostinato player can and should switch to new ostinatos when a new soloist takes over. This game can also be played using two soloists, who should listen closely to each other and relate.
You could also do this, as a duet: pick a less familiar scale (e.g. F#, Db, Eb harmonic minor, whole tone, etc). One person plays some kind of accompaniment figure (e.g. oom pah 1-5 as in a march) and the other person, staying in control - experiments creating melodies in the style of the accompaniment. It's much more fun to practice technique with a partner!
My course pack will be come a book some time, and I hope it will then serve as a resource to classical players everywhere who would like to get in on the fun and benefits of improvisation (but who don't want to play jazz necessarily). In the meantime, read Free Play, by Stephen Nachmanovitch. It'll change your life. Quote: How do you improvise? Answer: What's stopping you?
Start now, today, with one beautiful note. Put on a CD, turn it up loud, play along. Play familiar tunes by heart, and decorate them. Grab a friend (any instrument) and practice improv technique together.
And while you're at it, check out www.soundpainting.com
Jeff Agrell
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