Improvisation: Beginning Level
Before we look at doing/performing improvisation, we need to look and understand what it is. Improvisation is defined as "composing and performing or delivering without previous preparation; extemporize:
to improvise an acceptance speech." Another definition says, "to compose, play, recite, or sing (verse, music, etc.) on the spur of the moment." Both definitions share the idea the improvisation is something that is not practiced and is done with no preparation. Personally, while I agree with both definitions, I think both are flawed. Each definition sounds like a person just makes something up on the spot and while improvisation SOUNDS like it is made up on the spot, it is rare to find a musician who has the incredible natural ability to make something up on the spot that sounds good. Normally, it takes years of training and study for most musicians to be able to improvise off of any type of tune.
In this class, we don't have many years. We have weeks so the odds that you are going to be improvisation masters by the end of this class, or even by the end of this year is probably next to impossible. That doesn't mean I am not going to try and at least give you some background into how improvisation works.
to improvise an acceptance speech." Another definition says, "to compose, play, recite, or sing (verse, music, etc.) on the spur of the moment." Both definitions share the idea the improvisation is something that is not practiced and is done with no preparation. Personally, while I agree with both definitions, I think both are flawed. Each definition sounds like a person just makes something up on the spot and while improvisation SOUNDS like it is made up on the spot, it is rare to find a musician who has the incredible natural ability to make something up on the spot that sounds good. Normally, it takes years of training and study for most musicians to be able to improvise off of any type of tune.
In this class, we don't have many years. We have weeks so the odds that you are going to be improvisation masters by the end of this class, or even by the end of this year is probably next to impossible. That doesn't mean I am not going to try and at least give you some background into how improvisation works.
A Short History Lesson
Improvisation has been happening for a long time. We can trace improvised music back to the prehistoric time and most historians agree that because there was no widely used notation system for music until about 600AD, most performed music was passed down through generations by performance which led to performers often improvising off of melodies they were taught or that they heard.
Today, when we think of improvisation, we usually associate it with Jazz Music or within solo sections of pop music. Instrumentalists that perform these types of pieces have to practice a lot... like 5+ hours a day. You will not get good at improvisation with just a few minutes of practice a day. Jay Kauka who used to play for the Hawaiian group Kanilea Collection told me that when he was learning how to improvise, he would literally sleep with his instrument. After I gave him a funny look, he explained that he would play all day and when he got tired, he would put his guitar next to him, sleep, and when he woke up again, he would keep practicing. When I asked him about practice, he said he knew he had enough practice when his fingers started bleeding!!
A book (that I can't remember the title for) talked about Robert Johnson who is considered the greatest jazz musician that ever lived. I have put a link on his name. Please read the first two paragraphs in Wikipedia. Robert Johnson was one of the best guitarists that has ever lived. When he was alive, rumor had it that he sold his soul to the devil to get is skills. He is credited with helping spread bluegrass and ragtime music which eventually evolved into Jazz music in the early 1900s.
When Jazz Musicians today learn how to improvise, there are a number of things they do to practice which are listed below:
1) Listen to a lot of Jazz recordings. By listening to recordings, you can get a better feel for the style that the particular artist had. Being able to imitate the style of different artists was considered important in helping you discover your own style. After listening, try and play along with the recording so you get an even better feel of the music.
2) Figure out other people's solos. This is a type of reverse engineering. When you can learn to play other people's solos, you start to gather ideas that you can use on your own. These ideas usually take the form of short rhythmic motifs that you can use in succession as your play your solo(s).
3) One you can play a solo, practice it in as many keys as you can. The ability to play in a large number of keys not only makes you a better musician, but it also gives you the ability to solo with just about anyone at any time since you never know what key someone is going to ask you to perform in.
Sadly, we don't have time to do all of these things so Mr. Masaki has found a few short cuts. Part of the reason why people had to listen to a lot of Jazz and practice with the recordings is so they get used to the structure of the music. Fortunately, though music theory, we have discovered that a vast majority of Jazz music follows the same pattern!! One of the original styles of Jazz music was called the 12 Bar Blues. It was called this because it consisted of 12 measures that repeated over and over again with the same chord progression as follows....
| I | I | I | I | IV | IV | I | I | V | IV | I | I |
(Every Roman numeral is one measure)
(It is possible to add a 7th to every chord in this progression to give it a different feel.)
In the key of C, this would look like....
| C | C | C | C | F | F | C | C | G | F | C | C |
Because the chord progression never changed, someone could tell you they were going to sing a 12 bar blues song and without having heard it, you could still play along provided you had enough knowledge or practiced experience to know what was going to happen. Similarly, because the chord progression never changed, it made it easier to play and improvise solos. The soloist always knew when the chord would change and while the solo might have been improvised, provided they had enough practice and experience, it wasn't too hard to figure out solos within this given pattern. The video below shows what 12 bar blues sounds like.
Today, when we think of improvisation, we usually associate it with Jazz Music or within solo sections of pop music. Instrumentalists that perform these types of pieces have to practice a lot... like 5+ hours a day. You will not get good at improvisation with just a few minutes of practice a day. Jay Kauka who used to play for the Hawaiian group Kanilea Collection told me that when he was learning how to improvise, he would literally sleep with his instrument. After I gave him a funny look, he explained that he would play all day and when he got tired, he would put his guitar next to him, sleep, and when he woke up again, he would keep practicing. When I asked him about practice, he said he knew he had enough practice when his fingers started bleeding!!
A book (that I can't remember the title for) talked about Robert Johnson who is considered the greatest jazz musician that ever lived. I have put a link on his name. Please read the first two paragraphs in Wikipedia. Robert Johnson was one of the best guitarists that has ever lived. When he was alive, rumor had it that he sold his soul to the devil to get is skills. He is credited with helping spread bluegrass and ragtime music which eventually evolved into Jazz music in the early 1900s.
When Jazz Musicians today learn how to improvise, there are a number of things they do to practice which are listed below:
1) Listen to a lot of Jazz recordings. By listening to recordings, you can get a better feel for the style that the particular artist had. Being able to imitate the style of different artists was considered important in helping you discover your own style. After listening, try and play along with the recording so you get an even better feel of the music.
2) Figure out other people's solos. This is a type of reverse engineering. When you can learn to play other people's solos, you start to gather ideas that you can use on your own. These ideas usually take the form of short rhythmic motifs that you can use in succession as your play your solo(s).
3) One you can play a solo, practice it in as many keys as you can. The ability to play in a large number of keys not only makes you a better musician, but it also gives you the ability to solo with just about anyone at any time since you never know what key someone is going to ask you to perform in.
Sadly, we don't have time to do all of these things so Mr. Masaki has found a few short cuts. Part of the reason why people had to listen to a lot of Jazz and practice with the recordings is so they get used to the structure of the music. Fortunately, though music theory, we have discovered that a vast majority of Jazz music follows the same pattern!! One of the original styles of Jazz music was called the 12 Bar Blues. It was called this because it consisted of 12 measures that repeated over and over again with the same chord progression as follows....
| I | I | I | I | IV | IV | I | I | V | IV | I | I |
(Every Roman numeral is one measure)
(It is possible to add a 7th to every chord in this progression to give it a different feel.)
In the key of C, this would look like....
| C | C | C | C | F | F | C | C | G | F | C | C |
Because the chord progression never changed, someone could tell you they were going to sing a 12 bar blues song and without having heard it, you could still play along provided you had enough knowledge or practiced experience to know what was going to happen. Similarly, because the chord progression never changed, it made it easier to play and improvise solos. The soloist always knew when the chord would change and while the solo might have been improvised, provided they had enough practice and experience, it wasn't too hard to figure out solos within this given pattern. The video below shows what 12 bar blues sounds like.
Improvisation Project for Beginners
For this project, you will either work by yourself or with a partner and you will do your best to improvise 8 measures of music (assume 4/4 time). It needs to SOUND improvised but it doesn't have to be improvised (at last not yet). Here is your assignment....
Step 1) Find a two chord progression in any key that you want to play in. You really only have two options for this in terms of chord progression and that would be:
| I | V | OR | I | IV |
The biggest problem with this step is figuring out the key since the answer to the progression has already been given to you. (You are welcome.) (Believe it or not there are a large number of two chord songs in existence. You can find a bunch of them here: http://www.guitarhabits.com/top-30-easy-guitar-chord-songs-beginners/)
Step 2) Play the chords slowly and listen to your chord progression over and over until you know it really well. You need to know the progression so well, that without looking, when someone plays you a given chord, you should be able to identify it as I or IV/V. You should also be able to feel what measure you are on. Even if there are only two chords, you will want to group these chords in a four measure phrase. Create the phrase by altering the rhtyhm in the fourth measure.
Step 3) Figure out your solo. You can choose to do this two ways:
Right Brained Method- As you listen to the chords, imagine the notes that you could play with these chords and figure it out on your instrument. This is your solo so you can do whatever you want, but you will find that certain notes sound better than others.
Left Brained Method- Look at your chords and figure out what notes work best within the chords. Remember you want to play chord tones on strong beats and non-chord tones on weak beats. This is your solo so you can do whatever you want but you will find that the chord tons on strong beats will tend to work better than non-chord tones.
Remember, no matter what, this is YOUR solo and you can literally do whatever you want.
If you are by yourself or you and your partner cannot play an instrument that plays chords, use Garage Band to setup the chord progression for you or if you have a computer, use the Jam Studio website to help you. If you need help in Garage Band, ask Makua, another peer or Mr. Lawi. If you need help with Jam Studio, ask Mr. Masaki. Please remember that Jam Studio does NOT work on the iPad.
Step 4) Perform your solo for the class on your instrument. If you don't want to perform your solo for the class live, you can choose to record it in Acapella.
Step 5) You will not be graded harshly for this project. Provided you do it and attempt a solo, you will be judged by your peers and Mr. Masaki.
Step 1) Find a two chord progression in any key that you want to play in. You really only have two options for this in terms of chord progression and that would be:
| I | V | OR | I | IV |
The biggest problem with this step is figuring out the key since the answer to the progression has already been given to you. (You are welcome.) (Believe it or not there are a large number of two chord songs in existence. You can find a bunch of them here: http://www.guitarhabits.com/top-30-easy-guitar-chord-songs-beginners/)
Step 2) Play the chords slowly and listen to your chord progression over and over until you know it really well. You need to know the progression so well, that without looking, when someone plays you a given chord, you should be able to identify it as I or IV/V. You should also be able to feel what measure you are on. Even if there are only two chords, you will want to group these chords in a four measure phrase. Create the phrase by altering the rhtyhm in the fourth measure.
Step 3) Figure out your solo. You can choose to do this two ways:
Right Brained Method- As you listen to the chords, imagine the notes that you could play with these chords and figure it out on your instrument. This is your solo so you can do whatever you want, but you will find that certain notes sound better than others.
Left Brained Method- Look at your chords and figure out what notes work best within the chords. Remember you want to play chord tones on strong beats and non-chord tones on weak beats. This is your solo so you can do whatever you want but you will find that the chord tons on strong beats will tend to work better than non-chord tones.
Remember, no matter what, this is YOUR solo and you can literally do whatever you want.
If you are by yourself or you and your partner cannot play an instrument that plays chords, use Garage Band to setup the chord progression for you or if you have a computer, use the Jam Studio website to help you. If you need help in Garage Band, ask Makua, another peer or Mr. Lawi. If you need help with Jam Studio, ask Mr. Masaki. Please remember that Jam Studio does NOT work on the iPad.
Step 4) Perform your solo for the class on your instrument. If you don't want to perform your solo for the class live, you can choose to record it in Acapella.
Step 5) You will not be graded harshly for this project. Provided you do it and attempt a solo, you will be judged by your peers and Mr. Masaki.