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m r o v f s a t i o n ~A TOOL

FOR MUSIC

LEARNING

David N. Baker

In spite of the proliferation ofstage and jazz band" and jazz in-struction of all kinds, little has beenattempted regarding the use of mu-

sic improvisation as a teaching tool,and what has been done has beenconfined largely to those specifical-ly interested in jazz. Yet improvisa-tion and many of the related skillsusually subsumed under that head-ing (ear training, call and response,theme construction and develop-ment, and so on) can serve any stu-dent interested in music throughouthis or her education.One of the most important rea-

sons for using improvisation as ameans of music learning is the total

involvement necessary on the partof both teacher and student. Passiv-ity is one of the greatest deterrentsto learning on any level. Creatingsituations in which a student is per-mitted and encouraged to experi-ence and to use new information ashe or she acquires it can only

The author is professor of music and chair-man of j azz studies at Indiana Universi ty in

Bloomington.

42 meJljan 'SO

speed and enhance the learningprocess.Of course, improvisation should

not be misunderstood as simply acathartic experience, with partici-pants doing whatever comes to

mind without order or direction. Ateacher must be able to understandand impart to students the rulesand codes governing improvisationaccording to whatever matrix is op-erative. Improvisational techniques,materials, and approaches vary fromera to era and style to style, andfrom one type of music to another.The rules governing the realizationof a figured bass or an improvisa-tion in the style of J. S. Bach arequite different from the rules thatdetermine the correctness of an im-

provisation in the bebop style ofjazz or the rules that are operativein a score by Lukas Foss or JohnCage.But to an extent, the tasks set

forth for all improvisers are similarand not substantially different fromthe task given a student composerassigned to write a work in thestyle of Haydn, Bartok, or Ives. Onestarts with the observation of theharmonic, melodic, and rhythmicpractices of the composer or style

to be imitated and then proceeds tothe formulation of a code of behav-ior predicated on those observa-tions. Each situation has its ownrules and codes of behavior thatprescribe the parameters withinwhich an improviser or composermust operate. Once the code ofrules is given, a matrix emerges. Astrategy for successful realization orexecution of a composition or im-provisation is then dependent onthe particulars of the situation.Manyteachers initially find it eas-

ier to explore improvisation withinthe jazz tradition rather than in oth-er kinds of music simply becausethe sine qua non of jazz is improvi-sation and because the last twentyor twenty-five years have yielded aplethora of excellent method booksand a variety of approaches to im-provising within various jazzidioms. However, if one is willingto devote the necessary time andenergy to consulting the wealth oftheory, composition, and musi-cology resources that exist as wellas to studying scores, transcriptions,and recordings, information is alsoavailable for building improvisation-al approaches to ethnic traditionsand art music.Improvisation can, if properly

handled, serve a ." a valuable adjunctto the other education concepts weuse in teaching music. It can be themeans to an end as well as an end

in itself.

Manipulation of basic elementsIf one is to maximize the poten-

tial of improvisation in teaching sit-uations, perhaps the term itselfneeds to be redefined and mademore inclusive. I would like to of-fer some suggestions for music ac-tivities that have learning poten-tial and involve some element ofimprovisation.

A student can be taught to alterwritten music (learned from the

printed page or by rote) in anynumber of preset ways. Perhaps theeasiest technique for altering a mel-ody is that of simple embellish-ment. The use of trills, shakes,mordents, turns, gruppettos, appog-giaturas, glissandos, and porta-mentos is easily taught and ex-emplified in almost every style ofmusic. Of course, in jazz, blues,gospel, and many other forms ofblack music, the embellishmentsmight take completely different

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sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" inunison or when a church congrega-tion attempts to sing a hymn frommemory.The teacher or group leader

might improvise by tossing individ-ual notes or phrases between in-struments and voices. A greater testof concentrat ion occurs if the play-ers are instructed simply to react to

each other with phrases and frag-ments. See Figure 7.Another more sophisticated tech-

nique might involve the use of spe-cific instructions detail ing the useof fragments, phrases, extraneousmaterials, the order in which theyshould be used, their frequency ofoccurrence, and other performanceconsiderations, as in aleatoric musicafter the manner of Foss, Cage, Ter-ry Riley, Stockhausen, and others.Without altering the melody, the

students might improvise using

sound alterations as the point of de-parture. Some possibi li ties mightinclude varied articulat ion; gl is-sandos; different registrations; vol-ume changes; vibrato or nonvibrato;trills, shakes, and turns; and the useof mutes, plungers, bottles, andelectronic equipment.Another simple improvisational

technique involves changing themeaning of a work by altering itsstyle. If students listen to and un-derstand the imperatives of variouskinds of music, then they can be

taught to improvise works in thosevarious styles. For instance, usingrhythmic devices, note choices,phrasing and articulations, and oth-er characteristic gestures, one canperform 'Joy to the World" in ablues, modal, country-western, orjazz style, or as a waltz, bossa nova,or samba. See Figure 8. Using thesame approach, one might also ef-fect an improvisation in the style ofJ. S. Bach, Brahms, Schoenberg,Ives, or Bartok.

Many rhythmic improvisationalpossibilities exist, perhaps the mostobvious of which are in the realmof meter. One might play or sing amelody in a meter other than theoriginal. Chan$e 'Joy to the World"from l o ~, l , or 3 + 3 + 2, to anonmetered time, or to a time withaccents to obscure the original me-ter. See Figure 9.

The areas of metric modulationand polymeter both offer fertileground for exploration. Students

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