Improv
From Catalyze
Contents |
What does it mean to improvise?
Participants
- Lisa Chu (convenor)
- Eugene Eric Kim
- Rayme Wells
- Tim Bonnemann
Notes
What does it mean to improvise?
- Making do with what you have
- Movement
- Making things up
Where do we improvise?
- Cooking
- Being late
Difference between improv and composing?
- Improv is in the moment; composing more structured, heady, planned
- Emergent (in emergencies!)
- Composing = editing; improv = in the moment
- What about "COMPOSITION IS A SNAPSHOT OF IMPROVISATION"? The Classical composer Haydn once said that he would receive a spontaneous flood of ideas that came to him and he would race to write them down within the tradition and structure of music at the time.
Long tradition of improv in organ music. Being in the moment lets you get into the deeper stuff.
Jazz has improvisation.
Somewhat related: Peter Herbolzheimer & band (anno 1974): Wild Chick
Exercises
Ahhs. - Moments of beauty emerge from a group when everyone is following their own breath, listening, playing (there are "NO WRONG NOTES"), and appreciating. We could feel in the group when we had reached particularly resonant harmonies. There was a collective enjoyment because we were all listening to every sound without judgment, PREPARED TO BE SURPRISED.
Instruments.
Rhythm. - Using a set of children's toy instruments, we had a great "conversation" in rhythms, with eyes closed and totally engaged listening.
Bells.
Instruments.
Reflections:
- Fun!
- Rhythm line helps a lot - This is called "THE GROOVE"...Be WILLING to be the groove. REPETITION is helpful.
- Conducting: Nonverbal communication
- Eyes closed versus open. For directive (bells w/ conductor), eyes open. For collective (the rest), eyes closed.
How can improvisation help with collaboration?
Improvisation IS collaboration. In order to improvise within a group, every member must be listening, listening, listening constantly. There is nonverbal, unspoken communication. Each person must contribute sound AND listen to what is being contributed by others. Also, listening outside the group - borrowing sounds from the environment, or from memories or prior knowledge - can also contribute to the group improvisation. Sometimes, there is a leader, as in our conducting exercise. In this case, the participants are keenly focused on decoding and following the BODY LANGUAGE and cues of the conductor, while the conductor is simultaneously imagining, giving directions, and listening back to what is produced by the participants. In other cases, where the group is SELF-ORGANIZING (without a clear "leader in front of the room"), each person takes a leadership role by offering/contributing sound AND listening to the sounds and space between the sounds. The cues are nonverbal and probably best described as being transmitted in the quality of collective listening by the group, and allowing a "group rhythm" to develop over time.
Improvisation is creation in motion.
