www.dagobon.com

While it probably doesn’t seem like this would help - let’s face it - if you are unwilling to play a lot of wrong notes, you’re never going to learn how to do anything hard. And improvising is hard! It isn’t something that you can do safely, with the assurance that you will look good while trying to get good at it. You won’t look good. You won’t sound good — and the sooner you realize this, the sooner you will be able to do something of real value.

Strangely, we are from a culture that reinforces the idea that we should always look
good. I mean there are actually people who think you should look good when you’re
sick. When you get up in the middle of the night. Or when you haven’t slept for 36
hours.

Get the picture?

So, now that that’s said - what is the best strategy for playing wrong notes and
actually making progress at the same time?

De-emphasizing Note Values

I have found that the best way to start is by de-emphasizing note values - focussing
instead upon rhythm, texture, density and shape. Music is way more than just the
notes you play, and note selection tends to be the very thing that stops people in
their tracks. Thus, my “Wrong Note Strategy.”

The following are possible points of departure for playing wrong notes - properly:

Melodic Shape - Conceptualize a melody - don’t get too specific with notes, but
think only in terms of the overall shape of the line. Does it go up? Does it climb?
Does it jump? If you have a hard time, try creating a melody on your instrument
that is shaped like something else. I think it was John Cage (a rather famous
composer) that used the New York skyline as the basis for a piece of music. My vote
is, if John Cage can do it, we can too.

Density - Think about density. Are there a lot of notes all close together? Or are
they spaced wide apart? Density shape is determined by where there is little space
between notes, and where there is a lot of space. It is applicable melodically,
harmonically and rythmically. I think there are even methods of encoding data that
use this approach (can’t remember the name of it). I figure, if it’s OK for Intel to use
this concept for data, I think it’s OK for us to use it too.

Rhythm - What about a rhythmic approach? What if note values were totally
unimportant, and we thought only percussively about the music? Like using blocks
of notes - dissonances as though playing drums with the keyboard (or whatever)? It
seems to have worked for legions of 20th Century composers, so why not for us?

Texture - How about making sounds - funny sounds - on our instrument? I
remember working with a violinist from the LA Philharmonic, who told me she
couldn’t improvise. I asked if she could make noises. She said, “Oh sure! I like
making really funny noises like this; and this; and this.” We proceeded to “play funny
sounds” for the next hour and a half, experimenting with all sorts of melody,
harmony, rhythm and texture - coming up with some really beautiful stuff, after
which she asked, “was that improvising?” I said, it sure was, and she was totally
changed by the experience.

I love that story, because it really shows that all we really need is permission to play
“wrong” notes. Once we are willing to do that, then we can experiment - often on a
very high level - with the vital textural, rhythmic, shape and density aspects of
music.

It still communicates, it’s genuinely creative, and it really is music.

So play some wrong notes today!

©2000-2005 Ben Dowling, the author of “The Metaphysics of Improvisation” - is a
pianist, composer and an authority on music improvisation and publishes Music-
Improv.com, a web site that provides useful paradigms and practices for musicians
interested in expanding their ability to improvise. Learn more about “The
Metaphysics of Improvisation” and “The Music Continuum” by visiting http://www.music-improv.com

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How do you begin a piece of music? That’s a question I’m often asked. The answer I usually give is that you begin as soon as you start playing - that is, if you’re trying to “compose” something, the piece begins the moment it has energy and is something you want to capture. If it’s an improvisation, the piece begins the moment you set your fingers on the keys and hit the first note. It’s like free flow writing and writing a chapter to a novel.

The writer can both improvise and enjoy the process or can structure the ideas more - or, as I like to do, combine both procedures into one. I start out by improvising - always. Then, if I want to memorialize a musical idea, I write down the first two bars of melody along with the chord(s) I’m playing. I throw this on a chart and voila - the idea remains fresh until I want to either expand on it, or ignore it completely.

If the idea is a rhythm pattern I write down (Left hand = whatever the pattern is) so I can remember it later. I never stop improvising though because that would stop the flow and who knows what could come out of it. Don’t forget that an improvisation is a piece of music in and of itself. There is really no need to impose structure on something as beautiful and organic as spontaneous expression. In fact, these spur of the moment fantasies are often more inspiring than any contrived composition. There is something more alive to them because there IS more life to them.

Endings pose another problem, namely the problem of when to stop playing. For improvisation, the answer is when energy (inspiration) starts to wane down. That’s a good time to bring your music to an end. You’ll know when this is happening when you become bored. That’s the sign it’s time to stop.

Composition is a different story. The form of the piece already dictates when you should stop. For example, an ABA form tells you to play the A section once or twice, go to B, back to A then bring the piece to an end. Of course the amount of repetition and contrast is a personal decision but the form establishes both beginning and ending. It’s a nice safe way to say that yes, I have a piece of music here. Now, improvisations can have form as well. The big difference is that you don’t consciously think about putting the music into a predefined shape.

But for some unknown reason, most improvisations do have symmetry - that is they take on a form of their own. I don’t know if this is because of human beings innate rhythm (heartbeat) or what.

Even Zen flute music, which may be the most freely inspired improvisation style around has some structure. You can hear it in the phrases. Beginnings and endings. Don’t worry too much about them. What’s important is where you are emotionally while you play. Become aware of that and all your problems are solved.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

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Do you ramble on endlessly with your improvisations? If so, good. This has its place in music making and in new age piano playing in particularly. Just listen to New Age pianist Michael Jones’s music to hear an example of this kind of free-form improvisation.

Now, some of you want to create something that will give the listener a slightly more cohesive experience. How is this accomplished? By forming the music into a shape - an ABA shape for our purposes here. To give form to music does not require as much theory and technique as most people think. In fact, it is as simple as applying the principles of repetition and contrast.

Now in most new age piano music there is some kind of form that the composer uses whether it’s extended “A” form ala Michael Jones, or extended “A” extended “B” and back to “A” again as in some of George Winston’s music. Think in sections people. A section of music can last for as long as the person who created it is involved with it- that is, as long as the inspiration is fresh.

As soon as the music sounds dull it’s time for a change - the next section of music. This is the point where a composer will add something-new (contrast) or, if she is smart, end the piece. If the music does not have that freshness, that touch of inspired in the moment fantasy, you’ll be able to detect and hear it. Some composers are so in touch with their feeling that they can take you on a 20 or 30 minute journey using very little means - but by using the elements of repetition and contrast maintain listener interest.

First, get your “A” section. The first few bars (8 usually) is more than enough to propel you forward. You must adopt a listening attitude to hear what is coming next. You don’t force nor will it into being. This will not give you what you want, which is, I’m assuming, inspired content. Listen, listen, listen and the music will come. If it doesn’t just do what Beethoven did.

He worked on 3 or 4 pieces at a time. When the inspiration dried up on a particular piece he was working on, he just moved on to another and picked up on the others later on. You can do the same. Be bold and go forward. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Be afraid of not trying.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

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