Improvisation Is Elementary: It s all about Readiness! Heather Nelson Shouldice Eastern Michigan University heathershouldice@gmail.com I.Importance of Improvisation AND Readiness! A. Why Improvise? B. The Trouble with Improvisation... C. Opening Activity: Unfinished Song D. Audiation - means the hearing and comprehension of music in the mind. - involves a sense of tonal/rhythm syntax. - is the ability to think in music. - involves prediction. E....Sense of Tonal/Rhythmic Context F. Vocabulary! - Language/Music Learning= Parallel Processes! - 5 vocabularies: Listening, Speaking, Thinking/Conversing, Reading, Writing Developing Readiness for Improvisation (Tonal/Rhythm Vocabulary ) 1) Repertoire of songs and chants (listening and performing by ear) 2) Sense of context/syntax (resting tone, macrobeat/microbeat) 3) Tonal patterns and rhythm patterns (with and without solfege/syllables) 4) Harmonic progression (chord roots/chord tones) 5) Individual response! NAfME 2013-1
II.Aural/Oral Readiness and Creativity/Improvisation A. Rhythm Readiness and Creativity/Improvisation 1. Macrobeat/Microbeat (neutral syllables) 2. Rhythm Pattern Vocabulary (neut. syll.) 3. Rhythm Pattern Creating (neut. syll.) - Charlie the Fish, Hickety Pickety - Rhythm conversation- Peepers finger puppets B.Tonal Readiness and Creativity/Improvisation 1. Resting Tone (neutral syllables) NAfME 2013-2
2. Tonal Pattern Vocabulary (neut. syll.) 3. Tonal Pattern Creating (neut. syll.) - High High Hill- student on the hill sings a pattern for class to echo. - Tonal pattern conversation C.Simple Melodic Creativity/Improvisation *When improvising: Model - Audiate - Whole Group - Individuals 1. Create/improvise new responses to call & response songs 2. Create/improvise new endings to familiar songs NAfME 2013-3
3. Create/improvise an answer - Antecedent/consequent phrases on neutral syllables - Big Grey Shark- melodic conversation - Seashell 4. Create/improvise melody for a familiar chant - Engine, Engine- You sing phrases 1 & 3; students sing phrases 2 & 4. Students sing phrases 1 & 3; you sing 2 & 4. Students sing all phrases. D.Harmonic Readiness and Creativity/Improvisation 1. Chord Roots (neut.syll.) - High High Hill, Valentine 2. Create/improvise melodies over chord roots/harmonic progression - I See the Moon - Nanny Goat III. Creating or Improvising? What s the Difference? NAfME 2013-4
IV. Verbal Association Readiness and Creativity/Improvisation A. Rhythm Readiness and Creativity/Improvisation 1. Macrobeat/Microbeat with Syllables/Identify Meter - Engine, Engine- trains, switching game 2. Rhythm Pattern Vocabulary with Syllables - Charlie the Fish - Hickety Pickety 3. Associate Syllables to Rhythm Patterns - Charlie the Fish - Hickety Pickety 4. Improvise Rhythm Patterns with Syllables - Charlie the Fish - Hickety Pickety 1) Teacher is cat; student is mouse. 2) One student is cat; another student is mouse. 1) Student improvises rhythm with syllables; class echoes. 2) Student improvises rhythm on bah ; class chants with syllables. ** can also change both My Mother, Your Mother and Little Rondo to triple meter! NAfME 2013-5
B.Tonal Readiness and Creativity/Improvisation 1. Resting Tone with Solfege/Identify Tonality - Valentine, Joe Do/Mona La 2. Tonal Pattern Vocabulary with Solfege 3. Identify Tonal Pattern Function -shake on tonic, high-five on dominant 4. Associate Solfege to Tonal Patterns - translate - tonic/dominant separately at first 5. Improvise Tonal Patterns with Solfege - Morphing Marty - Hello Everybody- improvise a tonic on handshake - Replace parts of familiar songs- Valentine, Love Somebody NAfME 2013-6
C.Harmonic Readiness and Creativity/Improvisation 1. Chord Roots/Chord Tones with Solfege - Biddy Biddy - Hello Everybody - Valentine 2. Improvise melodies over harmonic function/progression Biddy, Biddy- 7 Step Process: a) Sing the melody. b) Sing the chord roots (or chord tones). c) Improvise rhythms on chord roots/chord tones. d) Improvise chord tones on macrobeats. e) Improvise chord tones on microbeats. f) Improvise chord tones on macro/micro. g) Add passing/neighbor tones, other rhythms, etc. 12-Bar Blues- 7 Step Process Lite a) Sing the chord roots (or chord tones). b) Improvise rhythms on chord roots (or chord tones) c) Sing arpeggiated chord tones. Label chord functions. d) Make up a melody! V. Extending Improvisation into Composition A. What IS Composition? (What ISN T it?) Composition refers to the act of creating new music with the intent of revising the created music to suit the composer s intentions. Improvisation, on the other hand, is the spontaneous creation of music without the intent to revise. It is this difference in intent to revise that marks the fundamental distinction between composing and improvising (Brophy, 2001, p. 34). **Improvise, replicate, revise! 1. Compose a melody for a familiar chant/poem. (Engine, Engine) a) Review the chant, moving to macrobeats & microbeats. b) Choose/establish tonality and sing tonal patterns. c) Invite students to create/improvise tonal patterns to use in the song, practicing each phrase as it is created. 2. Compose a melody for a poem over a harmonic progression a) Try chanting in duple & triple meters. Choose meter and practice. b) Chant in rhythm while playing tonic/dominant chords on a Q-chord/ autoharp in major and minor tonalities. Choose tonality and practice. c) Improvise a melody for each line of the poem, practicing each line until everyone can remember it. Perform melody with accompaniment. NAfME 2013-7
The Anteater (by Douglas Florian) The anteater s long and tacky tongue is snaking from its snout. A thousand termites riding in but no one riding out. 3. Write a Blues song! a) Review chord roots and improvising rhythms. Try playing chord roots and improvising rhythms on Orff instruments. b) Review chord tones & chord names. Try playing chord tones on Orff instruments. Create and play different arpeggiations of chord tones on Orff instruments. c) Review vocally improvising melodies. a) Discuss aab lyrics. b) Brainstorm topic and write lyrics in aab form. c) Chant lyrics in rhythm while playing chord tones on Orff instruments. d) Create a melody for each line of lyrics. Practice each line until everyone can remember it. Perform melody, accompanied by Orff instruments. e) Rehearse, perform, and record song. Creating an improvisation-friendly environment from day one... Sing and chant to your students. This will help develop listening vocabulary. Make individual response the norm in your classroom. Students need opportunities to perform alone in order to own their skills. Be a good model: Let kids see and hear you improvising! Be a good model: Let kids see and hear you MAKE MISTAKES. If they see that you are not afraid to explore and make mistakes, they won t be either! Resources Azzara, C. D. (1999). An aural approach to improvisation. Music Educators Journal, 86(3), 21-25. Azzara, C. D. & Grunow, R. F. (2006). Developing musicianship through improvisation. Chicago: GIA Publications. Bailey, J. (2002). Sing-to-kids songbook. **Contact Jennifer at singtokids@gmail.com (Books 1-2 available) Bolton, B. M. (2002). Musicianship. Bestbael Music. **Contact Beth at bolton.beth@gmail.com (Katangaroo also available) Bluestine, E. (2001). The ways children learn music. Chicago: GIA Publications. Brophy, T. J. (2001). Developing improvisation in general music classes. Music Educators Journal, 88(1), 34-41+53. Gordon, E. E. (2003). Improvisation in the music classroom. Chicago: GIA Publications. Taggart, C. C., Bolton, B. M., Reynolds, A. M., Valerio, W. H., & Gordon, E. E. (2000). Jump right in: The music curriculum. Chicago: GIA Publications. Gordon Institute for Music Learning: www.giml.org Alliance for Active Music Making: http://www.allianceamm.org NAfME 2013-8