Adventures in Improv

Improvisation has never been one of my strengths as a performer. I would much rather read from a score -- even sight reading difficult material -- than make material up in the moment. I prefer to stay with my strengths. Sadly, it's not always possible to avoid improvisation. I have a humorous story to share with you that happened last month.

I received a phone call from my former church employer asking if I would consider "serenading" the youth group at their upcoming Valentine's Banquet. While I wasn't excited about going back to the church to play, I have fond memories of working with these students and thought it would be a fun way to connect with them briefly without making a long term commitment. My understanding of the request was that I would play 2 or 3 songs for the students before moving on to other aspects of the program. I was certainly in for a major surprise when I arrived at the site.

Upon entering the festivities, the coordinator gave me an agenda for the evening's event. The outline showed that I would begin playing upon the students' arrival and continue until the arrival of the entree! I would break for the meal and then resume playing for the remainder of the night. In my current line of work, I am not committing a large amount of repertoire to memory. For this particular event, I opted to load a few selections into my iPad rather than bringing multiple books. When all is considered, I had six pieces of music with me ---- and I needed to play for nearly 2 1/2 hours! I'm suddenly realizing that I am going to be doing a lot of improvising!

Now that I have found myself in this situation, there is no other choice than improv. It wasn't as painful as I expected (although it's still not something I want to repeat any time soon), but I also learned a few important things about successful improvisation.

• Maintain an awareness of harmonic structures. Before launching into anything TOO creative, I found it helpful to establish a key clearly in my mind. I would venture to the relative minor briefly and lay the groundwork for the use of secondary dominants. It was important to always know what key I was planning to work in and how things moved within that key.
• Keep the harmonic progressions simple! Since I am not an experienced improviser, it was important for me to stick to very basic progressions. Even though I used most of the same progressions throughout the night, I still found that I could achieve a variety of sounds by alternating the meter, tempo, and style of the music while repeating familiar (established) progressions.
• Allow the melody to guide your movement. As I played, I wasn't thinking about composing everything at once. I focused on a melodic line and allowed the tune I was hearing in my head to find its way to the keyboard. Since the basic chord progressions were simple, I found it fairly easy to provide harmonic support for the melody since I was employing pentatonic melodies for the most part. (Using pentatonic scales just made it easier to avoid unintentional modulations to other keys unexpectedly....a lesson I learned the hard way!)
• Relax and enjoy the music. I had to accept the fact that I didn't know what the music was going to sound like in advance. I couldn't be overly critical about fingerings or execution. I simply had to breathe and let the music flow. Once I convinced myself that I had enough information about music in my head to improvise successfully, I found it was actually rather fun.

Since I'm the improv novice, I welcome your comments. What are some of the most important things you tell someone as they begin to experiment with improvisation at the piano? How did you first discover the joy of improv as musician? Post your stories and ideas in the section below.

Organ Lessons? Really?

Throughout my life, I have told anyone that asked that I was a pianist. Occasionally I will play a keyboard if needed (even though I find myself kicking and screaming the entire time). I was never interested in learning to play harpsichord or organ. I'm not terribly fond of the sounds. In a way, I think I felt that I would be "cheating" in my love affair with the piano if I studied another instrument.  I've always been faithful to the piano....except for that one summer in college.....

Let's start with the truth. I absolutely hated my music theory professor. I thought he was arrogant and irritatingly condescending. (Nearly 20 years have passed and I still hold the same opinion.) My classmates and I always laughed at him as he played piano in class because it was horrible and terribly LOUD! His explanation was always that he was an organist.

In a moment of insanity, I decided to enroll in organ lessons during a summer session with this "wonderful" guy. I knew that the technique would be different and that it was a skill I might need in the future. I also wanted to see if the man's organ lessons were more entertaining or enlightening than his theory classes. Since there would be no jury exam at the end of the session, I thought I had nothing to lose.

The first lesson included a quick tutorial of the instrument, how to set stops (which I still don't fully understand), and the assignment of a couple of pieces. I have blocked the works from my mind; I do recall that one was a short fugue in the style of Bach while the other was by Emma Lou Diemer. Before he left me to practice, I was told to notice that both pieces were marked legato.

Left alone in the organ room, I realized I was in for a long summer. Lyrical fingering is not something that comes naturally. As I began to experiment with finger substitutions and unusual fingering patterns, I came face to face with some of the technical weaknesses I had ignored as a pianist. Things began to get better with a little bit of work.....but it would quickly fall apart. Now I had to figure out how to play the pedal line while maintaining what was going on in my hands! I was on board the Titanic, anxiously waiting for the proverbial glacier to put me out of my misery.

I don't know if it was grace, mercy, or humor that caused the professor to give me an A in organ for the summer. While I didn't learn much about organ performance, I did learn a lot about humility. What's brought these scenes back to my mind? In the past week, I have had three gigs come across my desk that all require playing the organ to some degree. There's a certain amount of trepidation even thinking about taking on the challenge. On the other hand, part of me feels as though there's part of my musical development that hasn't been completed. I find myself considering resuming organ lessons...and hoping for better results this time.

For every teacher, I think it's important to experience the unsettled feelings associated with attempting to obtain a new skill. It makes us more sympathetic as our students face similar challenges and it reminds us that patience, encouragement, and fun are some of the most powerful teaching tools in the teacher's arsenal.

It's a Question of Interpretation

Today was one of my favorite days to lecture in my music appreciation class.  It's still very early in the semester and everyone is getting to know each other.  As we continued our preliminary examination of music, we found ourselves face to face with melody.

The reason I love this lecture is because I finally get to let my sense of humor come through momentarily. You see, a few years ago some singers introduced me to Florence Foster Jenkins' recording of the Queen of the Night aria from Mozart's The Magic Flute.  If you're not familiar with this historic recording, allow me to introduce it to you.

After playing this "wonderful" recording, I point out to the students that anyone can make a recording if they have enough money.  It's important as audience members that we separate an individual performance from the composer's intentions.  I am certain that Mozart rolls in his grave each time this recording is played!  I'm always happy to see the proverbial light bulb above most of the students' heads while I must simply shake my head at the few who simply do not get it!  Since I can't leave that sound in your ear, here's a much better recording of the aria by the amazing Rita Streich.

Techno Jeep!

A new semester began yesterday with 21 students (mostly concurrent high school students) and everyone seems to be engaged and looking forward to a fun class together.  That's definitely a change from the past few semesters I've taught!

As we discussed what constitutes music, I showed them an example of musique concrete.  This morning this video was sitting in my inbox from one of my high school students.  Isn't it amazing what these percussionists were able to accomplish with a jeep?  Great video!

Dinner Party

A former student of mine conducted an interview with me today for an introductory speech.  Nothing overly exciting about that.....I'm always happy to talk to my students and help them out when I can.  There was a question that was thought-provoking and one I had never been asked quite this way.

The question was phrased something like this.  Imagine that you were hosting a dinner party for two musicians -- a living performer and a dead composer.  Who would you want to invite and what would you serve for dinner?  I laughed about the last part of the question since I would probably end up ordering take out!  I knew the student was needing answers, so I gave a valid response off the cuff.  I have continued to think about the question and have really had some difficulty narrowing my response to just two people.

For the current performer, I'm leaning toward a conductor.....maybe Michael Tilson Thomas or Esa Pekka Salonen.  Both of these men give such riveting interpretations and appear to be both highly intelligent and delightful conversationalists. 

The composers have me in a pickle!  I would love to sit with Copland to talk about his approach to American music, but I also think it would be absolutely amazing to listen to Mozart or Stravinsky talk about the art of composition.  Wagner would be fascinating -- despite his personal philosophies about humanity, he certainly knew something about dramatic moments! That doesn't even begin to explore the wonderful possibilities.....Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Bach........the list could just go on and on.

Who would attend your dinner party?  What's on the menu?  I'm really anxious to hear your responses to this one!

Waking to a World of Music

Today marks the beginning of a new semester of music appreciation classes at MSCC in West Memphis, Arkansas.  I am really looking forward to this summer term as I am using it as an opportunity to try out some new approaches in a short-term setting.  If things go well, I will implement them into the regular course this fall.

As I reviewed my opening lecture last night, I was reminded of the concept that music is all around us.  I always look forward to showing the students a video recorded performance of 4'33".  It breaks the ice a little bit in this "super serious" class, but it also serves as a reminder that sounds are all around us -- just waiting to have their beauty discovered.

I suppose that is why I was so receptive to being awakened by a morning serenade.  Shortly after 6am this morning, work began outside my window.  The rhythmic banging of machinery provided an interesting accompaniment to the songs of two competing birds who have set up nests just outside my bedroom window.  Normally I would be horribly annoyed at such an early wake-up call, but this morning I found myself intrigued and strangely drawn to other musical sounds from my environment. 

I honestly hope that this pseudo-aleatory performance is a sign of how things will go for the next few weeks.  I really want to take a new look at music with fresh eyes and discover new treasures that had slipped into the background noise. 

When was the last time you stopped long enough to listen to the symphony of sounds playing all around you?  If you stop long enough, you just might be surprised at the masterpiece that will greet your spirit and your ears.

*Image by Vickie Warner - www.allaboutartgallery.com

A Change of Scenery

The New Year is bringing about lots of change in my world.  People have made resolutions that involve dieting, de-cluttering, and professional development.  One such resolution is effecting my music these days in a very positive way.

Like many recent college graduates in this economy, work has been difficult to find.  In an effort to eliminate some expense I am living in my parents' home.  When I moved home, the only place for my piano was in the family room. Needless to say, this arrangement did not allow for much practice time when my father was anxious to watch his favorite television program in the same room.

Yesterday I rearranged things and placed the instrument in my bedroom.  My hope was to move the piano into the dining room -- a room with less traffic that would permit me to move my piano studio into my home.  Despite knowing that this is not necessarily the final arrangement, I found myself rather disappointed.  In an effort to avoid some awkward situations that arose, I found myself practicing in my room.  Surprisingly, the new location produced a very desirable sound quality from the instrument and has sparked my creativity.  I have accomplished more quality rehearsal in the past two days than I have in the past two weeks! 

Have you experienced a similar phenomenon?  Has a rearranged room or change of physical location sparked a renewed motivation or varied your interpretation of a piece in some way? 

I am enjoying my new scenery so much that I have seriously contemplated purchasing a second instrument for the dining room so I can continue to practice in the acoustical Heaven that is my bedroom.

Musical Nightmares

With Halloween just a few days away, we are surrounded with images of the terrifying and frightening.  I tend to avoid focusing on the events of October 31 because the images have always frightened me.  To be honest, I am easily scared.  It would not be surprising to hear that there's a yellow streak running down my back.

As I think back over my years as a student, I realize that certain pieces have given me nightmares.  A few served as soundtracks to my own horrific nighttime dreams, but the normal source of my musical nightmares were pieces that were too difficult for me at the time.

The piece that immediately comes to mind is Chopin's F minor Fantasy.  I was first introduced to the piece as a college junior.  The Fantasy was to serve as the closing piece of my senior recital.  For various reasons, the piece continually got ignored during my lessons, but remained a major focus of my personal practice sessions.  This represented my first journey into the world of Chopin's larger works and I was extremely excited.

My excitement turned into panic when my professor discovered that I had practiced key passages of the piece incorrectly.  The resulting tension made it impossible to play the work in its entirety.  Rather than scraping the piece entirely, my teacher and I foolishly concurred that it was imperative to work on the piece since so much time had already been invested.

As the semester progressed, I was finally able to stumble through the entire work.  As I fretted over the technical demands, memorization became a new and seemingly insurmountable problem.  The recital hearing was a disaster and resulted in my first failing score as a piano student.

As you have probably assumed, the recital was completely restructured the following year.  Thankfully, the Chopin Fantasy was no longer part of the plan.  Since that horrible experience, I have attempted to revisit the piece on numerous occasions.  Sadly, the work is now firmly connected with feelings of apprehension and has yet to be successfully performed publicly.  I have come to accept the fact that this masterpiece may never have a place in my repertoire.

So that's the story of my musical nightmare and it continues to haunt me.  I don't think I'm the only one who has had one of these disasters, though.  I would love to hear your horrifying stories as well.  (What can I say?  Misery loves company!)