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    THE IMPACT OF IMPROVISATIONAL MUSICSON THE CREATIVE PROCESSES

    OF CLASSICALLY AND JAZZ TRAINED STUDENT MUSICIANS

    by

    William Murray Allison

    A Project

    Presented toThe Faculty ofHumboldt State University

    In Partial FulfillmentOf the Requirements for the Degree

    Master 0 f ArtsIn Education

    May, 2005

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    Date"")/- / ''"J/ /. C\ / (. - ' ' ' ' ~

    I Date-;-fK/O I

    Date

    d--/O-{)S

    THE IMPACT OF IMPROVISATIONAL MUSICSON THE CREATIVE PROCESSES

    by

    William Murray Allison

    OF CLASSICALLY AND JAZZ TRAINED STUDENT MUSICIANS

    Approved by:

    Eric Van Duzer, Graduate Coordinator

    _ 0:-/Keri Gelenian, Committee Member

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    ABSTRACT

    THE IMPACT OF IMPROVISATIONAL MUSICSON THE CREATIVE PROCESSES

    OF CLASSICALLY AND JAZZ TRAINED STUDENT MUSICIANSby

    Willianl Murray Allison

    The goal of this project is to gain an understanding of how the presentation,preparation and performance of radically different improvisational nlusics affect thecreative processes of classically and jazz trained student musicians in a rural stateuniversity in Northern California. Interviews, journal entries of the studentmusicians working across disciplines, and the observations of the embeddedresearcher culminate in a live CD recording. The literature review provides avocabulary and history of related research.

    111

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    ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

    I would like to thank my family and friends, both near and far for all theirsupport and encouragement throughout this project. You have nurtured and inspiredme. I want to thank all of the Inany exceptional musicians, mentors, and teachersfron1 \Vh01n I have received guidance and encouragement. I \vant to extend a specialthanks to Dr. Sally Botzler for opening the graduate program door and to the entireHSU Graduate Education faculty and staff for their excellent efforts. Most especiallyI offer thanks to nlY committee Inembers, Dr. Ann Diver-Stamnes and Dr. KeriGelenian, for holding the bar high and helping Ine to climb over obstacles.

    In closing, I \vant to thank Iny t\VO youngest children, Clay and Jessica, \vhohave lived this process \vith nle. I dedicate this project to the loving Inelnory of theirnlother, nlY late \vife Victoria Ann Sortor-Allison, \vhose strength, intelligence, andwanll presence continue to enfold and sustain us.

    IV

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    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    i\BSTRAC'T iii

    Classically Trained Musicians and

    v

    ACKNOVV'LEDGErvIENTS ivCHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

    Improvisation Defined .4Roots of Musical Improvisation 5

    Twentieth Century Composition 14The Jazz Tradition 23Focus. Benefits. and Limitations of

    Training for Both Disciplines 26Comparison of Classical and Jazz Musics 32Creative Process 33Comparison of Classical and Jazz Musicians 36SUlllnlary 37

    CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGy 39Introduction 39Selection of Student Musicians .40Descriptions of Musics Chosen for Rehearsals and Performance .42First Rehearsal 44Second Rehearsal " , 46Third Rehearsal , " , .4 7Perfornlance 50

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    TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED

    Third Rehearsal , 47Performance 50

    CHAPTER 4: CONTENT 57CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS 58REFERENCES 63APPENDIX A: COMPOSITIONS 65APPENDIX B: TRANSCRIPTS OF INTERVIEWS

    AND JOURNALS 68

    VI

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    CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTION

    This project examines the question, "What is the impact on the creativeprocesses of classically and jazz trained student musicians of the presentation,preparation and performance of new in1provisational music?" While students fromboth of these two disciplines share the use of the same European based systen1 ofnotation, theory and harn10ny, they have very different orientations when it con1es tothe practice of in1provisation.

    Historically, the virtuoso extemporization of music was practiced in Europeup to and through the Baroque Era (1650-1750) when egalitarian and socialrevolutionary fervor deemed the practice to be too wild, unrepeatable, and elitistbecause it \vas perceived to be beyond the common man's life experience andconlprehension. The advent of printed music further eroded the practice ofCOlnposers leaving creative space for the rhythnl section (keyboards, bass, andfigured bass) to freely interpret the chord voicings (how the harmonic structure isplayed) and even how the Inelody should be expressed. This printed Inass Inediaindustry also championed the development of music for the Inostly untrained n1assesto play and placed very little emphasis on the relatively much smaller nlarket forvirtuoso nlusic which required professional performing musical artists to interpretand perfornl. The Classical Age, which followed the Baroque Era, yielded to thesesocial pressures and developed systems of notation, theory, harmony. rhythmnlelodic development still in common usage today. The focus became the

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    2preservation of the existing body of lTIusical cOlTIposition which, through the useof these new systems, could be performed exactly the same way each tilTIe.Inlprovisation was deleted frOlTI COlTInl0n practice and even works by such masters asBeethoven, Mozart Hayden and others which were largely improvised inperformance became written down to a static best guess form to allow exact,controlled performances.

    Jazz is a uniquely American art form which arose from the common people.There is a tremendous admixture of African harmonies, rhythnls, melodies along\vith Native American rhythms and melodies that transformed the European-basedfolk and dance music of the European inllTIigrants. While the roots of jazzincorporate these and other traditions, the practice of improvisation became centralto the music. Each new artist was expected to not only learn the repertoire but todevelop their own original dialogue of ilTIprovisation. The music was unwrit ten untilthe early to mid-tw'entieth century, and many of the nlusicians thelTIselves came frompoverty and were untrained or musically illiterate. The gradual acceptance by jazzcomposers and performers of the European systems of notation and theory todisseminate jazz did little to ease the tensions between to two systelTIs. This schismbetween the two disciplines has grown until neither school interacts or respects theother.

    This project brings together classical and Jazz students to explore a jointinlprovisational venture in music, some of which was created for the project, that hasno key signature, time signature, melody, or written harmonies. The notation for the

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    3l11usic was not based on the European system. The students were faced with theneed to \vork together in an ensemble to interpret and perforn1 the compositions and

    to in1provise together. Their processes were recorded in a series of three interviews(after the first and third of the three rehearsals and immediately after theperforn1ance) and journal entries. The audience also provided notes of theirreactions to the performance. As a participant-observer in this project, I was able todirectly experience the ensen1ble' s development and evolution into the guiding and

    creative force of the project. The literature review yielded an historical and socialbasis for the project and informed the vocabulary used in the study as well as theevaluation of the data gathered.

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    CHAPTER TWOLITERATURE REVIEW

    In this literature review, I will examine the underlying mechanisIns and thehistory of musical iInprovisation. The focus will be on music froln Europe and theUnited States. The question is how student Inusicians, trained in either the classicalor Jazz traditions and placed in an ensemble setting, develop and en1ployn1ethodologies for the creative, collaborative, in1provisational performance ofcon1positions outside of both disciplines.

    For the purposes of this project, the tenn Classical Music will refer to n1usic,which represents the European Musical Tradition. There is a subdivision ofEuropean Musical history known as Classical (1750 -1850), but herein the term willbe used to refer to all eras of orchestral and ensemble musics con1posed in thetraditional European systems of notation, melody, harmony, and then1aticdevelopment. This literature review will cover roots of n1usical improvisation, bothindividual and group, and creative flow in an effort to lay the foundation for ananalysis of the Inechanisn1s student musicians eInploy to accomplish their task ofperfor111ing new in1provisational n1usics.Improl'isation Defined

    In1provisation is the spontaneous, conversational performance of musicusually by a soloist with an ensemble in a perfonnance setting which is an originalvariation. ornamentation. or extension of the 111usical then1e (Briggs, 1986).

    4

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    5Inlprovisation has been and continues to be a part of nlost of the cultures in the\vorld and is an important part of the work ofmany contenlporary western composersand performers (Walker, 1994).

    The inlprovising musician can find source materials from tonality, rhythm,tempo, volume, nlusical ideas of other ensenlble members, emotions, socio-historicalreferences or the very structure and form of the cOinposition (Briggs, 1986). Whileinlprovising, the nlusician enters a paradoxical realm wherein there is a dual role of\vanting to direct or to control the flow of the improvisation and to yield to theunlinlited, unpremeditated spontaneous flights into new nlusical expression(Nardone, 1996).Roots ofA1usicallmprol'isation

    Within the history of European musical developn1ent, there was a periodcalled the Baroque Era, 1650-1750 AD. The meaning of the tenn Baroque COinesfronl the Portuguese barroco. describing a deformed pearl (Grout & Palisca, 1996).It \vas used to describe a particular style of architecture, which was a flashy andgaudy aberration from the neighboring architecture. It meant abnormaL unexpected,exaggerated, grotesque, or in bad taste in conlmon usage and retains this sense today(Grout & Palisca, 1996).

    The l11usic of the day was flashy, unexpected, and improvised live in avirtuoso manner leaving the listeners surprised and emotionally aroused, waiting tosee \vhere the piece would take thenl (Grout & Palisca, 1996). During this time, theC0111posers \vere using a COnll110n set of nlusical notation and a standardized

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    6harnl0nic development. They held to a higher ideal of humanity's ability toexpress and experience the emotions and states of higher reasoning or even intuitive

    states. They viewed their job as composers to create music, which would lift thelistener out of the everyday awareness, to experience these elevated states (Grout &Palisca. 1996). Similarly, the perfonners entered into a realnl of musical expressionwhere the muse or spirit of the Inusic would enter them and guide their improvisationto ever higher and 1110re refined levels of archetypical expression (Nardone. 1996).

    These "affections "or "states of the soul" (Grout & Palisca, 1996, p. 272)such as anger. jealousy, curiosity, spiritual aspirations, and excitement could beconsidered goals for the perfonners to achieve for the listener through virtuosoin1provised nlusical elaborat ions of their compositions (Grout & Palisca,1996).

    It \vas believed that music had a unique pOVv'er to lift human a\vareness to ahigher 1110re divine level (Grout & Palisca, 1996). The composer accordingly leftroom for the muse or spirit of the music to express itself through the auspices of the111usician's in1provisations (Grout & Palisca, 1996). The music was not thought toreside on the actual page but rather to manifest its inner elan or spiritual energythrough performance (Borroff, 1971). The twentieth century classical concept thatthe performer 111USt strictly adhere to the written score would have been unnatural tothese lnusicians (Igarashi. 1997). This also reflected the belief that through thehuman nlind. our reasoning faculty, enlightenl11ent could be reached or accessed bythe design or architecture of the n1usic (Borroff, 1971). As a directly manifest sonic

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    7inspiration. it was believed that n1usic was well suited to the task of lifting theaudience's a\vareness of their emotions and aspirations (Borroff, 1971).

    The patronage of the upper/ruling classes of each region and the churchprovided for the con1position and performance of new works (Grout & Palisca,1996). The composers not only had a regular steady supply of instrulnentalists andsingers for whom to write, but the systen1 also allowed regional patrons to have theirown great orchestras. chorals, and opera cOlnpanies (Borroff, 1971). Music was

    perceived to be a part of the ruling class's domain and privilege, reflecting theirsupposedly higher spiritual evolution as rulers by God's grace. Music was composedto reach for ever higher, more perfect, more heroic levels of expression to suit therefined tastes of the educated privileged classes (Grout & Palisca, 1996). Thisculturally exclusive focus had a lasting and contrary motivating effect on the futureof European music and culture as the masses pressed for reforms and evenrevolutions, as well as a more egalitarian thematic distribution of all the fine arts toinclude their life experiences, hopes, and drean1s for the future (Grout & Palisca,1996).

    The steady livelihoods the very best musicians could earn created a level ofgreat virtuosity. The con1posers counted on these virtuosos to elaborate theircompositions with improvisation, ornamentations, and extended cadenzas at the endof each \vork (Grout & Palisca, 1996). The very forn1 and duration of thecon1position were different each tin1e it was perforn1ed. There ",ias an expectation ofan endless variety of expression, and the goal was to reach for new interpretations.

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    8The audiences were unable to predict where the individual 111usician would takethe con1position, and many ti111es the composer would improvise, usually on thekeyboard, with the orchestra bringing another level of refinement to the perfor111ance(Abrahmu, 1982).

    Speaking to this practice, the history shows that there would of necessityevolve a system of notation that would allow the clear intent to write for outer voicesand leave the n1iddle instrunlental voices open for interpretation (Borroff, 1971), thuscreating the opportunity for iluprovisation. The uniluportance of the middle groundin a polyphonic or controlling sense was clear. This practice became known as theFigured Bass which entailed a cOlupletely notated melodic bass part writtenseparately, in addition to a less structured bass part, which had various symbolsindicating but not specifying the exact notes to be played (Borroff, 1971). Forexan1ple, there were sylubols for flats, sharps, scale tone numbers, dashes, slashes,and a variety of other 111usical orna111entations.

    In the Baroque Era, individual bassists and keyboardists would set thehar1110nic fran1ework according to their level of skill and experience which greatlyinfluenced the performance of the virtuoso iluproviser (Borrof[ 1971). These flightsof soloists' in1aginations depended both on the bassist and the keyboardist tounobtrusively guide the ensemble in its perfor111ance. The C0111poser left thatfreedOlu to allow i111provisational genius to transcend the written notation.

    Unusual chord c0111binations and tones not in the written key signature werealso notated. The individual skill and aesthetic sense of each perforn1er and each

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    9ensemble were therefore quite pronounced, and each patronage had its famousperforn1ers (Grout & Palisca, 1996). Regional and national musical dialects wererecognizable and became traditions for improvisers to incorporate into theirelaborations (Grout & Palisca, 1996). Even by adhering to these practices, theperforn1ance of the composition was through improvisation, not through a staticreading of a fixed series of Illusical notations (Grout & Palisca, 1996).

    The actual written Illusic we have today frOlll the Baroque era is aninterpretation of the ideas expressed at the time of the composition (Abrahan1, 1982).In1provisations frOlll the Baroque Era were later written out and sin1plified to suitless advanced lllusicians and to allow the more exact replication of the cOlllpositionfron1 region to region and ensemble to ensemble (Abrahan1, 1982).

    The use of root/tonic moveillent, central tones of the standard key (first andfifth degrees of the Western do-re-Ille Illajor scale) required improvisational inputfrOlll the at1ists to be complete (Grout & Palisca, 1996). The harmonies are all builtupon the premise of creating and releasing dynamic tension by resolving to the majorkey's tonic or root tone. The use of closely related or diatonic pitches kept thehon10geneity of the overall composition allowing the resolution to be cOlllpleted, andthe cOlllposition ended at this resolution of musical tension. In today's tern1inology,this would be called interpretive improvisation and is most cOIlln10nly practiced inthe traditions of Blues, Jazz, Gospel, and Rock. Each time the work is performed,there \vill be changes in voicing, chord choice, and rhythm \vhich help to keep the

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    10music fresh and charged for ne\v ilnprovisational explorations (Grout & Palisca.1996).

    Like today's Jazz pianist Baroque keyboardists played the bass line withtheir left hands and \vith their right hands expressed the harmonic structuresdemanded by the written figures (Borroff 1971). The role of these musicians wasthat of a cOlnpetent and inconspicuous technician whose task it was to cOlnplete thehanllonic fran1ework \vithout distracting attention from the prilnary parts, the outern1usical voices (Borroff, 1971).

    Like the Jazz technique of good range voicings (colYlbinations of the standardnotes in the \vritten chords) which allow the pianist to stay in the very middle rangeof the instnllnent and to stay out of the way of the rest of the ensemble, the Baroquekeyboardist played in a small easily reachable range or section of the instrunlent,adding some ilnprovisation to the bass line for elnphasis (Borroff 1971). This iscalled comping in Jazz terminology and is used to accompany soloists and ensemblessections (Pleasants, 1969). Again, the keyboardists were expected to improvise thetInal perforn1ance product of the composer's sketch. The dual role of Silllultaneouslysetting up the harmonic structures and following the soloist was theirs to balance.

    In understanding the importance of improvisation in performance, we need toknow that the actual compositions were truly vehicles for improvisation with eachsection dependant on virtuoso performance to continue through the typically threemoven1ents of the concerto (Grout & Palisca, 1996). The slo\v movements weredependant on soloists to inlprovise the actual melody itself from the notation given.

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    11There was even license to pause or to flourish out of time in these elaborations(Abraham, 1982).

    In the late 1700s, there Caine to be an orientation towards less randolnness,less unpredictability in the performance of new works and towards greater control ofthe interpretation of the music (Grout & Palisca, 1996). The thematic contentexpanded to fill the n1iddle voices and left little-or progressively more often n o -roon1 for ilnprovisation. This developlnent gradually became the standard

    n1ethodology which in effect dismissed the tradition of improvisation and the freeinterpretation of the virtuoso musician as being both elitist and out of control(Borroff. 1971). Even today, there are only a few classically trained orchestras whocan actually approach the level of improvisational expression once commonplace inthe Baroque era. One of the notable examples of such an orchestra in this era is the

    Seattle Baroque Orchestra in Seattle, Washington. \vhich has forged anew thepath\vay to this tradition.

    The thematic and formal freedom of Mozart and Viotti - their sense of"planned in1provisation" - is now replaced by a more tightly-knit structurethat enfolds in a less static or disjointed manner. Both the elin1ination of theself-contained cadenza and the linking of the movements 111ay be viewed asattempts to impose greater continuity. (Abraham, 1982, p. 226)New con1positions. even by the very greatest cOlnposers. were no longer

    unfinished and open to individual interpretation by design; they were now expectedto be 'whole and complete expressions which were to be performed exactly as written

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    12(Grout & Palisca, 1996). There was a lowering of the bar to accommodate thiscbange. Con1posers depended increasingly on the rules and practices of the classicalera to guide and even to curtail their explorations (Abraham, 1982). This idea that allof the composer's concept could be written down and actually reproduced exactly asconceived was a new development.

    A case in point was the COlnposer Ran1eau, whose.. . principles were based in the nature of the single chord. He demonstratedthat a fundamental (tonic) together with its third and fifth partials creates anatural triad, which he called the comlnon chord. This, of course, had beenthe basis of Renaissance and Baroque harmonic concepts, but Rameau wentfurther in his conten1plation of the common chord. He proposed that itselelnents were essentially immutable in their function, which was thefunction of the fundamental .. .Ran1eau' s theory of chord structure was theaccepted theory of harmony through the nineteenth and into the twentiethcentury and. in conservative enclaves, to the present times. (Borroff, 1971, p.373)Today's classically trained musicians are still working frol11 the pren1ise that

    Ran1eau's concepts are the most correct and complete guiding concepts of musicaltheory and practice (Borroft 1971). This has had a stifling and ethnocentric effectupon the scope of n1usic accepted and performed by orchestras and ensembles whichwork \vithin this framework of compositional and theoretical structures (Borroff,1971).

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    13The end of the Baroque era came partially as the demand grew for greatercontrol and unifonnity between region and performance of compositions added tothe 1110vement to \vrite new music for the n1asses and to abolish the luxuriouspatronage and dependence on a slnall group of virtuoso levellnusicians to perfonn(Abrahan1, 1982). Popular COlnposers of the era

    .. . were \videning the gulf between amateur and professional .. . by providingspecial fare for the gentleman and .. . by working out a deeper study for theapprentice. If the trio sonata reflected this gulf, the music for keyboardincorporated it. The harpsichord and, particularly in Germany, the clavichordwere the instruments of the private citizen. (Borroff, 1971, p.329)

    In order to n10re precisely cOlnn1unicate and write their concepts for exactperforn1ance, con1posers led the way to develop new instrun1ents to more accuratelyreproduce the sounds and textures conceived for their compositions, and they \vroteto a n10re functional rather than virtuoso level of perforn1er (Borroff, 1971). Then1asses felt connected to the performance of music, and many community enserrlblesand an1ateur orchestras developed which required less challenging n1usic to perform(Borroff. 1971).

    Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, and Chopin were all cOInposers who utilized therichness. depth, and complexity of ilnprovisation in their work (Nardone, 1996), andtogether their lives and con1positions spanned the Baroque and Classical eras.

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    14Classically Trained A1usicians and TVt'entieth Century CompositionT o d a y ~ s classically trained musicians are trained to accurately perform and,

    to a lin1ited extent. interpret the compositions of the past and, in their tradition, thepresent (Borroff, 1971). They are expert in reading the now standardized notation,to n1in1ic their instrun1ent's popular sound and technique. The existent body oflTIusicalliterature is relearned by each new generation of performers who hold theEuropean Art Song as the height of musical expression (Grout & Palisca, 1996).There is no training available for improvisation, and outside of a very few NewPerforn1ance Ensembles at colleges and universities around the world (dedicated toperforn1ing and to con1posing 111usics from new and less Eurocentric cultures), there\vould exist no n10dern tradition of improvisation in the classical realm (Grout &Palisca, 1996). The history of European music is taught as having reached the heightof n1usical expression and as such is unchanging in its form. Even compositionsfrOITI the Baroque era, which occurred before these classical methodologies weredeveloped, have been arranged to delete improvisation. "Thus the improvisatoryopening Adagio is probably just a tranquil recollection in cold print of theen10tional flourish which Beethoven extemporized in the heat of the moment"

    ( A b r a h a I T I ~ 1 9 8 2 ~ p.600). The effects are still prevalent in the lin1ited acceptance ofother cultures and approaches to musical con1position and performance.

    The n10st obvious effect of this approach is to perpetuate the Eurocentricfocus of Western n1usic and to maintain the music as it is without change. By beingable to write out all the variables in this tradition, there is a loss of individual

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    15expression and of virtuoso-level elaborations on some of the n1any beautifulcon1positions, thus rendering them somehow static and unchanged in the interest ofpreservation. The leveling of interpretation and perforn1ance to a standard ofn1ediocrity has often been the result (Abrahmn, 1982). This is the n10st con1monapproach to music education at many colleges and universities in the United States astheir music curriculum will verify. Musicians trained in this methodology arefocused 011 using their creative processes to facilitate their acquisition and n1astery ofcompositions which reflect the tradition.

    Also n1issing fron1 this standardized training is a hundred years of American20th century composers (Grout & Palisca, 1996). The scope of this omission hashad a stifling effect on this moven1ent and has kept the listening audience to an eliten1inority of well educated and often upper-class af icionados (Grout & Palisca, 1996).These ne\v Alnerican composers were reacting against the stranglehold of theestablished Eurocentric tradition to create a new more globally inclusive ll1usic. Toincorporate all the n1any influences found in our All1erican culture required a wholene\v set of techniques and even new instrUlnents to be developed to express this new111usic (Rich, 1995).

    Western Inusic began to form its basic cOll1ponents in the 11 th century. Theseare the actual cOll1position, the notation used to communicate the composition to theperfor1l1er(s), the accepted principles of order and flow of the music, and the use oflnany sounds or polyphony (Grout & Palisca, 1996). The composers of the twentiethcentury have altered some of these elements and reestablished the use of others.

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    16Composition need no longer represent a finished product, but, as in antiquitythrough the Middle Ages, ilnprovisation has reemerged to a central role in thecreation and performance of new Inusic (Grout & Palisca, 1996).

    The standardized Western notation system has been augmented and in manycases replaced with highly original and personalized systems of the individualcon1poser's invention (Grout & Palisca, 1996). The resulting perfonnances haverepositioned the perfonning artist as co-creators with the composer of the work aswas the ancient systen1 of musical perfonnance until the 18 th century. The statictransmission of a finished and complete composition has been abandoned in favor ofViliuoso improvisational n1usicianship (Grout & Palisca, 1996). The very concept ofcOlnpositional order has been replaced with indeterminacy which by design isconstantly open to any and all influences, even audience noises and accidents by then1usicians. Established principles were rejected as unimportant and constraininglin1its to the true potential of the composer's work in performance (Grout andPalisca, 1996).

    The elements of polyphony (many sounds) and harmony (standardizedcOlnbinations of pitches) have ren1ained in 20 th century composition, transformed intheir relative values and the ways in which they are used (Grout & Palisca, 1996).These radically new compositional forn1s \vere only heard by a few educated andprogressive listeners, leaving the great n1ajority of people unaware of and unable torelate to these new concepts. The complexity and innovative nature of the n1usicrequired a sophistication of the listeners available only to a fortunate and elite few

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    17(Grout & Palisca, 1996). There is very little societal or econon1ic incentive forcon1posers of difficult and unusualillusic, and the listening audience has remained an1inute portion of the general population (Grout & Palisca, 1996). Music which isdesigned to be so open to interpretation. so flexible and adaptable was a radical breakfrolll the absolute dominion of Eurocentric music as the fully realized genius ofhumankind (Rich. 1995). There were enormous pressures brought to bear in thesuppression of this bold new n1usic, and n1any people never had an opportunity tohear and learn to appreciate this new perspective (Grout & Palisca, 1996).

    Commerce has added another pressure on music to produce saleable productsrather than to expand the scope of cOlnposition which has also kept the massesuna\vare of this ne,v music (Borroft 1971). The entertainment media which profitedby printing music for the n1asses, and their focus on selling popular music to arnateurn1usicians resulted in further lin1iting the nUlnber of listeners who actually cravednew sounds and concepts. There were new musicians actually playing badly as aresult of this overexposure to truncated or popular Jazz influenced Inusic (Pleasants,1969).

    Starting around the turn of the last century. the German intellectual composerArnold Schoenberg (who fled Nazi Gern1any in 1933 and settled in the UnitedStates) developed a system of composition which was atonal, that is. n1usic thatavoided a tonal center (Grout & Palisca, 1996). All notes were equal, and allsonorities were possible. Schoenberg called this the Elnancipation of the Dissonance(unusual and often clashing or jarring con1binations of pitches) since dissonance was

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    19truly innovative music. Another factor in expanding the definition of what wasn1usical was the French developlnent of Musique Concrete in the 1930s whichutilized ambient sounds. machines, traffic. crowds, nature, recorded and assembledas part of the cOlnposition (Borroff, 1971). This was a move, with the use oftechnology, to\vards the inclusion of everyday environmental sounds as both tonaland thematic n1aterials w'hich further broadened the scope of possible compositions.

    Composer Henry Cowell contributed special piano effects such as strummingor playing directly on the strings (Rich, 1995). He also developed the tone clusterwhich consisted of any and/or all tones in a given bracketed, span of pitches. such asfron1 treble a to treble d, including all possible micro-tones (tones which exist in thespaces between Western pitches) and which are not included in the Westerndivisions of tonality (Rich, 1995). This helped people to become familiar with andaccustomed to new and unusual tonalities and to atonality (a total lack of a tonalcenter). The results \vere a broadening and freeing up of the Western focus ontonality as thematic core lnaterial. By including all sound frequencies in these toneclusters, Cowell helped to open the way for other culturallnusical traditions and theirsysten1s of tuning and tonality (Rich, 1995).

    John Cage was a lnaster of chance in composition; he utilized the Chinese 1Ching systen1 of throwing coins to randomly determine pitches in his cOlnpositionAll/sic a/Changes (Grout & Palisca, 1996). Cage often lnixed text, dance, theatre,and in1provisation in his work. The elements of spontaneity and ilnprovisation arecentral to the composer's concepts. yielding ever ne\v interpretations of the core

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    20Inaterials. He developed the Found Percussion Instrument tradition while ateacher at the Cornish College in Seattle. Washington (Mathew Kozmeroski.Personal cOlnlnunication, March, 1988). He took commonly discarded items such asauto1110bile brake drums and sheets of left-over aluminum from aircraft asselnblyplants and created new instruments. respectively percussion gongs and thundersheets (Rich. 1995). This new instrumentation was a direct ret1ection of the sound ofthe world around hin1 in his daily life. Cage's con1positions also crossed theboundaries of ClassicaL Jazz, and Popular musics in the creation of his owndistinctive music. He even used silence in his composition 4 J 33 " (4 minutes, 33seconds) (1952), a piano piece in which a pianist and a page-turner walk onto thestage and sit at the grand piano. They act as though there will be a beginning. Thetin1e is actually focused on getting the audience to react, and this reaction to then1usical silence is the actual piece (Grout & Palisca, 1996).

    The relinquishing of control to spontaneity has profoundly changed the waywe as listeners hear and experience music. Instead of expecting the performance tolead us through an emotional and intellectual sequence of sounds which lead totraditional hannonic and thematic resolution and closure, each sound. eachcon1bination of randolnized, accidental, or audience-produced sounds and tones areheard as separate yet equal, with no specific purpose or function in a Western sense(Grout & Palisca. 1996). The listener either enjoys these sounds or does not. Thereis no expectation by either the composer or the performers that the audience willahvays appreciate the music. Tilne ceased to be about tempo and rhythms and

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    21became simply duration and that not as a controlling force. It is another level offreedon1 and release of control for the composers who work in this discipline (Grout& Palisca, 1996).

    Beginning about 1956, Cage moved more and more toward c0111pleteopenness in every aspect of composition and performance by offering performersoptions in the cOlnposer's instructions such as those in Variations IV (1963) whichcalled for the piece to be performed by

    .. . any number of players, any sounds or cOlnbinations of sounds producedby any means, \\lith or without other activities. The other activities mightwell include dance and theatre. All this coincided with Cage's growinginterest in Zen Buddhisln, and n10re i111portantly, it is consonant with what isprobably a tendency for Western artists-and for Western civilizationgenerally-to become Inore open to ideas and beliefs of other great 'worldcultures. (Grout & Palisca, 1996, p. 795)This aln10st Zen-like simplicity and openness often yielded profoundly

    stilTing Inusical perfonnances as the individual improvisers developed theirtechniques and vocabularies to interpret the new n1usic (Rich, 1995). As in manyEastern philosophies and religions, there is a certain release of the self, oftranscending the ego and its limitations and identifications (Balara, 2000). Thecon1poser is not attached to the composition as a finished product 'which representsthe ego or the Inind of the composer, and the tossing of the I Ching coins Inentionedearlier to determine structure and composition was a total abdication of the

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    22Eurocentric concept of composition (Rich, 1995). In this context, the con1poser isset free to enjoy as many re-creations of the composition \vithout fixed parameters as

    there are perforn1ances of the work (Balara, 2000).The prin1ary drawback of this genre was its non-uniformity and the variety of

    special techniques required. Each con1poser reinvents music notation with each newn1usical idea (Briggs, 1986). The average listener can be put offby the energy andattention required to actually hear and understand the new n1usic (Grout & Palisca,1996). The sounds have crept into the film and entertainment industries, and theensen1bles pract icing this discipline are prin1arily ensconced in universities and otherinstitutions of higher learning and thus removed fron1 everyday listening (Borroff.1971 ).

    Other than public and university radio stations, mainstream radio stationstypically have not played this music, resulting in few if any broadcasts of thesecon1positions (Gil Wisdom. personal con1munication, 1990). The mainstrean1n10dern entertainment media have guided the public's musical consumption towardsa standardized diet of popular dance music, usually '.vith four or five piece rockbands of young and often untrained n1usicians whon1 the industry controls throughits econon1ic power (Grout & Palisca. 1996). With very few exceptions, we aslisteners are not exposed to forms of music which require actual virtuosoperforn1ance (Borroff, 1971).

    Also, the prin1ary practitioners of this genre are classically trained and havebeen used to doing the \vork for the sake of the work rather than for mass approval

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    23and or 111arket success (Borroff, 1971). As an intellectual exercise alone, then1usic remains hidden frOlTI the average untrained listener (Borroft 1971). The

    power of a tradition. \vhich is constantly cOlTIposing outside of either the Classical orJazz tradition is potentially unlimited; there are literally no boundaries to what isn1usical in this broader reahn.The Jazz Trad;rion

    Jazz came into existence around the turn of the last century and has grown in

    its influence through n1any phases. It is generally accepted as a truly A111erican artfonTI. The root 111usics of Jazz include traditional African rhythn1s and melodic ideas,European dance music. Native A111erican rhyth111s, and a host of others. Even thoughthere is a con1mon perception in the United States that Jazz is our nationallTIusic anda top seller in the industry, actually the Jazz conSU111er is rated as 3.5 % oftoday's

    n1usic buying consumer audience (Tascali Music News, 2004).The Africanization of AlTIerican music has don1inated the popular n1usic of

    the 20 th century (Pleasants, 1969). New rhythlTIs and harmonic COIYlbinationsbecan1e the familiar soundtrack of American life for lTIillions of peoples of allethnicities and from all cultures. The Eurocentricity of the A111erican public has

    undergone a fundamental reorientation away frOlTI a strictly Western 111usicaltradition to include African, Latin American, Indonesian, and other cultural traditions(Pleasants. 1969). Jazz is uniquely suited to absorb and incorporate these n1anycultures as it has evolved from an origin of inter-ethnic and inter-cultural mixing.

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    24African, European, Native American, and other cultures' sounds were all includedand hybridized fronl the beginning (Grout & Palisca, 1996).

    Ironically enough, the actual recognition of Jazz as a new and profoundlyAfrican American nlusical form actually happened outside of the culture which gaveit birth (Grout & Palisca, 1996). African American musicians had been improvisingchoruses and variations of tunes for some time before European American orchestrasin Northern cities like Chicago began to imitate this new American music (Grout &

    Palisca, 1996). This new music differed from blues and ragtime most strikingly inthe \vay it was performed live (Grout & Palisca, 1996). Instead of playing classicallystraight and dry, these Jazz nlusicians extel11porized spontaneous arrangenlents,distinguishing thenlselves with distinctive style and an individual flourish (Grout &Palsica, 1996). Players were also able to create quite clear distinctions between oneperforn1ance and another (Grout & Palisca, 1996). By the late 1930s, players likepianist Ferdinand (Jelly Roll) MOl10n took Scott Joplin's Maple LeqlRag fromroughly 1900 and changed the choppy irregular rhythms into smooth swinginganticipated beats which pulsed through the melody in a new and continuous linearfashion (Grout & Palisca, 1996). Duke Ellington was an impol1ant innovator andused African rhythl11s and han110nies to guide his composition (Grout & Palisca,1996). The scope of his works ranged from songs to symphonies to musicals todance nlusic (Grout & Palisca, 1996). Duke Ellington and Count Basie composedfor larger ensembles, Big Bands, with several trumpets, saxophones, trombones anda rhythl11 section with a guitarist, double bass, piano and drums. Though the solos

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    25v{ere still i l n p r o v i s e d ~ the actual fonns and arrangements becmne formalized andwritten down \vith Western notation (Grout & P a l i s c a ~ 1996).

    The very nature of Jazz is improvisation on a given tune or cOlnpositionalfonnat and is a real virtuoso's art. Groups often improvise together in a traditionfron1 the old Ne\v Orleans style, creating point and counterpoint, harmonizations ofthe melody and ne\v variations of the form (Grout & Palisca, 1996). The groupcreates a context within \vhich in1provisation and original expression are possibleand supported (Balm"a, 2000). In a Baroque style, the rhythm section provides astructure and pulse for solo and group improvisation (Grout & Palisca, 1996).

    There is a required elelnent of trust and openness when lnusicians improvise.They trust the ensemble, the composition, and their own ability to enter into a realn1of higher expression wherein the spontaneous ilnprovisations guide their owndevelopment (Nardone, 1996). This was partly due to the African American gospelroots of Jazz. providing a concept of the spiritual music.

    Why \vas such importance focused on the development of Jazz here in theUnited States? The answer is at least partially due to the fact that Jazz was one of thefirst places where African American genius could be expressed and appreciated byEuropean Americans. African Alnerican Jazz luminaries Julian Priester and HadleyCalimen once spoke about this topic in a Jazz history class I attended at CornishCollege of the Arts. Their point was almost missed until Priester said, "A black Inancouldn't easily becon1e a lawyer, a doctor, or even, in those days, a professional ballplayer. But it \vas all right to be a Jazz musician and to express one's true

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    26intelligence in that way. A whole race was reaching for a new level of respectand acceptance at once through the music" (Personal comn1lll1ication, April , 1988).

    It is inlportant to the understanding and appreciation of Jazz to remember thesociocultural context and the narrative content of the literature itself (Nardone,1996). The very core of the music is improvisation; each performance and eachperformer is therefore unique. Jazz rose to popularity in the 1930s as a dance music,in the forn1 of s\ving style Jazz, and has such nl0dern day offshoots as Rock, Funk,Hip-Hop, the Rhythm and Blues tradition, and American Popular music (Pleasants,1969). The nlixing of cultures and peoples in cities, especially in the south, like NewOrleans reflected the multiethnic and multicultural essence of the United States asthe lTIelting pot. The cosmopolitan, accepting atmosphere of the cities allowed thisnew lTIusic to gro\v and to incorporate everything to which it was exposed. There areas many sub-genres of Jazz as there are peoples who play it, from Afro-Cuban,African High-Life, Latin, and Japanese, to name a few (Grout & Palisca, 1996).

    The very nature of Jazz is both liberating and transforming to the culture andsociety 'within \vhich it is performed (Nardone, 1996). By nature, the music is notno\\' nor ever \vill be a finished or a static body of work. The ongoing in1pact of newconlpositions and new improvisers has constantly caused the entire genre to evolve.Focus, Benefits, and Limitations ofTrainingfor Both Disciplines

    Jazz nlusicians once con1prised a group from the nlargins of society. Thebrothels and speakeasies were the places where it was performed (Pleasants, 1969).The \\ford Jazz itself is slang forjissim or sperm and refers to the illicit origins of the

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    27n1usic. These early pioneers \vere often musical illiterates who played by ear, notfron1 notated music.

    Classically trained musicians are still resentful that their training and expertisedo not easily transfer to great facility in the Jazz tradition. This schism betweenclassical and Jazz music has grown and becon1e the focus ofmany rifts in curriculumdevelopment in U.S. schools and universities (Igarashi, 1997).

    Until Jazz arose, every n1usician relied on a thousand years of musicaldevelopment in Europe; notation, theory, and perforn1ance were all a standardizedhon10geneous product (Pleasants, 1969). Musicians knew what the syn1bols n1eantand ho\v to accurately produce the sounds as notated. With Jazz, all this changed toincorporate the individual virtuoso n1usician's interpretation and style (Pleasants,1969). The origins of Jazz, the early pioneers' illegitimate and untrained musicality,and the fact that the actual n1usic i tself was not notated for a ti111e have caused thene\v flexible methodology to develop (Pleasants, 1969).

    This schism bet\veen the European notation and the Jazz style grew even\vhen the greater disse111ination of Jazz as a popular 111usic lead to the \vriting downof the tunes for those not trained in Jazz to read and perfor111. Even pitch was flexiblefor the Jazz musicians as they bent and slurred through the song, adding grace notesand embellishments which did not precisely fit with the established Western syste111(Pleasants, 1969).

    Tin1e was flexible \vith the Jazz musicians as the basic four beats per n1easure

    \vere distorted to allow freer expression, and in ilnprovisation the concepts grew

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    28more difficult to notate (Pleasants, 1969). Because Jazz was a performance-based discipline. the musicians developed supplelnental syn1bols and habits of

    phrasing \vhich new players could emulate accurately only by listening to the n1usic,not by reading as in the Western tradition (Pleasants, 1969).

    By n1aking the notation flexible enough to encourage each n1usician to knowthe style in order to actually play the composition, such as a slow ballad, a waltz, or afast dance tune, Jazz became an exclusive don1ain of performance by devotees only(Pleasants. 1996). The ideas famous instrumentalists used in their ill1provisationsbecan1e part of the comlnon vocabulary of the aspiring Jazz performer (Jarvinen.1997). There is a "feeling tone" which allows dark emotions to be exorcised or"purged" (Nardone. 1996, p. 126) through the improvisation. It also arises fron1 andren1ains in opposition to ruling or don1inant culture (Nardone, 1996).

    The n1usical similarities to the Baroque are quite apparent and are at once thestrength and the weakness of this discipline. Today's Jazz musicians are trained,often at colleges and universities, to perform on their instruments with technicalskills of proficiency and accuracy at a level equal to the classical musician (Grout &Palisca, 1996). The theory of each discipline includes lnajor and ll1inor scales andkeys. basic harmonic structure and function. They learn to read Western notationand to play in an ensemble setting. They learn the existent body of work and then, inaddition to becon1ing a transn1itter of a static tradition, Jazz Inusicians have to learnto in1provise their o\vn vocabulary of improvisation and to constantly reinterpret theliterature of Jazz.

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    29There is a great irony that some of the same forces which killedin1provisation in the Baroque Era have been leveled against Jazz. Tired of beingthought to be 111usically deformed and grotesque, to be out of control and toodependant on the individual performer's improvisational skills to be truly valid as acompositional form, Jazz has begun to develop a set of standard scales and chordapplications in which the student lTIusician is instructed (Igarashi, 1997). Instead ofserving as technical explanations of what has been played, COITIposed, andin1provised in the past, an exa111ination of Jazz curriculun1 shows that the newesttrend in education is to define and codify the language and practice of Jazz (.1.Knapp, Personal communicat ion, August, 1987). Thus, the whole cycle of virtuosos'n1usic becon1ing ever more n1undane and predictable has begun again in Jazzeducation.

    This development of a lTIOre systematic and consistant use of classicallybased notation has both legitimized jazz as an existing tradition with a body ofcon1position which is now accessible for alllTIusicians to read and explore,Unfortunately, it has also served to introduce a fixed rigidity of lTIusicalinterpretation \vhich \vas not traditionally a focus of jazz literature. It had been anoral and performance-based tradition which required years to learn, now it isgenerally available in book form.

    One of the limitations has been the standard sets of chord changes and theexpectations of 111elodic and har1110nic choices the improviser can lTIake. A Finnishresearcher Topi Jarvinen examined this apparent set of expected tone choices by the

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    30improviser and matched the111 with tones chosen by listeners (1arvinan, 1997). Hisdata found a strong correlat ion between what the audience expected to hear and what

    the Jazz improviser chose to play. In other words, the Jazz musician has becomecaught in the socio-cultural milieu and plays fron1 sets of notes that the audienceaccepts and from 'which the ilnproviser is increasingly accustOlned to selecting(Jarnvenin, 1997).

    So even \vhen improvising, Jazz musicians are trapped in tight boxes ofexpectation and tradition, particularly on fa111iliar tunes with famous solos associated\vith then1. One of the leaders in expanding the musical palette to include newsounds and rhy1hlns was Miles Davis, an African American Jazz innovator,con1poser, and t rumpeter who periodically went through complete evolutionarychanges in his perforn1ance and in his compositions. His cOlnpositionalpostmodernisn1 ranged from electronic Jazz-rock, to hip-hop, funk, Brazilian, andAfrican percussion techniques, and he frequently acknowledged the influences ofBach, Stockhausen, and Ornette Coleman (Balara, 2000). At the end of his life, hewrote for symphonies and a Jazz ensen1ble using his own Internal Alelodies, whichhe had never perforn1ed yet which had provided the source materials for his years ofimprovising. The titles were Orange, Blue, Green, Tutti, and other abstractassociations (Davis, 1986). Listeners often cotnmented that each performancewould see new arrangetnents often \vith the for111 altered spontaneously right onstage in live perforn1ance (1. Priester, personal coml11unication, 1988).

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    31The rise of Free Jazz in the late 1960s by primarily African Americann1usicians (Igarashi, 1997) was an effoli to destroy the rigid frameworks forin1provisation and composit ion (Pleasants, 1969). These improvisers also rejectedthe idea of Jazz purity as a completed evolution; rather, their goal was to expand thevery boundaries of the music (Igarashi, 1997). These musicians were schooled ingospel, blues, rhythm and blues, and various Jazz styles (Igarashi, 1997). Suchartists as Sun Ra and his Arkestra founded independent recording labels to pron10teand disseminate their work (Igarashi, 1997).

    Forn1er Ellington and Sun Ra trombonist and composer Julian Priester's1971 con1position Love Love featured each lllen1ber of a IS-voice instrun1entalensen1ble being written in its own time and often key signatures (1. Priester, Personalcommunication, 1988). It was the admixture of these concepts which created thedense polyphony of this con1position.

    The Free Improvisation movement in Jazz was mainly by European andA111erican musicians, most ofWhOlll were either university trained as composers orrock and roll n1usicians who abandoned all limits and previous musical materials(Igarashi, 1997). They were trying to discover a '"universal language" (Igarashi,1997, p. 47).

    There is also the genre ofNoise as a musical tradition which had itsbeginning in 1987 and 1988 in New York City in primarily non-profit and n1usicianrun venues (Igarashi, 1997). The music had t\VO primary characteristics:ec1ecticisn1, that is to say it is composed in '"a n1usical vocabulary comprised of

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    32appropriated rhythms, melodies, harmonies and timbres: and collage, anintentionalluix of unrelated elements" (Igarashi, 1997, p. 2). The very unregulated

    and polyphonic, n1ulticultural eclecticism is the language of this new genre (Igarashi,1997).

    Today's Jazz musicians use their creative processes to learn how to expressthen1selves iluprovisationally and to find and follow the group groove or melodicand rhythn1ic ideas. Each era or genre of Jazz has its own style of improvisation andall players are expected to remain within these constraints, to play and to quote in astylistically appropriate manner. Each sub-genre has its grooves, and the expertil11proviser learns to stay stylistically within the appropriate framework (Balara,2000).Comparison ~ r C l a s s i c a l and Jazz Musics

    The students of both classical and Jazz music are expected to master theirinstrument and to be able to perfonu from the existing and new literature in a highlyproficient and stylistically correct luanner (Pleasants. 1969). They both learn to playEuropean scales, chords, and modes and to understand the tenets of tonality,phrasing, and rhythm. They both learn to read European notation and toc0l11n1unicate with each through this medium. While both are taught to interpret thewritten luusic and to put their own individual stan1p on the repertoire, traditionallyonly Jazz students are trained to truly improvise and to co-create the music they areperforn1ing (Pleasants, 1969). It is this fundamental essence of non-reproducible111usical exploration and in1provisation which has driven the \'\-'edge between the staid

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    33European classical world and the ever changing and evolving Jazz tradition(Pleasants, 1969).

    Creative process.The set of learned luusical skills luay allow students to focus attention on and

    interact with the musical literature or live music in a progressively more facile andartistically correct n1anner. allowing them to master a composit ion and to assert theiro\vn personalities and interpretations. There are four stages identified in the creativeprocess (Csikszentmihaly, 1997). The first is the preparation phase when theproblenl or challenge is first encountered. It remains vague but wTong or unfinishedin the field in which the luusicians are working. It can be likened to a pebble in theshoe: it is always there at the edge of one's concentration (Csikszentmihaly, 1997).

    Next. the problem goes into an incubation phase in which the musicians arenot directly thinking about process. Their subconscious continues to work on theproblen1 while they sleep, walk, and otherwise go about their daily routines. Theyare not aware that the connections are coming together outside of their nornlalconsciousness (Csikszentmihaly, 1997).

    Eventually, the finished thought process pops into their aW'areness as acOlupleted gestalt a breakthrough monlent of illumination. This is lUOSt often a verySh011 phase (Csikszentn1ihaly, 1997). The final phase is where this insight isevaluated and developed into a form that others can both understand and use to solvethe problem or to ans\ver the challenge in their lives and work (Csikszentluihaly,1997).

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    34Researcher and educator Dr. Mihaly Csikszentn1ihaly of the University ofIllinois at Chicago speaks of a flow or peak experience C0111mOn to artists, musicians,

    athletes, and scientists. In this state of peak experience, the individual becon1estotally one-poin ted or extremely narrowly focused both mentally and physically tothe exclusion of the rest of the world (Csikszent111ihaly, 1997). Conditions mustexist for this state of flow to occur and continue. First, it is necessary to have clarity;that is, people know what it is they are attempting to do. Second, there is iml11ediatefeedback so that they know how they are doing. Third, there is a match between theskills needed to acc0111plish the challenge and those which individuals possess.Fourth, deep concentration is l11aintained on the task at hand. Fifth, all of people'sordinary problen1s are forgotten, and outside irrelevant stimuli are excluded fron1consciousness. Sixth, control or success is possible. Seventh, people lose self-consciousness or transcend the normal limits of the ego. Eighth, time seems to bealtered. usually passing l11uch faster while in peak flow. Ninth, the experience isautotelic or worth having for its own sake outside of everyday life (Csikszentmihaly,1997). This transformation of ten1porality into a n10nlent by nloment attention to theunfolding improvisation is a peak flow experience (Balara, 2000).

    This vital and central concentration reaches a point wherein people begin tofeel an elevated condition described as ecstatic. Ecstacy 111ay sound like anunscientific mystical tenl1, and while there is this element, in its original Greeksense, ecstasy si111ply means to stand to the side or to step to the side(Csikszentmihaly, 1997). The idea is that while standing to the side of life, we enter

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    35a rarified zone of total concentration and focus (Csikszentmihaly, 1997). It is thetranscendent state which optimizes the "psychic negentropy" (Balara, 2000, p. 34)

    and opens the path to the inner creative self (Balara, 2000). By focusing on theprocesses the student nlusicians use to learn to perform these conlpositions andinteract as an enseInble in an actual performance, we Inay learn something more ofhow to initiate and guide this transcendent state of peak, flow experience into theInusical educat ion of the young.

    Critical listening is also a component of the creative process which allows musicstudents to reason \vithin the theoretical framework and to learn the basic form andideas of the composition (J. Knapp, Personal communication. September, 1987).This critical listening becomes imitation of the sounds and rhythms students hear andare trying to Inaster.

    Classically trained musicians are more prone to use traditional European theoryto understand and perfornl a new conlposition, often through the lens of Rameau' stheories. Jazz musicians often listen critically, and then imitate the sounds and artiststhey hear. Both disciplines will at son1e point utilize their technical skills to read orplay through the piece. sometinles stopping to work on specific portions beforefInally playing the entire composition. There are moments for Classical and JazzIllusicians \vhen they are transported to a rarified zone of consciousness whichallows them to play or to improvise at a very high level of proficiency, sometimeseven on the very first attempt.

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    36Comparison ofclassical and Jazz musicians.Typically, classical n1usicians are European An1erican upper n1iddle and upper

    class individuals who have the advantages of the best private and public education(Pleasants, 1969). A growing number of artists from all ethnicities are reaching thetop levels in their area of perforn1ance, but affluence is often a factor (Pleasants,1969). The literature often focuses on the European Art Song as the height ofn1usical achievement (Pleasants. 1969). Jazz is often relegated to Pop Music statusand hence is not a truly legitill1ate art form (Pleasants, 1969).

    Jazz musicians have traditionally been fron1 all ethnicities, particularly AfricanAll1erican. and all socio-econOll1ic levels. and originally, they often came frompoverty (Pleasants, 1969). Jazz musicians often were less skilled or trained in thetheory and reading of a broad range of musical genres and eras (Pleasants, 1969).There are many famous Jazz musicians who were self taught and had no way toexplain or write their ideas in any n1usically literate sense. Instead of repeating andreplicating the n1usic of the past, their focus is to create ever-new compositions andin1provisational vocabulary with which to explore the possibilities.

    Jazz lun1inary Branford Marsellis once spoke on PBS of the true difficulty inlearning to play Jazz (Pennabaker & Hedges, 1993). His point was that Jazz took of ffrom the classical training and went to new heights of expression utilizing theseskills to accomplish this. Jazz expects each in1proviser to stretch then1selvescreatively and to add to their vocabulary with each performance (Pennebaker &Hedges. 1992).

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    37Improvisation has ceased to be a part of the traditional classical training, whileJazz is always ilnprovising, always exploring the musical terrain searching forsOlnething new to say (Grout & Palisca, 1996). Even vvithin the constraints of theexpected consonant choices for ilnprovisation, Jazz listeners are always hoping to besurprised, to have their expectations exceeded by the in1provisational genius of theInusical practitioners of the art forn1 (Nardone, 1996).

    Merging of the two disciplines, classical and Jazz, is becoming n10re accepted, as\vith pioneering Jazz educator, composer and i111proviser Jin1 Knapp's ChamberGroove Orchestra. an offshoot of his classes at the Cornish College, with which I hadthe opportunity to perfor111 and record in 1998-1999. The instrumentation and thecon1positions then1selves are a hybrid Inixture ofmany traditions including classicaland Jazz.

    SZImmaryMy literature search supplied both terminology and a cross-disciplinary

    history of exploring improvisation and its place in Western European music history.The literature provided data fro111 studies researching peak hUl11an experiences ofcreativity in the arts and sciences. This infonned n1Y study and analysis with boththe data and a rich and highly useful terminology for analyzing data gathered in thisstudy.

    Considering the difTerences between the training of classical and jazz studentn1usicians. I becaIne interested in how being involved together in the production ofin1provisational musics might impact then1 which ul timately led to my research

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    38question: What is the impact on the creative processes of classically and Jazztrained student lTIusicians of the presentation, preparation, and perforn1ance of new

    ilTIprovisational compositions? The next chapter will explore the n1ethodology Iutilized in working \Nith an ensemble of student musicians at a small state universityin northern California.

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    CHAPTER 3METHODOLOGY

    IntroductionAs a university graduate student seeking a Master of Arts in Education with a

    special studies focus in 11lusic, I have conlpleted ten 111usic courses at the universityin addition to the core classes in Education, and I have conducted one of the choirs.also taught the AM Jazz Big Band class for one semester and studied and workedwith a cross-section ofmusic students from both the Classical and Jazz programs.My goals in these activities were to round out n1Y course of study and expand mykno\vledge base to ask questions about the nature of the creative musical experience.

    My baccalaureate degree is in lnusic with a focus on vocal jazz perfornlancefroll1 the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington. My studies includedfree nlusic frOln a performance as well as a compositional s tandpoint from several ofthe originators of both the Twentieth Century New Music and the Free JazzTraditions. My interests had led to study in both areas and left nle unclear as to whycollaborative conlposition and perfonnance were so rare between them. Theseexperiences - 111Y undergraduate 'Nork, graduate \vork, and experiences teaching and\vorking with student lnusicians - helped lne to fonn lny question in regard tostudying the inlpact of the presentation, preparation, and perfonnance of newinlprovisational conlpositions on the creative processes of a quartet of classically andJazz trained student musicians.

    39

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    40Selection of Student l\1usicians and COlnpositionsSelection o[student musicians.

    Prior to con1n1encing the research. I obtained approval by the InstitutionalReview Board (#04-60). The project was con1pleted at a sn1all rural State Universityin Northern California, vvith a student population of 7.550. At the tin1e of this study(2004). the music department at the university had 134 music majors. The prin1aryeducational focus of the depart111ent is the classical Western European model ofhannony and notation. The music learned by the students is based on preserving thistradition as the highest expression of n1usical composition. The departlnent has onejazz professor. and students interested in jazz must also cOlnplete the classical courseof study. Their additional courses in the perforn1ance of jazz are focused on theaccepted use of chords, scales, and harn10nic choices froln the existing body ofliterature.

    My first task in the project \vas to recruit an ensen1ble of both classical andjazz student ll1usicians. Despite the relative sn1allness of the n1usic department, theset\\'o disciplines rarely interact, and there is a traditional educational conflict inpractice and theory. This mutual exclusivity and the resulting contrasts in practiceand perforn1ance n1ethodologies are vital components of this study.

    Having decided to embed myself as a vocalist in the ensemble, I chose threeadditional singers, t\VO from the Classical progran1 and one fron1 the Jazz progrmTI\vhose voices, when added to my voice, equaled a balanced soprano, alto, tenor, andbass vocal quartet. These students \vere all quite accomplished in their respective

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    41disciplines and were open to 111usical experill1entation when I approached them toparticipate in the project.

    The soprano, in her senior year at the University, was a classically trainedsinger with a brilliant, clear voice. Her experience in jazz had been limited to theUniversity's vocal jazz enserrlble which focused on 1950s pop-jazz with very littleAfrican American influence. She was an intelligent student but had experiencedson1e difficulty opening up to improvisational expression in her lnusic in the past.The alto, ajunior at the University, was also classically trained with a warm, fullvocal texture. She too had trouble with i111provisational expression in her courseensen1bles.

    The tenor \vas in his sixth year of study, having pursued another field inaddition to lnusic. He had a very aggressive den1eanor and loved to improvise in thevocal jazz ensemble, though he too had been focused on the mostly EuropeanAn1erican 1950s style of close hannony singing.

    I then selected a jazz pianist and a classicallNew Music guitarist andcon1poser to add instrmnents capable of 111ultiphonic (n1ultiple or many sounds)expression. This was to provide a larger palette of improvisational textures with\vhich the voices could interact. The keyboardist used a variety of instrmnentsincluding a grand piano, an electric organ, and two additional keyboard synthesizers,along with SOlne sound altering effects boxes to expand his creative pallet of soundsand textures. The guitarist used only a stock electric guitar and an amplifier. Byasselnbling this diverse enselnble, I sought to provide a wide range of n1usically

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    42accomplished musicians who were unused to working across disciplines andwhose individual musicality was equally though differently developed.

    Description o.lmusics chosen/or rehearsal and performance.After deciding on how to ask n1Y question, I began the process of finding

    compositions for the project. I decided to use a free in1provisational piece J_ong TonePoem by 111Y college teacher Jay Clayton. This piece is one of her earliest fron1 the1970s and is an excellent vehicle for developing creative enselnble explorations. AsI an1 a composer with a seventeen-year interest in performing free in1provisation, IC0111posed two new works for this project as well. The first uses geOll1etric and waveforn1 patterns and symbols in contrast to sections of group readings from the actualTao. There is also the opportunity to conduct random. improvisational explorationsof the text. The second is based on two verses of dran1atic reading in sequence and aGospel style chorus with the audience included in the in1provisation.

    In Jay Clayton's Long Tone Poem, the then1atic n1aterial is a set of unpitchedrhythn1ic sequences and an ilTIprovisational 111iddle section. There are no keysignatures, no time signatures, and no tempo markings, just randOll1 pitches assignedsequentially as well as durational cues ranging frOlTI 1/8th notes to undeter111ined longtones. Perforn1ers begin as they feel drawn into the piece in no certain order. Theylisten to each other's ideas and simultaneously in1provise or process new ideas asthey n10ve through the piece.

    The next two are my COlTIpositions: Tao 33 and To All Leaders. Both featureunconventional pitch-free, tell1po-free. and meter-free notation which I have

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    43developed fronl the Twentieth Century and New Music Tradition and nlY thirtyyears as a COlnposer, predating my own interest and experience in improvisational

    Inusic. This notat ion calls upon the musicians to improvise the actual compositionfronl the frame work and sequences. shapes. and textures in each. By adding a textwith free interpretational, random sequencing in the Tao 33 composition, I waslooking for spontaneous phrases and sentences to occur freely between and amongthe inlprovisers.

    The gospel style chorus in the To All Leaders was designed to draw theperfonners and the audience together into the conlposition as co-creators and ascelebrants of the uplifting Inessage of freedom and courage. The text is divided intofour parts. and each is added a layer at a tinle, one on each repetition with anoverlapping and theatrical interweaving of the lines from each section. This piece is

    both dramatic and musical in structure, and the added inlprovisational nature isdesigned to increase dynamic tension and to release it in the chorus. (See AppendixA for the C0111positions.)Ensenlble Introduction to the Musics. Rehearsals, and Performance

    In order to allow the enselnble to gain S0111e experience together and yetavoid over-fanliliarity with the compositions, I scheduled three rehearsals a weekapart fronl one another at the university in the Jazz Band roonl and a publicperformance in the recital hall in the nlusic department building a \veek later. At thefirst rehearsal, I handed out the music and talked through each, paying particularattention to the notations each utilized. We then ran each piece one time and left the

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    44compositions as 'works in progress rather than trying to hammer out aperformance. Each rehearsal was a one time run through of the three conlpositions.This unfinished, unrepeated rehearsal methodology left the pieces fresh for eachplay-through. I gave the student nlusicians a pad and pen and asked them to writetheir reactions and thoughts as we rehearsed and in between rehearsals as well. Ialso interviewed thenl after the first and third rehearsals and after the actualperformance, with questions designed to delve into their creative processes as theycanle to grips with the conlpositions and with each other's often contrasting musicaldisciplines to develop an ensemble perfornlance. (See Appendix B for transcripts ofthe intervie\vs and students' post-rehearsal reactions and journal entries.)

    First rehearsal.

    I set up the group in a half circle with the singers together facing the guitarand piano and nlyself in the center. We all sat for the rehearsals, reading the scoresfrom music stands at eye level. The goal was to free up the nlusicians' hands forclapping, and their eyes were all at a basic level which I hoped would encourageinteractions.

    The singers described themselves as uncomfortable with the music, eachother, and thenlselves. They were unsure what to do with the music and ranged fronlhesitant to afraid to express themselves in the first rehearsal. They felt stuck to whatwas written on the page and yet were unsure how to interpret the notation. Theyspoke of wanting to be less self-conscious, to relax and let themselves goilnprovisationally. Along \'-lith the instrumentalists, this was an entirely new

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    45ensemble and improvisational experience for them, and they were excited by thebrief n10lnents when it all seen1ed to come together.

    L., the keyboardist, said the 111usic was "out of the realm of anything I'vedone before." Singer S. recognized immediately that the difficulty of "not beingself-conscious about doing what I want with it. Just being uninhibited is going to beprobably the lnost difficult thing." Singer C. was n10ved to comment, "1 think this isgoing to help me gro\\,." There \vas a desire to interact n10re frorn singer A. In his

    notes from this rehearsaL he wrote that he had "never done anything like that. (1) feltlike I was afraid to jurnp in because of past training. (1) \vas interested in supportingother n1usicians.'

    These students showed courage in their efforts to reach out musically to eachother. Speaking of her experience. singer C. reflected, "1 felt afraid to sing andwasn't using very good vocal technique at first. I waited for others to transition intosections because I was afraid to go first." She finished this first entry stating, "I'mexcited to try it again."

    The guitarist N. was enthusiastic and wrote, "It almost fell into a rhyth111. Wedefinitely talked to each other and traded ideas. At first I didn't think it would flow.

    but it was pretty obvious where we were for the 1110st part."The ensemble began to form right away as L. the keyboardis t expressed, "I

    \vould hear (the guitarist) do sOlnething. and I would respond off of that. There werea couple of times in the rehearsal where we actually played at the exact sa111e tin1e."

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    46There were sor11e challenges in musical dialect for all of the students. L.said. '"It \vas. U111. interesting. We were all pretty l11uch worried about the s a m e ~ all of

    \ve didn't have any idea what we were getting ourselves into. And I think wewere all \vorried about where we were going to place celiain notes and e v e r y t h i n g . ~ '

    I did my best to both follow the form and to n1inimize my influence as a moreexperienced in1proviser. I listened to the students and worked fro111 their ideas asmuch as possible.

    Second rehearsal.The guitarist was unable to attend the second rehearsal due to a prior

    conll11itment out of the area. and I \vas a bit anxious about how this would effect theensel11ble's gro\\-1:h. Perhaps partially because I didn't interview after the secondrehearsal, the students didn't write journal entries, despite my prorTIpting at the end

    of the session. I have gleaned com111ents in reference to this rehearsal from thesecond interview and from my own observations.

    The students appeared to be 111uch n10re dynamic, and the ensen1blecontinued to grow in strength and cohesion during the second rehearsal. Singer S.put it this way. ~ ' I ' n 1 1110re aware of what's going on around n1e instead of just

    focusing 011 my own pati. Before I was just worried about what I was doing. and nowI can take my part in context with what everyone else is doing because I'm morecomfortable \vith the piece, so I can multitask, I g u e s s . ~ '

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    47Singer A. began to develop his vocabulary to express the shapes andcontours in the notation. He noted that he "found it easier to n1ake the shapeshappen. It gets easier as we practice. (1) was out of the zone before, not so much thistil11e:'

    L. was clear about the changes from the first to the second rehearsals, stating,"WelL what has definitely changed is our acceptance of each other and the fact that\'le're not reading conventional music. Or we're used to it, we haven't done enoughto be used to it, but we have, we're definitely more con1fortable with it. I've noticedan exponential difference betvveen the first time and the second time ... " This newtrust in the others in the emerging ensen1ble was a central turning point in the qualityand complexity of the in1provisations both individually and collectively.

    Speaking during the second intervie\v, C. illustrated the problems most of thestudents experienced in the second rehearsal. "I think that up until tonight. along\'lith being stuck inside the music .. . , n1Y biggest \vorry has been not being finishedwhen everyone else is finished and being the last person singing. and being like okaywhere are they, should I speed up or slow down."

    Third rehearsal.

    Between the initial read through and this rehearsal, the ensemble had grownto incorporate the sum total of the students' abilities. Everyone could feel theexpansion and excitement of this transpersonal gro\vth. In response to my questions,the following exchange with S. took place. I said, '"I think I heard you say twothings. First. between the first time and this time, this being our 3rd time together,

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    48you now feel more connected with the e n s e m b l e . ~ S r e s p o n d e d ~ "Especially thistin1e. both the keyboard and the guitar were amplified so they were more easily heardI think just having - I wouldn't say I \\las feeding otl of what they were doing. butbeing able to hear what they \\lere doing too - urn, made it easier for me to have n1Yown ideas and then to, urn, to hear, to be able to hear what other people were doinginstead of just being like tunnel, not tunnel vision but tunnel \vhatever. (We bothlaughed.) It was easier for me to, urn, run with what I was doing."

    The ne\v commonality of the ensemble's improvisation drew from all ourcollective experiences and abilities. Guitarist N. was observant of this change andsaid --Yeah, I think that the experience will make the group a lot n10re comfortablewith group improv and voicing their own ideas in the presence of other people\vithout feeling like they're going to get uh, shot down, I guess. Without feeling likethei re going to get a negative response. Because we were all .. . it was done in apositive atmosphere. It's a great way to in1prove improvisational skills." S.cOlnmented, "I think that if I was a classical musician and tried to play a z z ~ it wouldbe a stretch, and if I was a jazz musician and was forced to play classical it would bequite a stretch. ... those are like on opposite ends of the spectrum for me, but if you\vere to put the two together or any type of training, I think that in this setting there'sn10re of n1esh going on because if s improvisation. And a lot of the tilne classicalpeople don't improvise very much .. . if s forcing everyone to just improvise andreally have confines like this is classical or this is jazz."

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    49Even before the vocabulary was developed to talk about it, the ensenlble' sgrowth was central to all of the students' experience of the project. C. reflected inher journal entry: "I felt ll1uch Inore connected to the rest of the enselnble this till1e.I felt like we \vere closer to being one organism than individuals singing at the sanletilne. I tried to lie into the flow of the irnprov. section and contribute a little bit.still think rIll trying too hard."

    This flow experience becall1e a central pati of the ensell1ble. C. expressed it as "Ithink rIll a person, being a classically trained nlusician that's very, very stuck \vith\vhaf s on the page. And so I was still kind of stuck there the first, urn, couple ofrehearsals. Even though what's on the page isn't really that specific . . . . my eyeswere glued to what was going on the page. And just today I put my music standdown early in the first piece because I thought I was just staring at the music andbecause I was doing that I wasn't really listening to the Inusic, as much as everythinggoing on around Ine. And all of sudden I could hear everyone else around me, a littlebit better and I started feeling that freedOln to ilnprovise and that was a click for l1le.And that \vas the biggest unl, progression of this for me, being able to get out ofwhat was on the page."

    My role becanle 1110re interesting as I found my ideas ell1erging oftenseenlingly spontaneously from others, and I felt the music begin to come alive\vithout nlY ilnprovisational guidance. My only cues were for the instruments torenlain a\vare that the singers would be atnplified, but we would not hear theaudience 111ix on stage, and so we would still need to listen acoustically to each other

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    50in the performance. C. spoke about the changing dynamics, "'I was letting ithappen. and at the end of the Long Tone Poen1, we all ended together, and ...1didn'teven try. rin here \vith everybody else and it was ah, that was my big breakthroughn10n1ent."

    A. provided the following feedback, "To know that we were all kind of in atrain for that moment, we all just connected and went along for the ride . . . . (T)herewas another part that - like you said - 1hit a note that just happened to fit inside achord. . . . (T)hat was kind of neat so I'd just try to do a change up and vary that aquarter step and feel the vibrations, which was really kind of a breakthroughn10n1ent. 1actually felt (the vibration) in Iny sternum ... - it was something 1neverreally felt before . . . ,(A)s a group. it was just really kind of a good connection, justn1aking that chord and just ... physically feeling the chord. 1mean .. . you can usuallyhear it, and somewhere inside your head, you can kind of feel it, but (to have it )actually resonate inside nlY body was a weird feeling. But it was exciting at the same

    Pel/ormanceThe sounds, rhythms and textures in the performance were emotionally

    diverse and musically creative and free form. The first piece, Long Tone POell'l,begins with random sequences which the singers and instrUlnentalists entered one ata time. The tonality was polyphonic, and each singer expressed melodic andrhythnlic ideas which were cycled (with individual revisions) from singer to singer.The instrumentalists' strumming on the piano strings and throat singing were an10ng

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    51the textures created. The improvisation section was b u s y ~ fast p a c e d ~ and all usednlany notes in fast sequences. The ending was all together in one b r e a t h ~ everyonefelt the piece draw to a c l o s e ~ and we all exhaled as one at the ending. The overallfeeling seemed to be questioning and explorative. The students opened thenlselves toeach other. to the composition, and to the performance. This trust in the musicalothers was one of the results of this project.

    In the second piece (Tao #33), the textural sections were each distinct andenl0tionally evocative in varying directions. Neutral and informative in the firstreading, good ensemble u n i s o n ~ that is they listened and follow'ed each other as aunified \vhole. The shapes really flowed o u t ~ and L. provided a wonderful dreamysubstructure upon which the musicians were able to ride along. The second text wasnlore aggressive. The tonal structures formed rapidly, and all the performers fitnicely and seamlessly together. The tempo was fast, and the shapes and structureswhich arose were rendered \vith spontaneous ease. The third text was quieter andmysterious. The faster speed was drawn out with long oscillations and slurs whichformed a cohesive wave form. Singers all began to make dolphin-like sounds andconlpletely left the Western framework of pitches and chord progressions. Thekeyboards echoed the v o i c e s ~ and the guitar's rhythm hits provided furthermomentum.

    The final section of text and improvisation was faster, aggressive, and electricin texture. The keyboard textures sounded like drops of liquid at the end, addingtraditionally non-nlusical colors to be included both as improvisation but as source

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    52111aterial for the ensemble members to improvise from.The culmination of thisC0111position included elenlents frOl11 all the sections as the final invented notation\vas intended to do and all the students echoed this in their inlprovisation.

    The final piece was a study in contrasts. The first verse was angry and loud.\Ve all read the interlocking text with our internal frustration at the current war. Theilnages were ugly, and violence was dismissed as collateral-danlage. The student111usicians put thenlselves into the messages, and I believe it was the depth of theirindividual internal strife over the issues in the text which lifted the performance. Theaudience joined in on the chorus, and we perfornlers all had to struggle to keep therhythnls and fornl together in counterpoint to their voices. The second verse wasjoyfuL hopefuL and uplifting. The students' snliling faces Inirrored their internalrelease fonn the harsh first section to the positive second half of the composition.El11otions were a powerful pat1 of the actual interpretation each brought to bear onthe perfofl11ance. The text gave positive messages, and the final chorus seemed to goon endlessly. The audience and the ensemble blended into one joyous unit and thenlusic took on a new electrici ty and life. We sensed a connection between us. theperformers. and the audience and felt we had been effected and changed by thisproject in 1110Stly positive ways.

    The actual perfornlance was very powerful, and all the students had strongand over all nl0stly positive reactions. The essence of the ensemble was nluch moresolid and unified. The ensenlble v.'orked together to express the pieces and toilnprovise ne\v ideas in a supportive way.

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    53Asked to describe his reactions to the performance. singer A. replied, "lustcool not lTIuch else to say. I understand what to do now for the most part." Havingstruggled with her fears and trust issues, C wrote in her final journal entry, "I reallyenjoyed the perforn1ance. I had a lot of fun. I was worried that doing this in front ofan audience would keep me from letting go. but it didn't . I feel like I have exploredan entirely new genre of music. I'm excited to have been involved in this."

    The professiona