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Improvisation in Music Documentation of the conference 22 - 24 October 2004 Royal Conservatoire The Hague, The Netherlands
24

Improvisation in Music - Semantic Scholar€¦ · Improvisation in Music Therapy ... Even though improvisation in early jazz often was ... or even musicians between stylistic chairs

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Page 1: Improvisation in Music - Semantic Scholar€¦ · Improvisation in Music Therapy ... Even though improvisation in early jazz often was ... or even musicians between stylistic chairs

Improvisation in Music

Documentation of the conference22 - 24 October 2004Royal Conservatoire

The Hague, The Netherlands

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Foreword ...................................................................................................... 5

1. Introduction ......................................................................................... 6

2. Opening ................................................................................................ 6

3. Noodlin’ and Doodlin’ and Playin’ Around...How the concept of improvisation changed during the history of jazz.............. 7

4. Are you game to play?The art of improvisation - organisational learning and performance .............. 10

5. Lectures on Improvisation in different musical genres...................... 12Contemporary Classical Music ..................................................................... 12Folk Music................................................................................................. 14Jazz music ................................................................................................ 16

6. Concerts.............................................................................................. 16

7. Practical Improvisation Workshops ................................................... 18Vocal Folk Improvisation ........................................................................... 18Improvisation in Music Therapy ................................................................. 20

8. Final discussion .................................................................................. 22

CONTENTS

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Recent research has proved that truly major decisions in life are taken half consciously and halfunconsciously. If one chooses a profession, wants to buy a house, is considering to get married,the conscious part of the mind is working as hard as the unconscious part of it. I will not go sofar as to say that the decision to put a musical phenomenon at the centre of the EMC AnnualConference 2004 can be compared to a major decision in one’s life, such as the questionwhether to get married or not. However, there were unconscious powers at work when the boardof the EMC decided to take ‘Improvisation in Music’ as the central point of focus for the EMCAnnual Conference 2004. Never before a musical notion or phenomenon had been the centralissue at annual meetings or even in board discussions. One can wonder why it should be thisway and whether it is good or bad. But this discussion will have to take place at annual meetingsfollowing the one in The Hague in 2004. What counts for all major decisions, either big ones orsmall ones, is that you know whether it was a good one only after you have chosen. Lookingback at the EMC Annual Conference 2004 in The Hague, I can say it was the right decision. Allparticipants of the meeting had very different improvisation experience in music, and theattitudes towards music improvisation were very different as well. It ranged from people knowingnothing about it and having a vague interest in it, to people being professional improvisationmusicians, unable to understand what a musician of this time and age can do withoutimprovisation. Diversity, characteristic of music in Europe, was also apparent in the phenomenonof music improvisation. In the morning lectures, diversity was explained by experts of all kinds ofEuropean music, in the afternoon diversity could be experienced by all participants duringpractical workshops. One of the official goals of the EMC consists of “…supporting andimplementing of expertise, expert assessment and surveys that deal with musical issues…”. Abrochure or a website can help to achieve this goal, but when it comes to the music itself, andespecially if it comes to such a specific phenomenon as music improvisation, you have toexperience it yourself. The participants of the EMC Annual Conference 2004 got that experience.It enriched their knowledge and understanding of music and also enriched their artistic view onmusic. It was a great pleasure for me to have the EMC Annual Conference 2004 taking place inthe building where I work daily, the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. Once again, I want tothank Director Professor Frans de Ruiter for welcoming us. My gratitude also goes to the staff ofthe EMC office and the IASJ (International Association of Schools of Jazz) office for producingthe event. I want to thank especially all lecturers and workshop leaders and all participants fortheir contribution.

Foreword

Wouter TurkenburgEMC Board MemberHead Jazz DepartmentRoyal Conservatoire, The Hague, The Netherlands

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The conference “Music and Improvisation” was organised by the European Music Counciland took place from 22 to 23 October 2004 in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Improvisation is a theme that concerns everyone who is active in music – be it as aperformer, a teacher, a musicologist or an administrator. Nevertheless, there are manymusical fields and genres that still neglect improvisation considerably. Through thisconference, the European Music Council provided information about different types andaspects of improvisation. The opportunity to make some practical experiences was provided.The positive effects of improvisation was demonstrated and ideas were developed, how therecognition of improvisation can be improved.

This documentation aims to give insight into the events of the conference by using excerptsof conference papers, PowerPoint presentations and summaries of the discussions. Lectureson improvisation in different musical genres (Jazz/ Folk/ Contemporary Classical Music) weregiven and complemented by workshops taking up the theoretical debate and approachingthe subject in a practical way. Concerts showing different styles and ways of improvisationrounded up the exceptional programme.

1. Introduction

Beata Schanda, chairperson of the EMC, welcomed the participants of the conference andthanked the “International Association of Schools of Jazz (IASJ)” for inviting the EMC to holdits annual conference in The Hague. She also expressed her thanks to Frans de Ruiter, headof the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, who provided the premises for this conference.Wouter Turkenburg (IASJ Executive Director) greeted the participants of the conference andwished an interesting and successful meeting, he introduced Wolfram Knauer (head of theJazzinstitut Darmstadt) who gave a keynote speech on improvisation in the history of jazz.

2. Opening

from left to right: Ruth Jakobi, Wouter Turkenburg, Wolfram Knauer

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thirties

twenties

early jazz

3. Noodlin’ and Doodlin’ and Playin’ Around...How the concept of improvisation changed during the history of jazz

Any serious definition of jazz will highlight the importance of improvisation for this musicalgenre. Indeed, jazz is an improvised music. Its way of working with improvisation, though, andits own definition as improvised music have changed over the decades. Improvisation can be thehighlight of a piece of music, it can be the raison d’être for jazz or it can be an aesthetic/philosophical/ political attitude. The title of this paper, the phrase “noodlin’ and doodlin’ andplayin’ around” is an often heard phrase used for jazz improvisation. Tom Nicholas, thepercussionist from Philadelphia living in Darmstadt, told me recently what he thought thedifferent words actually meant. “Noodlin’” he said, is the preparatory thinking, the playing withideas and developments in the head of the improvising musician. “Doodlin’” is the transmissionof the “noodlin’” onto the instrument, the physical test whether the thoughts can be executed.And “playin’ around” finally is the playful test whether what one invented in thought and thentransferred to the instrument makes musical sense, fits together, holds interest and tension.

In early jazz styles as well as in the predecessors of jazz it is easiest to see and analysetraditions of improvisation transferred from Africa and acculturated in America. Improvisationmostly concerns the melody, it is melodic paraphrase, ornamentation, it tries to repeat themelody in one’s own tempo and interpretation. Even though improvisation in early jazz often wascollective improvisation, some individual musicians such as trumpeter Buddy Bolden orclarinettist Lorenzo Tio have been praised for their ability to play, for an especially beautiful (or atleast an especially loud) sound, sometimes for their melodic inventiveness.

In the 1920s jazz became dance music, a commercial music aimed at the dance market. At thesame time jazz developed its own aesthetics which highlighted its characteristic elements,rhythm, a specific instrumentation and... improvisation. The most important development at thisstage of jazz history is that the instrumental solo becomes the focal point of a jazz performance.Artists such as Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke and others changed jazz from a functionalmusic to a music in which the players were praised for their artistic ability, for their virtuosity, fortheir inventiveness in improvisation, for an artistic competence, thus, which by now could bemeasured with the help of aesthetic criteria.

In the 1930s the aesthetic of the soloist becomes more and more an aesthetic of thevirtuoso. In analogy to similar developments in European art music of recent centuries, jazzdeveloped a public worship of stars. Jazz developed its own standards and a repertoirebased on improvisational basics – basics that continue to live in today’s real books. Withinthe commercial big bands of the 1930s, improvisation was not really the focal point ofpopularity. Within the music scene, though, improvisation remained an important issue andcontinued to develop methodically: within the peer groups of the big bands, in whichmusicians worked together with colleagues for a long period of time, playing the samearrangements all over again, musicians learned from each other, discussed musicalpossibilities, experimented. The transitional period between swing and bebop is full ofstories of musicians who developed their more progressive approaches through theirworking conditions within the big band scene.

Jazz history and improvisation

Introduction lecture by Wolfram Knauer

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seventies

sixties

fifties

fourtiesCool jazz of the 1950s is not necessarily a retreat within the concept of improvisation as it hasoften been interpreted in jazz history books. Cool jazz musicians such as Lennie Tristano, LeeKonitz, or even musicians between stylistic chairs such as the members of the Modern JazzQuartet actually experimented with the aesthetics of improvisation and form. The latter, form,was especially important within their experiments, they were looking for new ways to structuretheir music. Their solution was to fit improvisation into more complex arrangements, to use moremelody oriented linear-polyphonic improvisations (even collective improvisations), to use amotivic way to improvise by consciously employing motivic cells and developments, to controlthe sound of their instrument or of whole instrumental sections. Musical form was at the centreof such experiments, compositional as well as improvisational.

In the 1960s improvisation seems to become more and more independent. Of course, it is alegend that free jazz has to really be free of all constraints of musical rules. This was the caseonly in very few instances; yet, compared to earlier styles of jazz, the free jazz as exemplifiedby American musicians certainly introduced new ways of improvising musical developments.Improvisation in this process becomes more and more an aesthetic policy: in a society in whichBlack values in jazz become stronger, improvisation can serve as a model opposing Europeancultural traditions. The understanding of jazz as “America’s classical music” as it becamecommonplace in the 1970s, is rooted in this new self confidence improvised jazz found within thefree jazz development. And jazz did not just pose a pointed opposition against European culturaltraditions, it was in its very own traditions seen as an exemplary counter movement.

Viewing jazz history as a development of increasing complexity of all musical parameters –harmony, rhythm, form, collective play etc. – free jazz of the 1960s seems to be a culminationpoint within this development, and the new direction called “fusion” ... a step back. Sincearound 1970 jazz is faced with the problem that its aesthetic measures changed (had tochange), that many of the self-appointed jazz experts could not or would not follow thesechanges. Fusion musicians often made use of modal improvisation because the rock orientedfusion of the 1970s worked mostly in larger formal relations, thought in broad harmonic spacesmore than in complex harmonic developments. Musicians also became more and moreinfluenced by ethnic genres of music in which improvisation traditionally played a big role.

In the 1940s jazz again became a more solo oriented music. Composition and arrangementstepped into the background, most important was the solo – virtuoso and highly emotional.Recordings from Minton’s Playhouse which symbolize the transition from swing to bebop give usa clear idea: long jam sessions using a simple harmonic basis, chains of solos filling up formusical content. Within bebop you can even hear examples in which pieces are begun without aclear statement of the melodic theme at all, but immediately start with improvisation.

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& now

ninetieseighties

Improvisation as illusion?

The great Duke Ellington himself hinted in this direction in anessay from 1962 for the Music Journal. His words are wellphrased, as so often, and try to de-mystify: “Another theorythey hold is that there is such a thing as unadulteratedimprovisation without any preparation or anticipation. It ismy firm belief that there has never been anybody who hasblown even two bars worth listening to who didn’t have someidea about what he was going to play, before he started. Ifyou just ramble through the scales or play around thechords, that’s nothing more than musical exercises.Improvisation really consists of picking out a device here andconnecting it with a device there, changing the rhythm hereand pausing there; there has to be some thought precedingeach phrase that is played, otherwise it is meaningless. So,as I say, jazz today, as always in the past, is a matter ofthoughtful creation, not mere unaided instinct (...).” So, isimprovisation a big illusion? Well, only if you see it as anachievable utopia, not if you know about its real essence, ifyou accept that creative improvisation does not mean acomplete new invention but usually just a new order of anexisting vocabulary. Let’s face it: nobody suggests that acreative author/writer has to invent his own language. Histask is to re-order existing words and sentences, to re-orderthought and thinking. It’s not so different in music: to re-order is more important than to invent anew.

Actually, the improvisational basis “tabula rasa” is quiteimpossible as musical improvisation always happens within atemporal space, refers to the memory of time, because itbases on memory and all the different experiences whichsound memory can release in us.

In any case, jazz is the first musicalgenre in which improvisation was sostrongly put into the foreground. Inthis sense jazz was really analternative for a eurocentric culturalperspective in which the written word,repeatability, comprehensibilitybecame essential parts of a work ofart. Jazz’s influence on other artforms, on painting, literature etc. hasto do with this singularity of theaesthetics of improvisation in jazzwhich implies the possibility ofexpressing one’s emotions, one’semotional experiences spontaneously.The problem of this jazz aesthetic asan aesthetic of an improvised art isthat jazz survives in a world of therepeatable. How often do I as aconcert promoter have people fromthe audience coming to me after aconcert asking, “Did you record theconcert?” – because they want torepeat the experience of listening fora better comprehension of the music.And indeed, each of us knows thefeeling when we listen to music againand again, concentrate on it, perceivethe originally improvised sounds as awork of art and then make ourselvesaware again of their origin ... bysaying ... with astonishment: “... andall of this is improvised!”

If improvisation in jazz over the decades spoke of individuality, inventiveness,spontaneity, the creative power of the musicians, the neo-conservative movementof the 1980s and 1990s seemed like a counter movement to this development.Musicians such as Wynton Marsalis, spokespeople such as Stanley Crouch insistedon the established values of the African American music “jazz”, on theachievement of the big names, on a canon of jazz history which consisted notonly of big names but could also be identified musically through their referenceand relationship towards the tradition(s). In Europe, some musicians, especially inRoman countries, discovered that improvisation in jazz and improvisation ashanded down by their own folkloric traditions were actually compatible. But evenif not all of such meetings of the traditions proved convincing, they taughtmusicians to understand jazz improvisation as a means to individualize andinterpret other traditions, other types of music. During the last twenty or so yearsimprovisation has more and more become a competence associated mostly withjazz but which worked exceedingly well even when one left the paths one camefrom and loved, those of African American jazz.

Wolfram Knauer

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We are all improvisers; in ordinary speech we use existing vocabulary, applying certain rulesfor our own creations!

Every conversation is a form of jazzAllow maximum flexibility through minimal structures

Creating something on the spur of the momentEmbrace errors as a source of learning

Alternate between soloing and supporting

When the (jazz) players get togetherthey “do what managers findthemselves doing: fabricating andinventing novel responses without aprescribed plan and without certaintyof outcomes; discovering the futurethat their action creates as it unfolds.”

“Creativity and Improvisation in Jazz andOrganizations: Implications forOrganizational Learning,” a 1998Organization Science article by FrankBarrett

4. Are you game to play?the art of improvisationorganisational learning and performance

In this keynote speech the two jazz musicians Marc vanRoon and Joshua Samson gave an insight on howimprovisation can also be used as a tool in business/corporate contexts. They are the founders of theorganisation “Art in Rhythm” that provides workshops andseminars on the art of creativity and improvisation formusicians, organisations and companies.

The following quotations are experts from the PowerPointpresentation given during the conference.

challenges of today

• discovery / invention a new language & concept• higher degrees of uncertainty• increasing pace of change• new economy, new competition• new rules for the game?• new way of playing?

im·prov·i·sa·tion

1. The act or art of improvising.2. Something improvised, especially a musical passage.3. That which is improvised; an impromptu.4. A performance given without planning or preparation.

phot

o: a

rtin

rhyt

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Keynote and workshop by Marc van Roon and Joshua Samson

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play, free play, improvisation can help to create the new language and to find newways of organisation & performance

What can you do to bring ‘play’ to your organisation ?

• to create an environment that fosters change and innovation• to create an inspiring learning environment (theatres of learning & performance)• to put people at the centre of the change process• to recognise improvisational moments (crisis, meetings)• to create alliances, to start to play

John Kao 1997 suggests that contemporary organisations need a new kind of worker, one ableand willing to improvise like a jazz musician, rather than a talented, but non-creative worker who,like a classical musician, submits to the close supervision and guidance of the conductor.

free spirit of exploration

set of rules

focus on process focus on result

only winners winner + loser

rules invented by all players referee

no fear fear of losing

possibilities agenda

free spirit of exploration

set of rules

focus on process focus on result

only winners winner + loser

rules invented by all players referee

no fear fear of losing

possibilities agenda

GamePlay

Stephen Nachmanovitch - Free Play

The differences between game and play were pointed out. Improvisation is rathercorresponding with play.

“Free Play” Stephen Nachmanovitch, Penguin Putnam, 1990“Jamming, the art and business of business creativity” by John Kao, HarperBusiness, 1996“Flow” by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly, Harper & Row, 1990“Music and the Mind” by Anthony Storr, randomhouse, 1992“Suggestology and Outlines of Suggestopedy” by Georgi Lozanov, Gordon Breach Publ, 1978“Creativity and Improvisation in Jazz and Organizations: Implications for OrganizationalLearning,” Organization Science article by Frank Barrett, 1998

For further reading

Marc van Roon/ Joshua Samson

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Contemporary Classical Music - Ivo Medek

From children’s creativity to contemporary improvised music

The topic improvisation in contemporary serious music is so wide that within a given time it ispossible to embrace only a small section in this field, perhaps only to name the main streamsand representatives, which can be done easily through literature or internet.To narrow the topic I will pay attention to those aspects with which I have my own experienceas a composer, teacher and performer.

Unlike other genres,improvisation in contemporarymusic is entirely free with nocommon schemes, shapes orconventional principles havinga general usage. It does notrequire any preliminarypreparation or experience.Special attention will be paidto a project with children thataims to evoke their musicalcreativity through free as wellas directed improvisation.

Chosen instruments for thisproject with children from alltypes of basic schools wereobjects of everyday life - fromPET bottles to little stones andchildren’s toys. Intentionally,we did not use anyinstruments to avoid thedifference between thosechildren who can play andthose who cannot play, whichcould lead to negativedisappointment. Anotherreason was to create soundsthat were only based onquality and not on tones. Themusical experience of thechildren themselves does notplay such a big role.With the choice of theinstruments we excluded anyconnection to traditionalmusic.

From the point of view of alistener - in this case alsofrom the point of view of theyoung players themselves -the important factor ofimprovised music is a different

music expectation unlike theone in western concert music.Examples for this method canalso be found in theprofessional scene: looking forother ways of musicalexpression is typical forimprovised music - both in theexperiemental use oftraditional instruments and in

the use of different non-instruments, e.g. objects fromthe household of HughDavies, the instrument ofKeith Row or John Cage, thehistorical electronic objects inThomas Lehn’s work or thedestroyed computer of HansKoch.

It was interesting to observesoloist production of thechildren: it revealed thepersonalities of theindividuals. The main aspectof improvised music, however,lies in communication, whichleads to include ensemble playin the project. To besuccessful, it was necessary togive at least some generalrules. It is important, however,to define “success” in

improvised music:the art of improvisationaccording to Edie Prevost liesin the ability to make music onthe spur of the momentwithout any given formbeforehand - without any aimthan the activity itself, withoutany expectation.It is useless to speak aboutaspects like quality, progress,regress, contribution,innovation, communicationbetween creator and listenerwithout talking about an innerfeeling of satisfaction - thesuccess of improvisation fromthe point of view of a certain,as interpreters say, floating inwhich the musician himselfappears in the middle of thecreation of the work.

It is necessary to realize thatwe worked with completeamateurs, so it was importantto give some basic informationbefore the first group sessionsstarted. Our basis was theseven virtues of an improviser- as they were defined byCornelius Cardew. We chosethe first five ones: simplicity,integration, modesty,tolerance and readiness.Translated into the languageof children: not to try toassert oneself, to acceptactivities of others, to try tolisten to them withconcentration, to join thewhole, to be ready to respondto impulses and create themby themselves.

5. Lectures on Improvisation in different musical genres

phot

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case

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Ivo Medek

photo: photocase

A further step was the choiceof a principal approach toimprovisation - the choicebetween a free and a directedform. The discussion whetherto influence improvisationbeforehand goes through allits history. Directedimprovisation was consideredfor a long time a doubtfulcompromise betweenimprovised and composedmusic. During itsdevelopment, someprocedures appeared, whichcan be considered as directedimprovisation. E.g. thecontrolled improvisation ofChristian Wolff, Stockhausen’ssymbols of sound plays whichshould be played according tocertain rules, Zorn’scompositions where it isstated who, when and withwhom an individual shouldplay but not what, as well asthe whole field of graphicscores when such a score haseither the function ofstenographic recording(Braxton, von Schlippenbach,Dauner) or a certain generatorof music thoughts of theinterpreters themselves(Brown, Cardew).It is natural that in case ofchildren we chose directedimprovisation in two ways.The first one was thecombination of the so-calledconducted improvisation withgraphics: on the board wereinstructions in the form ofpictures, the time axisindicated when to play andwith what dynamic. In thesecond approach a previouslynarrated story defined theglobal form of the musicpiece. The story wascommemorated by simplegraphic symbols in the courseof time.All improvisations wererecorded and older children,able to understand basicprinciples of sampling andediting techniques wereprepared for furtherprocessing in a simple ministudio for the final recording.

Thus, we enter again twoareas which were consideredas unacceptable in improvisedmusic for a long time. Thefirst one is mingling withcomposed music. It is clearthat the abovementioned finalarrangement offreely improvisedareas bears theelement ofcomposition. Inthe 1990selements ofimprovisationwere used bycomposer;composedelements wereno longer a taboo forimprovisers. The mostcommon approach iselectronic processing ofsamples of improvised ordifferently gained fragments(recycling, montage, collage,and the like). We meet nowwith the term com-provisationand lately the term does notbear a devaluating feature.The second area whichlooked at as incompatible withimprovised music was itsrecording on media. But alsothis is different, improvisationsare not only recorded but therecordings are processedfurther, in the studio as wellas in real time with various DJtechniques, processing,improvising to the recordingsetc.

There are many editing,montaging, fragmenting,mingling attributes ofcomposing and improvising –the problem of the now andhere can be neglected. Itconcerns the whole line ofimprovisers including EvanParker, Bob Ostertach andmany others.

The project of the support ofchildren’s creativity with theelement of improvisation isnow being in the state ofprocessing and the finalversions will be at disposal.

Listening to similar recordingsfrom our Austrian co-operatorand well-known improviser,Seppo Grundler, therecordings were exceptionallyinteresting. If I had not known

that amateurs are playing, Iwould have believed to listento the CD of a professionalensemble.

The most important aspects ofimprovisation is theconcentration on now, theemphasis on inconstancy ofmusic as medium and thepreference of the interactiveaspect and the collectivedecision processes before thepresentation of oneself. It isobvious that the work withsound areas is preferred tomotivic work and from thisresults the choice ofinstruments. Variability andfreedom, combined with acertain degree of opennessand with play situations,enable various alternations inthe choice of previouslydefined restrictions. It can bea formal skeleton, a givenprinciple, a process, a story -as in our case, or a nonmusical idea. The more rigidthe restrictions are the moredetail-oriented improvisationis. Freedom in the macroworldis changing into freedom inthe microworld.

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Folk Music - Nigar Akhundova

Improvisation in Azerbaijani Music: from mugham to jazz

This report will deal with improvisation in AzerbaijaniMugham and its interpretation in various genres ofcontemporary Azerbaijani music. Mugham is aunique phenomenon of Azerbaijani folk musicheritage that perfectly reflects the Azerbaijani way ofthinking. Despite the archaic history of this genre, itis a lively and constantly developing form of art,which is inseparable from contemporary culture. Theterm mugham has a number of meanings amongwhich may be distinguished the genre of mughamand the mode of mugham. The seven major modesof mugham are rast, shur, seghyah, charghyah,bayaty-shiraz, humayug and shushter; each of themhas its own height focus called maye.

photo: spjm/ Berthild Lievenbrück

Mugham often gives its name to a genre oftraditional professional Azerbaijani music whichcharacteristic feature is free rhythm andimprovisational development of music on thebasis of a certain mode. A mughamiccomposition, dastghyah, is the alternation ofchanging and constant elements, of improvisedand concentrated episodes where a mughamicdramaturgy takes place. This dramaturgy ischaracterized by a slow and strainedprogression towards the very culmination.

Vocal mugham is an organic harmony of musicand poetry. Various classical writers ofAzerbaijani literature wrote lyrics especially formugham, such as Nizami, Fizuli, Vaghyf andothers, whose works are mainly dedicated tolove and philosophical reflections on life.

Mugham is an inexhaustible source ofinspiration for numerous contemporarycomposers. Uzeyir Hajibayov, founder of theAzerbaijan Composers School, combined twodifferent music traditions in his creative work –the Western and Eastern traditions. In histheoretical works he prepared the basis of thiscombination, in which he reformed the moodand the composing systems of Mugham. Hisearliest practical step was the creation of thefirst Mugham opera in the East called Leyli andMajnun. This opera doesn’t have a completelyfixed score; it has only a kind of direction,consisting of story lines, a few musical pieces,a poetic text and the name of the mood, inwhich the Mugham-singers should perform.

Thus, this opera achieves a compromisebetween improvised and composed traditions,and between oral and written musicaltraditions. It is interesting that many operaswere composed later in Azerbaijan, but noneof them achieved such popularity as Leyli andMajnun. It did not loose its esthetic value andis still granted full auditoriums today.

The next significant stage on the way of theintegration of Eastern and Western musicaltraditions was the creation of a new genrecalled ‘symphonic Mugham’. The outstandingAzerbaijani composer Fikret Amirov became afounder of this genre; in his first symphonicMughams he established the genre’s generalcharacteristics. For example, following theoutline of traditional performance, Amirovstructured his two compositions as suites ofrhapsodic pieces that paralleled mughamimprovisations, dances, or songs. Preservingthe exact sequences of the traditionaldastgahs, Amirov gave titles to each-section,which also provided written programs for thecompositions. The impact of Fikrat Amirov’smughams is such that, contrary to otherAzerbaijani composers who used individualstylistic features of mugham in their works,Amirov created a new symphonic form andthus, reconciles it with the process ofrenovation of a symphonic genre, which wasactively going on in the West simultaneously inthe middle of last century.

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Another sample from our recent history is the creativity of FrangizAli-zadeh, born in 1947 and belonging to the post-war generation ofAzerbaijani composers. The student of the distinguished Azerbaijanicomposer Kara Karayev, whom she inherited an affinity with theSecond Viennese School, Ali-zadeh was the first performer of theworks of Schönberg, Webern, Berg, Stockhausen, Crumb, andXenakis in the USSR. In her own earliest work it was difficult to findeven ultimate signs of the national coloring. But comprehensiveperception of the modern reality in such way led her to get interestedin her native, traditional cradle: combination of stable and mobileelements, determination and freedom in mugham. In 1979 F. Ali-zadeh wrote Gabil-Sayagi. Written upon request of the cellist IwanManigetti, and composed for cello and prepared piano, this pieceimitates the style of the kamancha player Gabil Aliyev. Ali-Zadehemploys modern composing and performing devices to make the twoinstruments sound like a mugham trio. Besides the kamancha, thetar, and the gava, instrumentsassociated with mugham perform-ance, the composer also alludes toother Eastern instruments such asthe sitar and the tambur. In thispiece, she draws on the emotionalcontent of mugham, as well as onits modal, melodic, and structuralfeatures.

The last example is the creation ofa new direction in jazz calledMugham-Jazz. Many of you knowwell the talented jazz pianist-vocalist Aziza Mustafazade. Hercompositions distinguish them-selves by fabulous colors andspirits. Western critics call her“Shekherizada of Jazz”. But it isnot always known that she isdaughter to the famous jazz-composer and pianist VagifMustafazade who was a founder of mugham jazz. Vagif Mustafazadedeveloped his creativity in the 1960-70s, at the time of the so-calledIron Curtain, and probably due to this fact his name is not very well-known in the West. However, all contemporary Azerbaijani jazz-performers as well as many jazz musicians of the former Soviet Unionconsider him as their master. The most intriguing aspect of Mustafa-zade’s performance was that he did not actually play traditionalAmerican jazz. What he introduced to the public was mugham jazz.Considering improvisation as a bridge between the two traditions,Mustafazade mingled the modal intricacy of mugham with the richharmony of jazz, fused familiar motifs and swing, used both jazz andmugham types of melodic elaboration, thus integrating two basicallydiffering ways of musical thinking. His music exposed a highly indi-vidual style; but his individuality was inseparable from mugham.

photo: spjm/ Berthild Lievenbrück

Nigar Akhundova

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Jazz music - Rolf Delfos

Professional music education and teaching improvisation to non-jazz majors

Rolf Delfos is trained both in classical and jazz performance, as a saxophonist he has a clearunderstanding of the difference between classical and jazz musicians.

For over five years, he has been teaching animprovisation course at the Royal Conservatoire directedat classical musicians. The main goal of this course is tobreak through the wall separating improvising from non-improvising musicians. Rolf Delfos maintains thatbreaking down this wall is necessary, and represents thefuture direction of music. His opinion is in line with theidea that the musician of the 21st century should be ableto improvise.

Rolf Delfos first explained that his course is not aboutthe development of specific jazz vocabulary such asswing eighth notes. Rather, his goal is to find ways towork with improvisation using the existing vocabulariesof the musicians. He uses a variety of interactiveinstructional exercises to help classical musicians to gainexperience in improvisation and strengthen the creativeprocess. His exercises are described in three main areas:modal music; music based upon functional harmony;free improvisation based on graphics. After overcomingthe initial shyness and fear, all students of Rolf Delfos enjoy very much the freedom to playtheir own, spontaneous created music without being tied to written down, previouslyconceived music.Over the five-year history of this program Rolf Delfos has had wonderful results. This hasconvinced him that the various concepts that are beneficial to strengthening the creativity ofII-V-I trained bebop musicians are beneficial to the classical musician as well. Apparently theessence of improvisation as developed in jazz can be deducted from jazz and beimplemented in the classical curriculum. During the lecture-demonstration two violinists anda pianist, students from the classical music department of the Royal Conservatoire, played anumber of short pieces. The pieces were based upon children songs, on classicalcompositions, or on a simple upon modal or tonal groove. In all of the pieces improvisationplayed an important central role. The piano student stated that since she was able toimprovise, her playing of classical music had improved considerably. She now understandsthe harmonic implications of the classical compositions. Also her results in the studying oftheory improved. Before she knew how to improvise, she considered theory subjects such asharmony, analysis and solfeggio to be interesting but separate subjects with no relation atall to her main subject. Now that she can improvise she understands much better thecoherence of the theory subjects and the relation to playing classical piano.The next step in the development of the improvisation course for classical musicians at theRoyal Conservatoire is the development of teaching methods for the beginning musician inwhich improvisation plays an essential role. Many of the existing classical methods are notappealing to young children because there is no room for playing with music, forspontaneous music making. Once new methods in which improvisation plays an essentialrole are developed and used, a new generation of musicians will come forward with a newand freer approach to the instrument. Classical musicians who can improvise are betterprofessionals because they are better equipped for the ever changing, barrier braking musicpractice of the 21st century.

photo: private

Rolf Delfos

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Two concerts rounded up the programme of the conference:

One evening was designed by Francesco Turrisi, who was born inTurin (Italy) in 1977. He started classical piano lessons at the age of11. In 2003, he completed his bachelor degree in jazz piano at theRoyal Conservatory in The Hague. His teachers were Frans Elsen,Rob van Bavel and Rob van Kreeveld. He also studied classical pianowith Albert Brussee. At the same time he developed a passion forearly repertoire, especially 17th century Italian music. Attracted bythe similarities between the world of jazz and early music, hestarted studying harpsichord and basso continuo with PatrickAyrton.

He was invited to give a concert, presenting different styles ofimprovised music. He played together with a Jazz Combo and aBaroque-ensemble.

The other evening was dedicated to spontaneous improvisation.Some conference participants and experts joined for animprovisation session. This very practical experience of not preparedimprovisation was a great enrichment to those playing as well as tothose listening.

6. Concerts

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7. Practical Improvisation Workshops

VOCAL FOLK IMPROVISATIONWorkshop leader: Marc Loopuyt, Oud playerThe choice of content and method depends, in this case, on a 40-year practice of Easterntraditional music. The objective here won’t consist of making anyone improvise at any rate bylowering as much as possible the level of aesthetic requirement, but of referring to criteria oforal, collective, melodical, natural and ecological practice that all civilisations on planet Earth stillhad only one hundred years ago. This kind of practice looks like an excellent basis for teaching,collective practice and infinitely perfectible creation. Here, our objective will rather be to open, atleast partially, the door that opens onto improvisation, by using the principles you can find inArabic, Greek, Turkish, Persian or Indian music practised at a high professional level. All this isabout making fun seriously, which means making fun tremendously as well. I find these oldprinciples quite contemporary; the applications they allow are always well-adapted to the periodof time, both easy to handle and endowed with a strong social communication potential.

These principles are:

RHYTHM

Rhythm lies behind anymusical existence (like aheartbeat); it carriespoetry and melody. Inthis framework, rhythm ismale in relation tomelody, and as suchbears the mark of thefemale (and vice-versa).Thus, in rhythm thefemale sound DUM (low,resonant and enveloping)is opposed to the malesound TAK (curt, sharpand aggressive); theandrogynous sound EScompletes the two others.This is the arabo-turkishsystem – even though myinterpretation of it is notexplicitly taught in theMiddle-East today.

The participants and I seat in circle; I’m seated North. Everyonefollows the instructor either by imitating directly his move, or (forthose facing him) by mirroring the imitation. When the general move isstarted, your visual reference is your direct neighbour.The DUM sound is represented by putting right hand on right knee, theTAK sound by right hand on left knee, and the ES by left hand on leftknee. The left-handed ones will rather face the instructor and seatSouth; therefore, they will avoid crossing hands with the instructor andwill move hand to hand. The first rhythm I suggest is the Soufian, fromTurkey: / DUM - TAK ES TAK - ES - / DUM - TAK ES TAK - ES - / (all ofthem eighths, except the letters followed by a hyphen (- D), thatrepresent quarters.) The move is repeated quite a number of times,while repeating aloud the formula: the Dervishes Brotherhood. Thepoint is to put aside the analytical mental reflex, and therefore not tocount the repetitions and feel carried away by the collective flow. Oncethe cycle is settled, while keeping carefully this rhythmic movementgoing, the students listen to and then repeat a very simple melodybelonging to the same repertoire (in this case, an Ilahi of whirlingDervishes). This is the first step of this approach: to become familiar tothis simple melody while letting the rhythm continue with very relaxedarm movements. The phases of practice won’t exceed 3 to 4 minutesand are interrupted by anecdotes relating to this practice of music inthe countries it originates from: Morocco, Syria, Turkey, etc.

WORKSHOP

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Marc Loopuyt

Then, during the second part of the workshop session, the participants are invited to get upand make the same move with their feet, which involves to deal with the weight of the bodyas well. Once the movements are mastered, these few steps are oriented and then allow thecircle to move as in a collective dance on which the singing finds its place again.We sit down and get up alternately until the melody is mastered.

It is then the right moment to learn a short rhythmic-melodic pattern based on a fourth, to besung by the whole group: /D G - G D - G -/, and still punctuated by the initial rhythmic move.Once this pattern is mastered, the instructor places himself in front of several players in turnand suggests them, by singing, musical fragments for them to imitate, inspired by the firstmelody and its melodic mode (in this case, Nahawand mode). We’ll have then a succession ofstructured exercises leading progressively to free imitations, and then to invention literallyspeaking. The achievement, however humble, of a decent improvisation has to beearned. It would be often demagogic to claim the opposite.

Of course, this is only a summariseddescription; this method involvesnaturally several meetings, and it isnormally in alternation with sessionsof invention on a free rhythm,apparently easier to carry out. In anycase, as far as I’m concerned, themost important in this atmosphere isto combine the collective qualita-tive (rhythmic and melodic mode)with individual invention which,session after session, will never behampered: on the contrary, inventionwill be set free and guided by adouble Ariadne’s thread woven bythese two modalities.

The most famous improvisers, suchas Django Reinhardt, Paco de Luciaor Ravi Shankar, knew how to turnthe inescapable elements of theirtraditions (chord charts, compás, talaand raga) into as many springboardsto perform the most incredible rhythmic-melodic acrobatics. They were from start endowedwith extraordinary possibilities, and were plunged into a dense environment of oral musicalpractice. Why should we, as humble as we are and generally lacking these powerful environ-ments, look down on what made them such geniuses?Welcome to improvisation lovers: this may be a modest way to the marvels of the East, butlet’s not wait too long since growing academicism and blind slavery to a dominant culturedamage a bit more every day the musical landscapes of our legendary East.

photo: EMC

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IMPROVISATION IN MUSIC THERAPYWorkshop leader: Patricia Sabbatella, music therapist

DefinitionMusic therapy is a systematic process of intervention wherein the music therapist helps the clientto improve or maintain his/her health (to enhance an individual’s social, emotional, educational,and behavioural development), using music.

Therapeutic musical experiences are used with the purpose of creating insight and finding newways for life development in relation to the client’s problem, handicap or mental suffering.

Two types of goals can be defined:• Non musical goals from a therapeutical perspective• Musical goals from a musical perspective

Both together lead to a therapeutical musical experience

MethodsA music therapy session involves the client in a MUSICAL EXPERIENCEthere are four basic types:

Recreation / performingThe client performs music: he/shesings or plays on an instrument a pre-composed song or piece of musicaccording to his/her capabilities,either by memory or using notation.

ListeningThe client listens to pre-recorded, live or improvisedmusic in any type or style. Responses of the clientmay include: imaginary, free-association, relaxationor activation, discussion of lyrics, remembering,emotional catharsis, movement, etc.

ComposingThe client creates music, i.e. melodies/lyrics to songs, music for instru-ments, musical plays, etc. The musictherapists helps the client on technicalaspects of the process.

ImprovisationThe client makes/creates music spontaneously withvoice, body or an instrument. The client may impro-vise freely, responding spontaneously to the soundsas they emerge, or the client may improvise accord-ing to the specific musical directions given by thetherapist. The client may improvise with the thera-pist, with other clients, or alone, depending on thetherapeutic objective.

Each type of music therapeutic method has its own therapeutic potentials and applications, andinvolves:

• A different set of sensorimotor behaviours• Requirement of different kinds of perceptual and cognitive skills• Evocation of different kinds of emotions• Engagement of a different interpersonal process

Music can be improvised by anyone at different levels

Improvisation is used as a main methodological approach in music therapy in Europe and Latin-American countries, as a means to engage with different clients populations (multi-handicappedchildren, adolescents with emotional disorders, palliative care, AIDS, adult psychiatric, autisticchildren). Improvisation is a form of music therapy that is build up upon here-now interactions ofunique individuals who have their own perspectives, backgrounds and values. The application ofimprovisation in clinical work can be understand as a process that involves different functions:

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Conclusions• Music as a collective experience: ‘interactive’ music making

• To experience a different way of ‘relaxing’ by active music making

• To develop spontaneity, creativity, freedom of expression, communication, and interpersonalskills, as these are the basic requirements of improvising music therapy exercises are useful

• To feel music making in a different way

• To express oneself in a different way using sound, music, movement, and voice

• To feel musical engagement with others

• To communicate and share feelings with others

• For personal growth and increasing self-esteem, music therapy exercises are not onlyoriented to people with diseases / disabilities

Theoretical background for improvisation in music therapyImprovisation was introduced in music therapy nearly 40 years ago.Some examples of literature:Paul Nordoff & Clive Robbins (1960): CREATIVE MUSIC THERAPYJuliette Alvin (1960): FREE IMPROVISATIONMary Priestly (1970): ANALITICAL MUSIC THERAPY

MOTIVATION

Why should we go through this experience?Why should we make music together or individually?What does the client expect to get out of this experience of improvisation?

UNDERSTANDING

What does this experience mean for us?What does the experience mean for the client?

SENSITIVITY

How are we going to experience this together?How to be sensitive to the style and approach to music making of the client?

INTEGRATION

In what way can we relate to, and integrate the experience?Connecting the music of the music therapist and the client.

CONTAINMENT

What can I put into it – is it safe to enter this experience?Containing a client is part of the process: beginning and ending of music making.Reflection after improvisation is part of the process.

Patricia Sabbatella

MUSIC THERAPY IMPROVISATION

RESOURCES

VOICE

MUSICALINSTRUMENTS

MOVEMENTIMPROVISATION

(PIANO – GUITAR)

SOUNDS BODY

BODY PERCUSSION

MUSIC

PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS

VOICE

MUSICALINSTRUMENTS

MOVEMENTIMPROVISATION

(PIANO – GUITAR)

SOUNDS BODY

BODY PERCUSSION

MUSIC

PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS

FREE IMPROVISATION STRUCUTURED IMPROVISATIONATONAL - TONAL

FREE IMPROVISATION STRUCUTURED IMPROVISATIONATONAL - TONAL

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In the final discussion of the conference “Improvisation in Music”, many different aspects ofimprovisation were discussed, partly very controversial. Not all of the issues can be reproducedhere, but only some of the main strands of the discussion:

Musical improvisation is often seen as specific to jazz or traditional folklore music. Many ‘classical’musicians never came across improvisation during their professional training. Sometimes improvi-sation is considered as ‘nonsense’ and as loss of time. But in fact, it trains skills that are crucialfor every musician, be it in western classical music, in jazz, pop or rock music or in any othermusical style of the large range of ‘world music’. Improvisation demands not only creativity, butalso the knowledge and application of a given set of rules, carefully listening to other musiciansand the ability to take over leadership at a given moment as well as to leave it to someone else.Musicians trained in western classical tradition often show a certain fear when they are asked toimprovise. The absence of a fixed score, of a composition that has been written down before-hand, often creates a feeling of incertitude. However, improvisation played an important role alsoin classical music. The composed œuvres that, when being performed today, are pure reproduc-tions, often had improvised parts when they were performed in the time of their composition.Therefore improvisation should be part of every curricula concerning musical professional training.

Improvisation is not only a tool to learn playing without sheet-music or to acquire social skills. Itis also an art form of its own. Technical virtuosity of the instrument or voice, harmonical,rhythmical and melodical competence and emotional artistic expression make improvisation an artform that needs to be respected and acknowledged. However, the statement that the reproducingof composed works is purely repetitive and that improvisation is the only creative way of musicmaking remains questionable.

Improvisation demands a high attentiveness towards the musical partners. Even if the given rulesare extremely liberal, they are still existent. Nevertheless, improvisation allows a playful applica-tion of these rules. Both, respecting while also breaking the rules, can be means for an interestingnew creation. Mistakes are ‘allowed’, they will not be sanctioned, but can be integrated. Experi-ence and experiment are crucial for improvisation. As important as comprehension and the appli-cation of rules, is the integration in the group of players. Each group has its own structure, eachplayer its strengths and weaknesses. A careful observation of these characteristics is necessary tofind the right moment to take the leadership or to step back in the tutti. Rather shy characterscan playfully learn to take the role of the leader, when supported and encouraged by the group;rather extroverted characters can learn to integrate in the group. The definition of weakness andstrength looses its clearness; peculiarities are colours on an equal footing illustrating the wholepicture. Improvisation means communication and dialogue between the participating musicians,and – if performed – also with the public. This manifold dialogue between different parties canlead to the expression ‘comprovisation’, a term that is also used to denominate the crossing overbetween composition and improvisation. – These are only few examples for social skills that canbe transported through improvisation. Musical improvisation can be of great help to improve socialbehaviour for extra-musical domains such as general education, business management or psycho-therapy.

Improvisation has many different aspects and can have positive impacts on the formation of thepersonality in many different ways – musical and non musical ones.The conference “Improvisation in Music” showed only some examples of musical improvisation. It canclearly be stated that musical improvisation is both, a tool to improve musical and social skill and anart form in itself.Improvisation needs more acknowledgement and acceptance; this conference has risen awarenessand contributed to the current discussions.

1) Improvisation as a basis for all music making

2) Improvisation as a key to social competencies

3) Improvisation as an art form

Conclusion

8. Final discussionchaired by Wouter Turkenburg

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Imprint

EditorEuropean Music CouncilA regional group of the International Music Council

CompilationSimone Dudt, Ruth Jakobi

LayoutSimone Dudt

Printdpmoser

Special thanks go to Juliette Powell for proof reading

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ContactEuropean Music CouncilHaus der KulturWeberstr. 59a53113 BonnTel +49 228 966996 64Fax +49 228 966996 65

email: [email protected]

with the support of