{"id":15,"date":"2010-02-24T14:15:37","date_gmt":"2010-02-24T14:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.joesamuel.co.uk\/?p=15"},"modified":"2011-01-18T22:23:43","modified_gmt":"2011-01-18T22:23:43","slug":"notes-on-improvisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joesamuel.co.uk\/wordpress\/2010\/02\/24\/notes-on-improvisation\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes on improvisation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Improvisation is become my main source of expression nowadays. I work closely with an improvised comedy troupe in Brighton called The Maydays<\/a>. \u00a0I am solely in charge of providing the music for anything that might happen on stage; songs, dramatic scenes, sound effects or general silliness! This has provided me with such an amazing base to work from. Their sense of comedy, timing and freedom to go wherever the mood takes us means that I can really explore some more interesting musical avenues that are not really accessible when sight-reading or straight accompanying.<\/p>\n

We tend to be so obsessed about recording everything now, yet some of the most precious experiences have come from creating something and then just letting it go. \u00a0Relying on my memories to appreciate experiences, rather than through the false lens or recording forces me to appreciate the act of creation itself. \u00a0You cannot retract what you do when improvising, there is no filtering or reviewing or criticising process other than that which happens in the present. \u00a0Often I will find myself playing something utterly different to what I expected, or even what I started to play.<\/p>\n

Improvising has also taught me to clear my mind of the babble of the head voice that likes to say, “This is going to be rubbish”, or “Bet you can’t come up with anything good”. \u00a0I find now that I can wait for the right moment to play and then just start playing. \u00a0Sometimes a theme will develop from one note, from a rhythm or from the performers on stage. \u00a0Often the verse of a song will be utterly different the second time round, but since when did all verses need to sound the same?<\/p>\n

I am fortunate in that I have perfect or absolute pitch which is the ability to recognise notes just from hearing them. \u00a0This means that I can play pretty much anything that is in my head, allowing me to concentrate more on the creation process rather than the performance. \u00a0However, I have worked with many of my students on improvisation and have a few tips for those wanting to improvise better…<\/p>\n

Do It!<\/span><\/h2>\n

Improvisation improves with practise just like anything else. \u00a0Often I hear my students say that they “can’t” improvise and so they do not try. \u00a0Anyone can improvise, after all we do it when we talk to people, sing in the shower, in fact we are improvising all the time. \u00a0There does not have to be any pretext, ceremony or hesitation, just sit at the piano or pick up your instrument and make some noise. \u00a0Improvisation is exploration and does not have to sound nice or make sense. \u00a0The more you play, the more you will find out what works for you and what doesn’t.<\/p>\n

Structure<\/span><\/h2>\n

With music, I find it enormously helpful to work within some kind of structure or constraint. \u00a0For example a simple chord sequence like C-am-D-G. \u00a0Once familiar with the basic feel of the chords, perhaps with the left hand, the right hand can begin to explore scales that might work well with those chords. As for the melody if there happens to be one, try working with just one or two notes and build an idea from there. \u00a0A motif <\/em>is simply an idea that is repeated and developed and it can be breathtakingly simple. \u00a0Take the famous start or Beethovens 5th..da da da dum! \u00a0This simple little rhythmic idea is propogated throughout the symphony, and you can bet that Beethoven spent hours at his piano exploring this idea (in fact he became rather obsessed with it!). \u00a0If you allow yourself to be free you will soon find that ideas start to appear from everywhere.<\/p>\n

“‘Tis a gift to be simple”<\/span><\/h2>\n

One of the hardest skills when improvising is to listen to the sound you are making. \u00a0Sounds silly but I often find myself trying to fill spaces in the music or over-complicating things when, if I actually stop to listen, I find that the simple ideas are the best. \u00a0Listen to one note, two notes together, the lowest note on a piano, find moods and emotions in the small details, and the rest will fall into place much more easily. \u00a0Love can be suggested by a slightly spread octave up high, villains by a random sequence of low octaves. \u00a0Ticking clocks, heartbeats, birds and trains can all be found in very simple ideas. \u00a0When I am on stage with the improvisers it is rare to come storming in with a very strong idea. \u00a0I would have to be sure I was making an intelligent choice. \u00a0Better to make an offer, a suggestion and then grow with the performer into something more substantial.<\/p>\n

Improvisation has no limits, it is not constrained by a musical score or a script. \u00a0By its very nature it sometimes fails spectacularly and I have learned from \u00a0The Maydays<\/a> to embrace those moments with as much commitment as the magical moments when everyone comes together. \u00a0This is not an art form for the faint-hearted or for the possessive, it relies on trust and freedom, and the rewards are massive.<\/p>\n

To find out more about improvisation check out \u00a0The Maydays<\/a> website, we offer courses in comedy and music. \u00a0Give it a go, it might just be the best thing you ever did.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Improvisation is become my main source of expression nowadays. I work closely with an improvised comedy troupe in Brighton called The Maydays. \u00a0I am solely in charge of providing the music for anything that might happen on stage; songs, dramatic … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joesamuel.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joesamuel.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joesamuel.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joesamuel.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joesamuel.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.joesamuel.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56,"href":"https:\/\/www.joesamuel.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15\/revisions\/56"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joesamuel.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joesamuel.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joesamuel.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}