Chapter 3 Suggestions for Use One of the great joys of being an improviser is that: | can play with practically any musician in the world. It is like being fluent in dozens of languages. —Matthew Barley? 1. Semester Course: Introduction to Improvisation for Classical Musicians The NASM and MENC require improvisation study; this book finally makes possible an alternative to jazz as the only approach to improvisation. The games in this collection can be used to build a semester course in improvisation for classical musicians. It is an ideal way to introduce students who have had no improvisation training but who would like to learn the basics. How the class is structured 's up to the instructor (who may or may not be learning improvisation along with the students. There isa first time for everything). We have done the class a bit differently every year at Iowa as we gain experience and try new ideas. Planning a schedule is a good idea, but the instructor should be ready to alter the plan at any time according to the needs of the class. Keep in mind also that the games that worked marvelously one year may fall flat the next with a new group and a new assortment of instruments, and vice attitude, and abilities; but the broad spectrum of games in this collection (plus the opportunity to invent new ones) leaves the instructor in a good position to plan a balanced and varied schedule. In any case, the following are some ideas that an instructor might consider when planning: sa. Each class has its own personality, * Class size. The higher the enrollment, the less each player gets to participate. The absolute ideal might be eight or twelve, but sixteen works well, especially if you have access to several rooms for dividing occasionally into smaller groups (see the next item) * Ivis ideal to have several rooms available. Our course has access to four, which works well with an enrollment of sixteen (four quartets, two octets). The first two weeks of the semester we do only whole-class games. After that we alternate between quartets, octets, and the whole group. The most important unit, however, is the duet, allowing for maximum participation and feed- back. Some of the whole-class, quartet, or octet games are “serial duets,” with those not playing providing a very valuable resource: the audience (also a source of feedback). Students are informed that they must spend a good bit of their at-home practice time working in teams of two to get maximum benefit from their practice. 4 herpy//wwwamatthewbarley.comImprovisation Games for Classical Musicians ‘The instructor and the TA play with the students in the small group sessions, moving from group to group. For example, in quartets, each group will have the instructor or TA with them for half the period. Record student performances often. Students are advised to bring recording devices (iPods, e.g., can be fitted with inexpensive microphones) to record themselves during class and are advised to record themselves at home. Play recordings in class and discuss what worked and what didn’t. Small groups are pre-assigned. There are four sessions during the semester, and each session has groups with different mixes of players. Each group has a Leader who is assigned from the quartet on a rotating basis. The Leader is responsible for organizing and leading the games, and perhaps selecting some of the games. Later in the semester, Leaders can be expected to invent games as well. Games can be assigned for each of the small group sessions, either specifically or generally. A general assignment might be that the group must play one game in each of the following categories during the hour: Rhythm, Melody, Harmony (or Bass Line), Free Choice, and a free piece (no discussion, just play, listen and make a piece). Making specific game assignments ensures that everyone experiences the same game. A combination of the two is possible, with the instructor assigning several games, letting the Leader pick one game of free choice. Groups of any size should follow an improvisation with a short discussion of what worked and what didn’t and what could have been done to improve the piece. It is not particularly useful to talk about likes or dislikes. It is more useful to ask if the group achieved 50/50 unity or “told a story” in creating a piece that had a beginning, middle, and an end. An audience's reaction should also be considered—if you can’t make a piece interesting enough to keep their attention, something needs to change. Students are required to keep log books of their home practice to keep them accountable in their practice time. Along with this collection of games, the required text for the course is Free Play by Stephen Nachmanovitch. Several articles are also required reading. Although most class time is reserved for improvising, discussions on the reading material are held occasionally. Brief one-two essay question quizzes are checks on article reading comprehension. Several improvisation “compositions” are assigned: Bricolage and Body Percussion (see Composition Games). The students give a public concert of an improvised piece at the end of the semester. Although the thought of this is terrifying at the beginning of the semester, by a month or so before the concert, most students can’t wait to get out there and show what they can do. Have a duffle bag or two (or three) full of small percussion instruments (things that shake and clank and thunk), Having some skinhead drums (e.g. djembe, dombek, bongos) and slit drums on hand is also a distinct plus. Some kind of percussion can be added to nearly any improvisation, and students are expected to be able to do rudimentary improvisation on simple percussion instruments, piano, and voice as well as their primary instrument. Having some percussion “toys” around also takes care of the problem of having more pianists than pianos,er 3: Suggestions for Use at the beginning of the semester, it pays to spend a good bit of time on purely rhythmic ter of fact, classical music students’ rhythmic sense almost always needs improvisation. As an good deal of extra reinforcement. * Students need to pay special attention to aural skills, but not the kind usually learned in theory + music history. They need to leam to hear as composers, to be able to hear a snippet of melody ale steps, then find the notes and (played by themselves or a partner) and aurally identify s mmediately play them back on their instrument. Work on this early and often, but start very simply (see Call-and-Response Games). It is also good if they hear some live examples—you or ests, for instance. CD listening for examples can also be good, but it has a built-in problem: and sounds the same every time. Most of the recorded recorded music is ustally too “perfect, examples we use are from improvisers I know or myself * Traditional studies have something of a disconnect bevween technical exercises and playing. ving, Students need to learn the value of working on scales as music (ie., with variations, rhythms, ins of developing a embellishments, articulations, etc.) and learning patterns in all keys as a mea broad vocabulary of melodic possibilities that can be executed effortlessly and automatically on the instrument. * Soundpainting is a kind of real-time improvisational composition that uses a system of gestures developed over several decades by New York composer, conductor, and performer Walter Thompson. It is a very effective way for classical musicians to learn to improvise. The best way to learn it is from another Sound-painter, but the basics can be acquired from the manual and ic gestures). Wi use DVD available at www.soundpainting.com (see Resources for a list of bas Soundpainting (and Soundpainting-derived games) nearly every day with the whole group, and we always have a Soundpainting piece in the final concert ird of the semester: © Warm-up games um Circles (see Resources for recommended books) * Call-and-Response games (many types) * Soundpainting (see www.soundpainting.com) * Hand Drills (acquiring some facility and fluency in tapping rhythms, being able to beat both consistent and steady duple as well as triple patterns, and add accents) * Body percussion (clapping, slapping, stomping, mouth noises, ete.) * Be able to produce (extreme) contrasts in music. * Perform students’ Bricolage and Body Percussion pieces. * Begin work on technique (patterns, scales, arpeggios, etc.) in all keys and in other scale types * Duets with the instructor and with each other * Listen to recordings of students Middle third (continuing most of the above while adding these) * Matching games (match, imitate, echo what you hear) © Play familiar tunes by heart; change modes, add embellishments and variations. * Play over drone (unpulsed, pulsed) * Ostinati. Be able to build, hold, and change an ostinato figure