Re: Instant Composition

["Dennis Moser" <sinsofmachaut@gmail.com>]

Uhm ... I _was_ gonna stay on the sidelines of this discussion, but Stefan's comment's prompt me to chime in.

Improvisation does not mean "without form" ... in fact, since Bach's name (and I will bravely assume that we are referring to Johann Sebastian at this point) has been invoked as the exemplar of "counterpoint", I'd like to remind some folks that old JS was noted IN HIS TIME for his ... wait for it ... IMPROVISATION!

Yes, that's right, Bach's "Musical Offering" was actually the setting down of what had been an improvisational challenge issued to Bach by Frederick the Great. (For more background on the history of this, try here... scroll down a bit ... http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/?page=article&article_id=350&catID=8 )

The point of musical training and all that practice is not to make you an expert at counterpoint or harmony (hopefully it will do that as well), but to provide you with the skill to USE the skills in performance, i.e., you must learn the rules first so that you can forget them. The intellectual skills entailed are for the muscles of the brain ... as we train the muscles of our hands, feet, mouth, arms and legs to perform on our instruments, those parts of our brain that we use for creating music must also develop an equivalent " muscle memory".

Pete Townsend is alleged to have said something to the effect that you don't have to be stupid to listen to rock and roll. While open to interpretation, I believe he was saying that intellect is NOT an impediment to the appreciation of popular music. By the same token, form is not an impediment to improvisation and I think some of us spend way too much time agonizing over it instead of getting on with playing, performing, and yes, instant composing.

Sorry for the rant on a warm November Sunday morning here in New England, but I'm in the midst of my annual participation in the National Solo Album Month and there seems to be more than the usual amount of whining going on about "how do you manage to do an album in 30 days?" ... JUST DO IT! (and edit in repose ... )

Best to all,

Dennis

On Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 11:33 AM, Stefan Smulovitz <stefan@kenaxis.com> wrote:

I don't think anyone listening to my music would hear Bach, counterpoint or theme and variations, but I am aware of these ideas and use them in my own very loose ways. I'm not proposing imposing strict form on improvisation, but an awareness of form and how it can create new ideas. This then adds richness to the tools you use while improvising. Counterpoint does not need to be the formal system used by Bach - it can just means you are thinking of something that works counter to what is currently happening. Theme and variations can mean playing a phrase and then morphing the phrase in different ways.

If you listen to Ursonate (http://www.ubu.com/sound/blonk.html) its a very very long ways from Bach - but uses the ideas of form in a fantastic way. Without the form it would just be a jumble of nonsense - there is no way that it could sustain your interest for the length of time that it does.

I also love chaos and noise. These can be used within the context of a greater sense of form as well though and made more powerful for it.

Stefan

http://www.myspace.com/stefansmulovitz
http://www.kenaxis.com/

Raul Bonell wrote:

i usually approach things on the contrary way.
it works better for me.no counterpoint. no theme, neither variations.
even no bach at all. i had enough while studying piano.

raul.

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