Why Free Improvisation?
(A first draft)
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.
We're constantly surrounded by music. It's on the radio, the TV, YouTube, restaurants, stores. It's even on our phones when we're on hold. I suppose some might think this is a delightful state of affairs. I do not.
I tend to agree with John Cage on this score. He 'composed' his 'Silent Prayer' in 1948 and attempted to sell it to the Muzak Company. The Muzak Company had just recently begun to sell their 'canned' music to shopping centers, restaurants, hotels and nearly every other indoor public space. Muzak was produced to be uniformly inoffensive and bland. Cage hated it. So, he wrote 'Silent Prayer' which is 3-4 minutes of silence and submitted it to the Muzak Company. They rejected it. About 4 years later, Cage presented his silent piece 4'33" and created one of the most important watershed moments in the history of music. More than 70 years after the first performance, people who consider music seriously are still debating whether that piece (4'33") is actually music.
I'm still unclear whether 4'33" is music, but that doesn't really matter. What's important is that it was an invitation to listen deeply and listening is one of the essential requirements of improvisation. Ubiquitous music does NOT invite us to listen. It is intended only as background. By presenting four minutes and thirty three seconds of silence, Cage invited us to listen deeply to everything around us.
The other essential ingredient to free musical improvisation is a willingness to express oneself without fear of judgement. Many people, particularly musicians, are frightened of improvising because they fear playing a 'wrong' note. For this reason, probably the biggest obstacle keeping people from improvising freely, is their own self-judgment. Free improvisation must start with the understanding that there are no wrong notes.