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IMPROVISATION - I

Pedro Rebelo

2006

http://www.sarc.qub.ac.uk/~prebelo/teaching/listening

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ImprovisationTheatre

Comedy

Gaming

Music

Dance

Conversation

PaintingNavigation

Thinking

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Improvisation

What is involved in improvisation?

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Improvisation

Decision Making

On the Spot

Without Preparation

Performance

Reacting to other people

No predeterminate agenda

Making sense of the moment

Reacting to the situationLive

Ever-changing

Unrepeatable

Skill

Difficult to Grasp

Openness

Fun

Social

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Improvisation

LIFE?most artists would not make a distinction

how they improvise in their art and

how they see life as a whole

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Wassily Kandinsky - Improvisation 71910 (180 Kb); Oil on canvas, 131 x 97 cm; Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

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Improvisation

Indian Classical Music

Ravi ShankarRaga Charu Keshi

Ravi Shankar

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Improvisation

Indian Classical Music

Ravi ShankarRaga Charu Keshi

This morning melody is a relatively recent import from the Karnataka

stream into the Hindustani system.

http://nachiketa.sharma.tripod.com/items/charukeshi.html

Ravi Shankar

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Improvisation

Indian Classical Music

Raga

Tala

Scale which serves as a basis for melodic improvisation. There are hundreds ofragas, each with its own pitch structure, intonation, ornamentation, intervals... Eachraga acts as a melodic set of conditions for improvisation. Melodies from one ragacannot be transposed to another raga. Each raga represents a unique a musical,spiritual and social domain; they are associated with moods, time of day, seasons etc...The musicians role is to be able to create the ragas mood through improvisation.

Long rhythmic cycles. There are hundreds of different talas and they can render oneof the most complex rhythm structures of any music tradition. Musicians use thetalas as basic rhythm structure on which to improvise.

AlapIntroduction

Ravi Shankar

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Improvisation

Rock

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Improvisation

Rock

RiffsShort melodic/harmonic fragments: Serves as a structuring device for a song

Led-Zeppelin

Whole Lotta Love

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Improvisation

Rock

Rhythm/Pulse/BeatRegular rhythmic patterns. Repetition

RiffsShort melodic/harmonic fragments: Serves as a structuring device for a song

Led-Zeppelin

Whole Lotta Love

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Improvisation

Rock

Rhythm/Pulse/BeatRegular rhythmic patterns. Repetition

Led-Zeppelin

RiffsShort melodic/harmonic fragments: Serves as a structuring device for a song

Improvisation

VampingTexture

Whole Lotta Love

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Improvisation

Rock

Rhythm/Pulse/BeatRegular rhythmic patterns. Repetition

Led-Zeppelin

RiffsShort melodic/harmonic fragments: Serves as a structuring device for a song

Improvisation

SoloVamp

Whole Lotta Love

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Improvisation

Rock + ...

Frank Zappa (1940-1993)

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Improvisation

Rock + ...

What is the Improvisation Language?

Frank Zappa (1940-1993)

Melodic and harmonic language from other musical traditions(jazz, classical, avant-garde...)

Vamping

Free-form Improvisation

Performance

Social Dynamics

Humour

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Improvisation

Rock

Solos

Vamping

Texture

Interpretation

Timbre

Drum Fills

Group Playing

Song Writing

Arranging

Lyrics

Producing

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Improvisation

Guitar Heroes... baroque

Marin Marais (1656-1728)

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What is the difference

between the notationand the performance?

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Improvisation

Baroque

Basso Continuo (Figured Bass): Improvised chord voicing and

ornamentation based on bass lines and harmonic functions

Acts as a minimal notation aid for performance

Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600-1750), were, as the name implies, played

throughout a piece by the continuo group, it provides the harmonic structure of the music. The basso continuo

can be played by an number of instruments, typically an instrument capable of playing chords (e.g. harpshichord,

organ, lute, harp) and a bass register instrument such as the cello, double bass, bass viol, viola da gamba.

Basso Continuo Notation

Harmonic Rendering

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Improvisation

Jazz

http://www.jazzvisionsphotos.com/contact/contact.htm

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Improvisation

Jazz

Les Paul and Mary Ford

How High the Moon (Nancy Hamilton and Morgan Lewis, 1940)

Les Paul and Mary Ford, 1951

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Improvisation

Jazz: Bebop

Ornithology(Charlie Parker)

Charlie Parker

Charlie Parker (1920 - 1955)

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Improvisation

JazzHow High the Moon / Ornithology

Similarities and Differences?

Charlie Parker (1920 - 1955)

Les Paul and Mary Ford

Same Chord Progression

Same Structure (intro vamp, tune, solos, tune...)Similar Tempo

Different rhythm structures

Different improvisation language

Very Different cultural contexts

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Improvisation

Jazz

http://www.jazzvisionsphotos.com/contact/contact.htm

Charlie Parker (1920 - 1955)

Relaxin at Camarillo (Charlie Parker)

The Charlie Parker All Stars 1947

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Improvisation

Jazz

Archie Shepp

Relaxin at Camarillo (Charlie Parker)

Archie Shepp Quartet 1987

Archie Shepp - tenor sax

Horace Parlan - piano

Harry Emmery - bass

Clifford Jarvis - drums

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Improvisation

Jazz

http://www.jazzvisionsphotos.com/contact/contact.htm

Nefertiti (Wayne Shorter)Miles Davis - TrumpetWayne Shorter - Tenor SaxHerbie Hancock - Piano

Ron Carter - BassTony Williams - Drums

1967

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Improvisation

Nefertiti (Wayne Shorter)Miles Davis - TrumpetWayne Shorter - Tenor SaxHerbie Hancock - Piano

Ron Carter - BassTony Williams - Drums

1967

Jazz

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Improvisation

Improvisation using always thesame notes?

Nefertiti (Wayne Shorter)Miles Davis - TrumpetWayne Shorter - Tenor SaxHerbie Hancock - Piano

Ron Carter - BassTony Williams - Drums

1967

Jazz

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Improvisation

Jazz

"Negro music and culture are intrinsically improvisational, existential. Nothing is sacred."

- Archie Shepp 1990

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Improvisation

Jazz

http://www.jazzvisionsphotos.com/contact/contact.htm

Charts

Chord Progressions

Tunes

Texture

InstrumentationSocial Relationships (leadership etc...)

and...

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Improvisation

Jazz

Charts

Chord Progressions

Tunes

Texture

InstrumentationSocial Relationships (leadership etc...)

and...SOLOS

LOTS OF SOLOS