One of the elements of music that seems to amaze and confuse people (musicians and non-musicians alike) the most is improvisation. It has been said that it is 'spontaneous composition', or more simply 'just making stuff up as you go along'. These definitions create the amazement and confusion I have already alluded to because they give rise to questions like 'How do I know what notes to use?' and 'How do I think fast enough to improvise on a fast tune?'. Added to this, the great improvisers often confuse the issue even more by giving vague answers when asked about their method for improvisation.
I write this post to (hopefully) clear up this confusion for you once-and-for-all... The fact is that the great improvisers PRACTICE improvising... a lot! That's how they get good at it. And when you think about it, that totally makes sense, because practising something (preparing yourself to do it) is how one gets good at anything in life.
Improvising is supposed to be spontaneous, so how can it be practised? Well, when we think about music as a language it all becomes much clearer. Would you ever expect someone who could not speak a word of English to do an impromptu speech in English? I think not. Anyone who can speak 'off-the-cuff' in any language must have some words to say in that language. For example, in order to say the sentence 'The dog ran over the hill' you must first have each of those words - and it's meaning - in your permanent vocabulary. How do they get there? Through the language learning process you go through as a child. You could make many sentences from this group of words, each with a different meaning.
1. The dog ran over the hill
2. The hill ran over the dog
3. Over the hill ran the dog
4. The hill over the dog ran
5. The hill dog over the ran
Some of these make sense, others don't. So when you see a dog run over a hill and report the event to someone later on, you would naturally (and spontaneously) order the words correctly, although you have the ability to order them into any of the above sentences.
So, what's the musical process for practising improvisation then? First, find some 'words' and 'phrases' to learn. These should be things you hear that say something to you. Nobody can prescribe your 'mother-tongue' to you. So find them and learn them BY EAR! Remember that we don't teach babies BIG words right at the beginning, so choose things appropriate to where you are at. Repeat them until they are a part of you. Figure out their meanings in relation to the harmony they are played over. See if you can alter them to suit other harmonies or moods. Practice inserting them into particular parts of tunes you are working on.
The goal is to internalise these things so that when you improvise they become part of a vocabulary that you can draw from to create something in the moment - just like we do in every conversation we have every day... Make sense?
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Is music really a language?
I don't know a single music teacher who would disagree with me if I said 'Music is a language'. It's one of those things we love to say because it makes us feel like we're involved with something important and inherent to our humanity.
Question: if we say music is a language shouldn't we treat it like one?
We don't hand a baby a dictionary and a book of the rules of grammar and say 'Learn these things and you'll speak like a pro'...
We don't teach a baby a set of mouth exercises so he/she can learn good technique...
We don't teach a child to read until they have been speaking for years and can converse with people who are far more experienced in speaking...
There is no such thing as 'sight reading' in the languages we are fluent in, we just read - you are 'sight reading' this blog!...
We don't have to teach kids how to 'improvise' - they think and speak their thoughts because of the things they have learned, listened to and formed opinions on. Children improvise with language way before they know any rules...
and we certainly don't pretend that speaking our own language is full of secrets and mystery and is only for the 'gifted few'. Imagine that.
If music is a language then the traditional way we teach and practice is all wrong.
I've changed the way I teach... Will you?
Question: if we say music is a language shouldn't we treat it like one?
We don't hand a baby a dictionary and a book of the rules of grammar and say 'Learn these things and you'll speak like a pro'...
We don't teach a baby a set of mouth exercises so he/she can learn good technique...
We don't teach a child to read until they have been speaking for years and can converse with people who are far more experienced in speaking...
There is no such thing as 'sight reading' in the languages we are fluent in, we just read - you are 'sight reading' this blog!...
We don't have to teach kids how to 'improvise' - they think and speak their thoughts because of the things they have learned, listened to and formed opinions on. Children improvise with language way before they know any rules...
and we certainly don't pretend that speaking our own language is full of secrets and mystery and is only for the 'gifted few'. Imagine that.
If music is a language then the traditional way we teach and practice is all wrong.
I've changed the way I teach... Will you?
Friday, 2 September 2011
Music is all about community
When studying the earlier forms of music, such as the folk music traditions of any culture, a clear pattern emerges. Music is all about community.
It is used in times of celebration and mourning, times of uprising and times of peace. It speaks to us on a level that spoken words cannot.
How does it work?
Musicians form 'bands' - essentially groups of like-minded people with a common vision. Bands perform for 'audiences' who for the duration of the performance seem to naturally become a unit, they put their differences
aside to participate in the experience of the music with the musicians. Through all of this relationships are formed and bonds created - sometimes ones that last a lifetime.
How does it work?
Musicians form 'bands' - essentially groups of like-minded people with a common vision. Bands perform for 'audiences' who for the duration of the performance seem to naturally become a unit, they put their differences
aside to participate in the experience of the music with the musicians. Through all of this relationships are formed and bonds created - sometimes ones that last a lifetime.
Society cannot but benefit from this sort of unification, and for me, if music serves that purpose and that purpose alone, it is an honour to participate in it.
Friday, 26 August 2011
Information vs Process
One of the greatest changes that has taken place in recent times is that anyone who has access to an internet hookup also has access to more information than they could read in a lifetime... on any topic... from a million different points of view... some truth, some fabricated...
It is such a massive part of society now that we call this time we are living in 'the information age'.
Now I'm not saying information is a bad thing - I try to read and stay up-to-date in the areas that I'm concerned with - but I do believe that it impacts us negatively in (at least) two ways:
1. We may become paralysed by information overload. There is so much out there to read that one could potentially get stuck reading and never end-up doing, and ultimately, nobody ever became great at anything by just reading information about it. Nike says 'Just DO it' for a reason. You have to take action to actualize any information you take in, otherwise all you are is a person who provides interesting dinner conversation.
2. "Education has become too much about the 'what' and not enough about the 'how'" - Hal Galper (jazz musician and educator)
Since teachers now have so much information at their fingertips, it has become easy to spend all of a student's time telling them things about things, and thereby avoid ever showing them the process by which the information can be realized. Every education model that is untainted by modern technology is, at its core, a method of demonstration of skills that are to be imitated by the learner - this is also how trades are learned. In music, this is the approach of 'make it sound like this' (process), instead of the more popular 'use the C melodic minor scale to play over an F dominant chord to outline an F9#11 sound' (information).
If you think about it we actually need very little information in order to do most things required of us, but for every bit of necessary information we need a process by which we can use the information in a practical way. Don't allow yourself to become paralysed by the vastness of the information superhighway. Instead, make an effort to filter out all but the most important things, and spend the rest of your time exploring ways to internalise, and then practically externalise those important bits of information so as to better yourself, and your world... and never be afraid to ask the question 'HOW?'.
It is such a massive part of society now that we call this time we are living in 'the information age'.
Now I'm not saying information is a bad thing - I try to read and stay up-to-date in the areas that I'm concerned with - but I do believe that it impacts us negatively in (at least) two ways:
1. We may become paralysed by information overload. There is so much out there to read that one could potentially get stuck reading and never end-up doing, and ultimately, nobody ever became great at anything by just reading information about it. Nike says 'Just DO it' for a reason. You have to take action to actualize any information you take in, otherwise all you are is a person who provides interesting dinner conversation.
2. "Education has become too much about the 'what' and not enough about the 'how'" - Hal Galper (jazz musician and educator)
Since teachers now have so much information at their fingertips, it has become easy to spend all of a student's time telling them things about things, and thereby avoid ever showing them the process by which the information can be realized. Every education model that is untainted by modern technology is, at its core, a method of demonstration of skills that are to be imitated by the learner - this is also how trades are learned. In music, this is the approach of 'make it sound like this' (process), instead of the more popular 'use the C melodic minor scale to play over an F dominant chord to outline an F9#11 sound' (information).
If you think about it we actually need very little information in order to do most things required of us, but for every bit of necessary information we need a process by which we can use the information in a practical way. Don't allow yourself to become paralysed by the vastness of the information superhighway. Instead, make an effort to filter out all but the most important things, and spend the rest of your time exploring ways to internalise, and then practically externalise those important bits of information so as to better yourself, and your world... and never be afraid to ask the question 'HOW?'.
Sunday, 21 August 2011
C'nA - now keeping your career stationary
Right, first-off a disclaimer... This post is not me claiming to have it all down. I'm simply writing this to share what I'm currently learning in the hope that you may learn from it too (and maybe even help me learn it better). As I said in my first post I'm in this to teach, and be taught... also, for anyone who's not from South Africa, CNA is a stationery supply-store... just so you get the title :)
Complacency & Apathy (C'nA) vs Potential
Potential. More than any other creature on earth, humankind has it in spades! It sometimes seems like there is really no limit on what can be achieved. I, however, would argue that we are coming increasingly under attack from two related threats to our progress, both as individuals and as a society: Complacency and Apathy (cue sinister soundtrack).
As many of us would have learned in school science class, potential is a potentially potent force, but is useless unless it is harnessed and developed by someone with potent intent. It is also not necessarily true that the largest potential force will result in the greatest actual force, as greater potential requires greater development.
In my field, music education, I see this dynamic at play day-in and day-out. The students with the most potential are usually the ones who do the least work. Often the ones who have less natural ability progress well past the 'talented' ones through hard work and discipline. In many ways I believe that the two greatest talents one can be given are the understanding of what is required to be the best (the process), and the will-power to realize that process in a disciplined and consistent manner.
Discovering the Process
I have played music for over ten years now, and until March of this year have felt like I was on my way up the 'musicianship ladder' (if there were such a thing). That was until in a moment of clarity and some pretty obvious evidence I found I was standing at the bottom of a new, and much larger, ladder than the one I had been climbing before. In the last few months I have thought through where I am going to, discovered a process that will take me there, and begun to implement the process in complete faith that I will end-up at my goal one day. In the beginning the biggest hurdles were things like doubt in myself and the process, residual laziness from my old way of doing the 'music thing', and a general sense of apathy at having done something for so long and being at the bottom of the food-chain again.
Persistence Pays Off
I practice day after day and don't see results for ages. Jeff Berlin says it's like watching your hair grow. You don't notice it getting a little longer each day, but all of a sudden it's time for another trip to the salon! Six months in, and I've really begun to see the benefits of my new approach - and that's what keeps me going back into the practice room every day. My initial trust in the process only had to last long enough to get me to the first gig where I felt like I had changed for the better, and it gets way easier from there.
Progressing People
The other thing that streamlines the process is to only hang out with people who are in a process of their own. If you're not going anywhere, I'm not going there with you! People who are on the move are the people who will encourage you in your journey and seeing them sacrifice sometimes for the sake of the end-goal helps make your own sacrifices not seem so tough.
I believe we all have an innate desire to be better. We also all have potential. How much? I don't know... What I do know is that we can all be better than we are now. And when we are better, we can probably be better than that. I also think that we could all be better than we think we could... And you'd probably agree, right?
The purpose of this post is not to say that we all have to be the best in the world at anything, rather it is an appeal to stay fresh and grow in whatever areas you are concerned with, and not to allow your potential to go to waste.
Anyway, I gotta go practice now, so take care!
Andrew
Complacency & Apathy (C'nA) vs Potential
Potential. More than any other creature on earth, humankind has it in spades! It sometimes seems like there is really no limit on what can be achieved. I, however, would argue that we are coming increasingly under attack from two related threats to our progress, both as individuals and as a society: Complacency and Apathy (cue sinister soundtrack).
As many of us would have learned in school science class, potential is a potentially potent force, but is useless unless it is harnessed and developed by someone with potent intent. It is also not necessarily true that the largest potential force will result in the greatest actual force, as greater potential requires greater development.
In my field, music education, I see this dynamic at play day-in and day-out. The students with the most potential are usually the ones who do the least work. Often the ones who have less natural ability progress well past the 'talented' ones through hard work and discipline. In many ways I believe that the two greatest talents one can be given are the understanding of what is required to be the best (the process), and the will-power to realize that process in a disciplined and consistent manner.
Discovering the Process
I have played music for over ten years now, and until March of this year have felt like I was on my way up the 'musicianship ladder' (if there were such a thing). That was until in a moment of clarity and some pretty obvious evidence I found I was standing at the bottom of a new, and much larger, ladder than the one I had been climbing before. In the last few months I have thought through where I am going to, discovered a process that will take me there, and begun to implement the process in complete faith that I will end-up at my goal one day. In the beginning the biggest hurdles were things like doubt in myself and the process, residual laziness from my old way of doing the 'music thing', and a general sense of apathy at having done something for so long and being at the bottom of the food-chain again.
Persistence Pays Off
I practice day after day and don't see results for ages. Jeff Berlin says it's like watching your hair grow. You don't notice it getting a little longer each day, but all of a sudden it's time for another trip to the salon! Six months in, and I've really begun to see the benefits of my new approach - and that's what keeps me going back into the practice room every day. My initial trust in the process only had to last long enough to get me to the first gig where I felt like I had changed for the better, and it gets way easier from there.
Progressing People
The other thing that streamlines the process is to only hang out with people who are in a process of their own. If you're not going anywhere, I'm not going there with you! People who are on the move are the people who will encourage you in your journey and seeing them sacrifice sometimes for the sake of the end-goal helps make your own sacrifices not seem so tough.
I believe we all have an innate desire to be better. We also all have potential. How much? I don't know... What I do know is that we can all be better than we are now. And when we are better, we can probably be better than that. I also think that we could all be better than we think we could... And you'd probably agree, right?
The purpose of this post is not to say that we all have to be the best in the world at anything, rather it is an appeal to stay fresh and grow in whatever areas you are concerned with, and not to allow your potential to go to waste.
Anyway, I gotta go practice now, so take care!
Andrew
Friday, 19 August 2011
hello blog-land!
Hello!
I'm Andrew Warneke, a bass guitar player and music educator living in Port Elizabeth, South Africa - one of the coolest places around!
Much of my time is spent playing, practicing and teaching music, and hanging out with awesome people... in other words doing the things I love most. Lucky me!
As this is my first blog post I thought I'd just say 'Hi!', and clue you in to the fact that this blog exists. I hope to write about my musical journey and the life I am led to live in order to facilitate the ultimate goal of becoming a better musician from day-to-day. I love to share these sorts of things as I feel we can all learn from the experiences of others, and I hope to learn from you through our interactions both online and maybe even in the real-world.
If you feel like you may benefit from reading these things I hope you'll follow me and my ramblings, and also make others aware of them so that they can share in this experience too.
I will try to have a proper post up in the next few days... But for now it's off to my practice room, and then a gig with John Edwards at the Kelway Hotel.
Take care
Andrew
I'm Andrew Warneke, a bass guitar player and music educator living in Port Elizabeth, South Africa - one of the coolest places around!
Much of my time is spent playing, practicing and teaching music, and hanging out with awesome people... in other words doing the things I love most. Lucky me!
As this is my first blog post I thought I'd just say 'Hi!', and clue you in to the fact that this blog exists. I hope to write about my musical journey and the life I am led to live in order to facilitate the ultimate goal of becoming a better musician from day-to-day. I love to share these sorts of things as I feel we can all learn from the experiences of others, and I hope to learn from you through our interactions both online and maybe even in the real-world.
If you feel like you may benefit from reading these things I hope you'll follow me and my ramblings, and also make others aware of them so that they can share in this experience too.
I will try to have a proper post up in the next few days... But for now it's off to my practice room, and then a gig with John Edwards at the Kelway Hotel.
Take care
Andrew
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)