Skip to content

Improvisation

One Pitch, No Strict Tempo or Rhythm

  1. Designate a leader.
  2. The leader chooses a pitch and a hint. Examples of a hint might be: 'rain', 'radio static', 'crashing waves' or 'bee hive'
  3. All others play the same pitch without trying to match the tempo or rhythm of any other player. The pitch may be an octave higher or lower than the selected pitch.
  4. All players should listen to others and add to the sound creation based on the hint and what others are playing.
  5. All others watch the leader. When the leader has stopped playing for a period of time, all others also stop playing.

Limitations: All players must be able to match the given pitch or an octave from the given pitch, so this would not work when instruments cannot match that pitch.

Consistent repeated pitches, Varying Tempos and/or Rhythms

  1. Designate a leader.
  2. The leader suggests a hint. Examples of a hint might be: 'rain', 'radio static', 'crashing waves' or 'bee hive'.
  3. All others play a single pitch without trying to match the pitch of any other player.
  4. Players may try to match the tempo and/or rhythms of other players, but it is not required.
  5. All players should listen to others and add to the sound creation based on the hint and what others are playing.
  6. All others watch the leader. When the leader has stopped playing for a period of time, all others should also stop playing.

Note: Since players are not required to match pitches of any other players, this could be performed with instruments that do not produce precise pitches.

Shared pitches, No Strict Tempos or Rhythms

  1. Designate a leader.
  2. The leader selects 2 to 5 pitches and suggests a hint. Examples of a hint might be: 'conversation', 'argument', 'melange', 'confluence' or 'collage'.
  3. All others play one or more of the selected pitches without trying to match any tempos or rhythms other are playing.
  4. All players should listen to others and add to the sound creation based on the hint and what others are playing.
  5. All others watch the leader. When the leader has stopped playing for a period of time, all others should also stop playing.

Limitation: This requires that players have instruments that can match the selected pitches.

Why Free Improvisation?

Free musical improvisation is a kind of improvisation that is not based on any specific idiom. There are many kinds of improvisation that are tied to an idiom, including jazz, rock, folk and early music. These tend to follow chord changes, scales and rhythms associated with that idiom. Free improvisation is not tethered to any specific chords, scales or rhythms. In fact, some free improvisation may include sounds that are not normally associated with any music. I believe this kind of improvisation is important to nurture. Free improvisation provides those who participate and listen with an opportunity to connect to the basic motivation for making music [Needs more] rooted in free expression and creative collaboration. I would go so far as to say that, if there are many opportunities for free improvisation, more people would have advanced listening skills and a willingness to express themselves without fear of being judged (by themselves or by others). These are skills that could be applied in so many parts of our lives.