Making connections
Information sheet 1
What is Improvisation?
In this lesson you will:
•
•
Explore what improvisation is
Learn how rhythmic and melodic patterns are
used within improvisation tasks
•
Develop your own improvisation
techniques
Understanding improvisation
Improvisation is about making up music as you go along, using
any ideas that come into your head. Improvising is to music as
talking is to language. It is a common form of music making that
spans the whole history of music. It is still present in a variety of
different and exciting styles today from music around the world.
Improvisation can seem daunting at first. Generally, musicians
work with a shared idea, the scale pattern or structure, that helps
them to think through what they are doing. Jamming is the term
that musicians use to describe group improvisation.
Improvising: filling the gaps
1.
Look at the cycle of four beats of music followed by four beats of rest. Play the cycle as a pair.
You will be given the opportunity to improvise during the four beats rest.
44 œ œ œ œ
cussion
2.
Œ Œ Œ Œ
Now stay working in pairs. One person leads by playing the four beats followed by four beats
rest. The other player improvises during the silences. Swap over, so you both have a chance
to improvise.
Jamming
3.
4.
Create your own jam session as a small group by improvising different rhythms together. One
person starts by making up a short repeated rhythm, then the others join in with rhythms of
their own (though it doesn't matter if you sometimes have two rhythms the same as each
other).
Try a group improvisation. Look at the explanation of Jamming (above), then take turns at
starting off and providing the lead rhythm. Decide on a signal to tell everyone when to stop.