composition & improvisation
Classroom, for band, orchestra, choir and general music teachers. Don’t improvise, you say? This workshop is perfect for you! We will be improvising in many styles including classical, Arabic taqasim, blues, “free” improvisation (non-style specific) and others. Don’t feel comfortable doing this with your students or wish to enhance what you are already teaching? This workshop is perfect for you! Fred and I will provide user-friendly and accessible techniques to get you started. And, we’ll also demonstrate how one can take these improvisation techniques and use them to create compositions with your students.
To get you started, here is an exercise you can use with your students in any ensemble:
Drone Piece
• One or more students quietly play or sing a drone (one sustained pitch).
• One at a time, students briefly perform an improvisation. They SHARE YOUR PASSION.
might perform a melody, create new sounds with their voices, or tap rhythms on their instruments.
• You play a simple melody or riff using two or three pitches and your students collectively imitate ver- batim. Eventually, you “call” with an idea and individual students respond with their own ideas. The drone continues.
• Replace the drone with a simple ostinato figure and continue with call and response. Add a few more pitches to the mix and create a simple melody that everyone can learn by ear.
• Create a composition. The first sec- tion might include the drone, the second section offers the melody over the ostinato, the third section continues the ostinato with impro- vised solos or collective improvisa- tion, the fourth section returns to the melody and the piece ends with
the drone. This example would represent arch form (ABCBA), but you could organize the piece differently and use rondo form, ternary form, etc. Or, come up with your own idea. I have used this exercise with elementary, middle school, high school and college-aged ensembles and have found it to be effective, accessible and fun.
An excellent example of a “comprovised” drone piece featuring the Lawrence Uni- versity Chamber Orchestra can be found in the online version of WSM. The piece begins at the 13-minute mark. Notice that there are no music stands!
I look forward to hearing from you and I hope to see you in July!
Matt Turner is a cellist and pianist and teaches improvisation at Lawrence University. Email:
matthew.l.turner@lawrence.edu
SHARE YOUR PASSION. Combine on-campus and
online courses to complete your
degree in as few as 2 years!
6-week M.M.Ed. residency begins June 16 7 weeks of online classes begin June 16 8 weeks of on-campus courses begin June 9
Register now at
www.vandercook.edu VanderCook College of Music 3140 S. Federal St., Chicago, IL 60616-3731 Wisconsin School Musician
On campus Online On T For more information, contact Admissions at
arget! 312.788.1120 or at
admissions@vandercook.edu 41
Summer 2014 Graduate Learning M.M.Ed. and Continuing Education programs
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68