Title: Perdon a un Valiente
Performers: Ignacio Lopez Tarso
Culture of Origin: Mexico
Instrumentation: Mariachi Band
Improvisation is a scary topic to teach and learn. The feeling of freedom to play anything you choose can be a daunting task. However, improvisation is not as free as you would think. Although you have the ability to play what and how you choose, most improvised music follows a musical structure. The structure might be a melodic line, chord accompaniment, or a musical form. For example, when performing a Mexican Corridor, like above, the audience expects to hear a specific melodic line or accompaniment, but they also expect to hear a slightly different variation with each performance. Maybe when playing or teaching improvisation, the musician should focus on the musical structure they are changing, rather than concentrate on their freedom to play however they choose. This change of focus may make the topic of improvisation less scary to musicians.
Hi Kellie. You are absolutely right. Improvisation is a daunting task. I am still uncomfortable with doing it myself, and I played in jazz bands for years. I always played second parts as I did not want solos. Your suggestion for focusing on the structure as opposed to that freedom is a good one and may help future improvers. I like the example that you chose as you can hear those different variations.
ReplyDeleteThanks Josh! I always turned downed solos too, and when I tried them I never thought I was any good. From listening to my husband, who’s a tenor sax jazz performer, it becomes so complicated when you begin playing faster literature and you have the chord progression memorized. He spends so much time practicing short scale passages so his fingers are ready to play the lick he hears coming up in his head.
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