source file: mills2.txt Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1997 14:10:10 -0800 Subject: RE: Improvisation and our musical sounds From: PAULE > Although improvisation may be a skill helpful to the > mastery of a particular musical instrument I am not convinced that in > itself it adds anything to ultimate musical experience. Nor do I feel > that improvisational skill leads to more creative musical expression. In > fact it much more readily falls into the realm of noodling than much of > the so-called Western classical repertoire. I let this sit for a while, but I find this positively repulsive. (1) If you can hum what you're composing (a good sign that you're making music rather than marks on a page), then humming spontaneously (even slowly, and correcting errors) is improvisational skill. That may not be helpful to the mastery of a particular instrument, but it sure leads to better composition! (2) Many masters of instruments cannot improvise to save their lives. Many master improvisers create compositions in a realm very different from the five-line staff -- details will change from performance to performance, rhythms will transcend rational notation, the musical experience will reflect the immediate conditions of the moment, communication between audience and performer will occur -- in all, the music will have a structure that has more in common with real-time human thought processes. (3) Noodling on a staff is less musical than noodling on an instrument, and noodling on an instrument qualifies as poor improvisation at best. (4) I went to a very prestigious university. The senior composition class was far beyond my qualifications to enroll in. The performance of final compositions from this class SUCKED. There was not one note of music in the whole thing -- I couldn't have IMPROVISED anything worse if I tried. Meanwhile, rock groups were playing in basements, improvising away, and sometimes reaching levels beyond pure entertainment. (I should note that a performance of compositions from the graduate school of the same university was far more musical and far more challenging -- however, the undergraduate symphony orchestra positively DEMOLISHES the grad school orchestra!) (5) The ultimate musical experience. Hmm. Aside from that once-in-a-lifetime improvisation where it feels like your hands are controlled by a higher power, this would have to include listening to Jimi, or Duke, or one of Bach or Chopin's "frozen improvisations" (if only we could capture their actual performances out of the vibrations in the air). I'll skip Wynton Marsalis' jazz "compositions." Blah blah. No one can say it better than Neil already did. Anyway, we need a lot more composition AND improvisation before the 12-tone monarchy is overthrown; each element of music-making needs the other to grow and prosper. Denying that is denying microtonality's very viability. Received: from ns.ezh.nl [137.174.112.59] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Tue, 14 Jan 1997 00:16 +0100 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA07902; Tue, 14 Jan 1997 00:19:18 +0100 Received: from eartha.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA07895 Received: from by eartha.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) for id PAA12366; Mon, 13 Jan 1997 15:19:10 -0800 Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1997 15:19:10 -0800 Message-Id: <55970113231655/0005695065PK1EM@MCIMAIL.COM> Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu