composition & improvisation What If? Matt Turner, WMEA State Chair, Composition & Improvisation


What does it mean to be a well-rounded musician? Is it one who knows how to perform or teach in many different styles or genres? Or, is it someone who knows a great deal about numerous


subjects? Is it both? What comes to mind when you think of something described as being well-rounded? Smooth or free of sharp edges? Symmetrical or pleasing? Well-formed or balanced?


Being well-rounded might be something different – it might be more of a mindset than a knowledge base. Perhaps being well-rounded involves embracing failure, or taking risks, or treading on jagged surfaces. Maybe it is less about “know- ing a lot of stuff” and more about having a willingness to try or to be persistent. It might be a confluence of these ideas.


Recently, I led a workshop in improvisa- tion and composition at the Wisconsin Center for Music Education. Some of the participating teachers mentioned that they liked a phrase that I kept repeating: “Let’s try it and see what happens.” This is a straightforward concept, and yet mu- sicians are often taught (or perceive) that they must strive to be perfect – no wrong notes, for example. I believe the workshop participants felt liberated in the sense that they could experiment (still using param- eters) but in a way that embraced failure. If one has not composed or improvised using a particular method (or, for that matter has not even improvised at all), how can one learn music without failing? Art is


“Let’s try it and see what happens.”


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dangerous, and yet many of us are com- pelled to “tame” the process of learning, teaching and performing music. Creativity is not copacetic; it is downright messy. Failure is a necessary ingredient in achiev- ing success and in being well-rounded.


Speaking of failure, I have become the “permission-granter of failure.” My role is to inform students and teachers that they have permission to fail. This mes- sage needs to be delivered because we do not embrace failure anymore; if anything, we avoid it at all costs: follow the rubric and you will be fine, retake the test until you receive the desired grade, only color within the lines, etc. But, shouldn’t we re- ally be asking ourselves, “What if?” What if we approach experimenting from this angle? What if we shape the phrase in this way? What if we compose using these two unrelated ideas? What if we considered teaching an art and not a science?


Failing is beneficial: it allows for experi- mentation with the knowledge that even if we are unsuccessful, we can use a different approach and try again. Moreover, having a “what if” mindset creates opportunities for serendipity. In the process of allow- ing ourselves to fail, we may discover something better or find a new door that leads to a different world. Imagine a world that asks more questions versus a world that settles only for answers. A world that permits questioning is a world that is well-rounded – a world which prioritizes creating and being aware of multiple pos- sibilities.


Several years ago, a young string player contacted me for advice. She was about to graduate from a reputable music school and had auditioned for a touring group that played original music in a folk- pop-Americana vein. After winning the audition, she was informed by the group members that she would have to improve her improvisation, song-writing, arranging and singing skills in order to stay in the


“Being a well-rounded musician is more than only being willing to try; it is also cultivating the skills to adapt and modulate as a teacher and performer.”


group. I congratulated her and asked why she was contacting me. She said, “I can’t do any of those things” – improvisation, composition, arranging or singing. This did not surprise me considering that most institutions shy away from or avoid offer- ing these subjects to all music students. I wanted to tell her to ask for a refund – here she was unable to satisfy the requirements necessary to be successful in a profes- sional touring ensemble after many years in college. If we expect our future teach- ers/performers to be well-rounded, should we not be requiring that they be able to do more than interpret music? In addition to performing composed ensemble music or learning sonatas, should they not also be creating their own music? What if?


Being a well-rounded musician is more than only being willing to try; it is also cul- tivating the skills to adapt and modulate as a teacher and performer. In order for those skills to materialize, we as teachers are obligated to provide opportunities for our students so that they can effectively create music – interpretively and literally.


Matt Turner is a cellist, pianist and composer. He teaches improvisation at Lawrence Univer- sity. Email: matthew.l.turner@lawrence.edu


September 2017


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