[Harp-L] Re: How to improvize, the process... (two parts) (Pierre)



May be a vector off the type of work it takes to improvise well and getting out of ruts, but lately I?m finding one of the big factors is also where my head is at. 

 

Case in point: My band took off for a retreat weekend to write songs. Got a cabin up in the mountains, nobody else around to bother, no responsibilities, just non-stop music. Fri night the bass player had booked a gig nearby and we got back late. Spent the rest of that night mainly partying and hanging out and laughing a lot and having a great time till about 5 am. 

 

After a few hours sleep got into playing and working on new songs. It was one of the greatest times I?ve ever had. Everything seemed to be flowing, ideas were popping up all over the place, and the musical interactions were all right there. 

 

If I may ignore the usual socially acceptable attempts at modesty, when I listened to the tapes later I think it was some of the best stuff I had ever done. I heard a lot of stuff they ?teach? you to do when learning how to improvise. Emphasizing 3rds and 7ths, leading tones, working chord arpeggios so the changes flow, a kind of structure and logic that was more than just sticking riffs together, etc., etc, etc.  

 

Wasn?t thinking about it at the time. In fact wasn?t thinking about much of anything other than trying to stay centered in each moment and paying attention to every single other part around me.

 

Shazam, without any more practice or work I was 10x better.  Of course my 10x better is still well short of where I could or should be. And a lot of work went in getting to that point in the first place.   But it sure underscored for me the influence of one?s mental state on improvisation.

 

Now if I could only do that on demand at every single gig. 

 

Bill H


		
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