To practice or not to practice
Date: 26/12/10
As improvisation is ‘of the moment’, can you practice the art? This is a tricky subject and one which I will return to in future blogs, but here are some initial thoughts. Now, to start with, many improvisers hold the view that it is impossible to practice improvisation. For example, saxophonist Evan Parker stated in Derek Bailey’s book Improvisation: Its Nature and Practice that the only practicing of improvisation one could do is either improvise or think about improvising. So, for Mr. Parker, as for many free improvisers, you are either improvising or not improvising. Enough said. Yet, on further investigation, almost all improvisers will admit to practicing or, at the very least, some kind of mental or instrumental preparation.
Guitarist and electronic improviser Keith Rowe is one musician who does no formal practice whatsoever with his instrument. But for Rowe it is an issue of aesthetics as he holds the view that practicing interferes with spontaneous expression in a performing situation. On the other hand Derek Bailey had a slightly more complex approach, considering that although practicing for ensemble improvisation was not possible, practicing for solo improvisation could be beneficial as a way of ‘improving the ability to improvise'. Bailey viewed the distinction between practicing and performing as a personal mental issue where practicing is regarded in a more analytical light than performing with the concentration focussed on detail. So whether a musician is 'practicing' or 'performing' is determined by the choice exercised by the performer prior to playing. Note, that so far nothing has been said about the audience - we'll come back to this later!!
An important thing to bear in mind when reading interviews with musicians on the issue of practicing improvisation is the question of motivation. The drive to practice varies greatly and includes factors such as character, intrinsic motivation, desire for rewards (status, distinction, money, etc), pleasurability of the activity or favoured activity levels. Put simply, some improvisers practice because they enjoy practicing and not because it is crucial to pursuing the art of improvisation.
As I said, in further blogs I'll come back to this issue and examine it in greater detail, looking at the approach of various players and teasing out some practical tips for anyone exploring improvisation for the first time.
• Fear (of looking a fool; of being unprepared)
Looking at the list, some are clearly relevant to free improvisers (and performers of experimental music in general) and some are of no use whatsoever. What if we go and ask experienced improvisers why they practice? Well, this is the obvious place to start, but it can be misleading and it is important to discover whether they play other generic kinds of music such as jazz or classical. If they do, it may not be possible to separate their life as a free improviser from other activities.
Date: 26/12/10
As improvisation is ‘of the moment’, can you practice the art? This is a tricky subject and one which I will return to in future blogs, but here are some initial thoughts. Now, to start with, many improvisers hold the view that it is impossible to practice improvisation. For example, saxophonist Evan Parker stated in Derek Bailey’s book Improvisation: Its Nature and Practice that the only practicing of improvisation one could do is either improvise or think about improvising. So, for Mr. Parker, as for many free improvisers, you are either improvising or not improvising. Enough said. Yet, on further investigation, almost all improvisers will admit to practicing or, at the very least, some kind of mental or instrumental preparation.
Guitarist and electronic improviser Keith Rowe is one musician who does no formal practice whatsoever with his instrument. But for Rowe it is an issue of aesthetics as he holds the view that practicing interferes with spontaneous expression in a performing situation. On the other hand Derek Bailey had a slightly more complex approach, considering that although practicing for ensemble improvisation was not possible, practicing for solo improvisation could be beneficial as a way of ‘improving the ability to improvise'. Bailey viewed the distinction between practicing and performing as a personal mental issue where practicing is regarded in a more analytical light than performing with the concentration focussed on detail. So whether a musician is 'practicing' or 'performing' is determined by the choice exercised by the performer prior to playing. Note, that so far nothing has been said about the audience - we'll come back to this later!!
An important thing to bear in mind when reading interviews with musicians on the issue of practicing improvisation is the question of motivation. The drive to practice varies greatly and includes factors such as character, intrinsic motivation, desire for rewards (status, distinction, money, etc), pleasurability of the activity or favoured activity levels. Put simply, some improvisers practice because they enjoy practicing and not because it is crucial to pursuing the art of improvisation.
As I said, in further blogs I'll come back to this issue and examine it in greater detail, looking at the approach of various players and teasing out some practical tips for anyone exploring improvisation for the first time.
What is the point of Practicing?
Date: 29/01/11
In the previous blog I started looking at the issue of practicing for the free improviser. Following on from this, it may be instructive to look at the various reasons why musicians in any style might practice and think about how they relate to improvisation.
The following is a list, not exhaustive, of the reasons why a musician might engage in practice:
• Fear (of looking a fool; of being unprepared)
• Pride (Related to above, may be dangerous for an improviser)
• Preparation for a Competition (competition is possibly disastrous for an improviser and pointless in any case)
• To rehearse for a public or academic performance (Not so important for the improviser)
• For pleasure or the ‘sheer bloody hell of it’
• To build confidence
• To learn how to play a musical instrument
• To enhance or refine a newly acquired skill or to maintain existing skill-level
• As a form of training to improve interpersonal communication and group performance
• To advance spirituality through regular exercises
• To ‘deconstruct’ well-worn pathways – physical and aural (particularly useful to the free improviser)
• As mental preparation – viewing paintings, reading books
• To fix those parts of a scored or notated piece where the notation does not provide information (e.g. phrasing, attack, timbre, stylistic aspects, etc)
Looking at the list, some are clearly relevant to free improvisers (and performers of experimental music in general) and some are of no use whatsoever. What if we go and ask experienced improvisers why they practice? Well, this is the obvious place to start, but it can be misleading and it is important to discover whether they play other generic kinds of music such as jazz or classical. If they do, it may not be possible to separate their life as a free improviser from other activities.
On an individual level, an improviser has to be very clear of the ends to which the practice is directed. For example, 'fear-avoiding' as a reason for practicing by an improviser is almost impossible, since being fully prepared for a gig is an impossibility considering the nature of the art which specifically deals with the unknown. On the other hand, the aim of deconstructing learned patterns may be unique to the improviser and may be detrimental if you mix free improvisation with other forms of music!! Whereas the mainstream jazz or blues musician spends many hundreds or thousands of hours building a library of patterns to be used in specific circumstances, the free improviser is concerned with precisely the opposite. There is one aspect which many free improvisers share with their idiomatic colleagues and that is the need to construct a vocabulary. This is a personal thing which gives an improviser his/her unique ‘voice’. Where groups are concerned, however, free improvisation ensembles diverge drastically from their jazz colleagues. For most forms of jazz (including swing, bop, cool, etc) the vocabulary for the rhythm section players (bass/drums/piano or guitar) is relatively restricted and fairly well known and documented. For the free improviser (and to a certain extent free jazz) bassist or drummer, vocabulary has to be constructed from the ground up.
In future blogs we’ll look more closely at the approaches an improviser can take to practicing.
Various Approaches to Practicing
Various Approaches to Practicing
Date: 26/05/11
Since we know that many improvisers practice, what approaches do they adopt? Many of the practice routines of improvisers revolve around developing the ability to engage in the process of improvisation. It’s a bit like being a medieval achemist!! In the same way that alchemists were disinterested in the material results of the production of gold (of what use were mere material possessions!), improvisers are disinterested in creating a complete notated ‘composition’ for the future. As I say, it’s a question of the process rather than a finished product.
- A continuity of involvement and ‘Improving the ability to Improvisation
Practice is often used to maintain an intimate ‘oneness’ with the instrument. Derek Bailey called this being ‘instrumentally fit’ in the sense of being instantly able to realise any sound on the instrument (in his case the guitar) at will. Mention has already been made regarding deconstruction of learned technique by practicing unusual and esoteric patterns. Nicolas Slonimski’s Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns has often been used for this purpose.
- The Experimenter
Percussionist John Stevens (of Spontaneous Music Ensemble fame) claimed that a personal exploration of your instrument is at least as important as the work done with a teacher. A musician motivated by to discover new sounds may well point to technical mastery as a reason for practicing. This has often taken the form of experimenting with unusual, found or self-constructed instruments. Exploration sometimes has a psychological dimension which, in the case of saxophonist Steve Lacey for example, took the form of a kind of ‘trip’ when he practised single notes or intervals for long durations.
- Mental Preparation as a form of practice
Listening to a diverse range of music in an attempt to encounter novel soundworlds is mentioned by some improvisers, whilst for improvisers such as painter and musician Alan Davie, visual art provided an important preparation for the act of musical creation. Mental preparation has sometimes involved a study of social or political philosophies. We can also look more closely at our ancient alchemists whose activities had a spiritual dimension where success could only be assured with a cleansed soul. Similarly, Cornelius Cardew in Towards an Ethic of Improvisation identified seven virtues which an improvising musician should develop: simplicity; integrity; selflessness; forbearance; preparedness (or awakeness); identification with nature; acceptance of death. Cardew proposed that a kind of training to develop these virtues should substitute for practicing.
Why do groups rehearse?
Date: 20/07/11
What about groups in improvisation? One of the paradoxes of improvised music is that although it allows greatly enhanced individual freedom of choice, this is often expressed within the discipline of a group context. So, straight away we are confronted by two questions. Firstly, although doubt exists about the possibility of individual practice for the improviser, even more scepticism surrounds group rehearsals. Secondly, opinion is further divided on the issue of group longevity. Some improvisation groups are amongst the longest lived in any genre of music with the members thriving on the rapport which familiarity allows. For others, one-off gigs and sessions are the answer.
But what possible good can regular rehearsals provide for a group where spontaneity is paramount? For permanent or semi-permanent ensembles, the following aims are identified as providing a rationale for rehearsing:
- The development of a ‘vocabulary’
Improvisers frequently mention the importance of developing set of personal performative tools and aesthetic concepts, or, put simply, a vocabulary. This material is never fixed and musicians constantly look to expand and develop their vocabulary. Whilst the solo improviser can focus on developing a personal vocabulary, in order for group interaction to work successfully, there must be a shared vocabulary and ultimately, a vocabulary which the group as a whole uses as a means of communication outside itself. Guitarist Keith Rowe has said that he considers a quartet as actually comprising five members; four human individuals plus the group as a whole!
- Communication.
Effective long term groups can develop what is known as ‘interactional synchrony’ as a result of becoming familiar with hearing or seeing their colleagues. This is sometimes described as being like a form of telepathy, you simply know what another person is about to play.
Some authors such as Matthew Sansom have highlighted the psychological similarity between group improvisation in music and communication between humans in general. This has pointed up the issue of the individual constructing his identity via the interactions within such groups. Edwin Prevost was one of the first to identify this feature (see his book No Sound is Innocent)
- Aesthetic Development
The development of a group aesthetic is a large and complex topic involving many issues both profound and prosaic. These can include permissible instruments, approaches or methodologies (for example, some improvisers forbid the inclusion of any melodic fragments whatsoever and prohibit the use of drum kits). But the aesthetic of a group can change with time. The Spontaneous Music Ensemble, for example, started out in the mid-1960s with a distinctly jazzy manner copied almost directly from the music of Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy. The group quickly developed a much more pointilistic style which abandoned jazz references and became more redolent of the soundworld of composer John Cage. This development is far from uncommon and is also described by Derek Bailey with respect to the Joseph Holbrooke Trio. Again, mention must be made of the viewpoint held by some musicians which holds that genuine free improvisation can only take place when the members have not rehearsed and must construct an understanding at the point of performance.
- Establishment of an individual performer space
To achieve balance and an effective working structure, the members of a group have to establish their own sound space and negotiate the boundaries with their fellows. These spaces are not fixed and the ways in which the space sonically occupied by an individual performer develops during a performance can be worked out implicitly during rehearsals.
- The development of Trust
Involving elements of all the above aspects, many groups rehearse to build trust between the members. Such trust is crucial in enabling members to rely on their fellows in aspects of communication, manipulation of the space allowed to performers and confidence in the development of structure. Those in favour of permanent groups point to trust as a crucial component in enabling their groups to behave in inherently more risky ways in the knowledge that their fellow performers will help bail them out of difficult situations.
- Organization and the Large Ensemble
