from the Summer 2001 issue

How Do You Teach the Written-In Improvisatory Gestures in Repertoire?

{Click here to go to the audio clip}

Article by Bruce Berr

first help the student get in touch with the emotional qualities of what it feels like to be improvising anything in this world, not just music. For instance, consider an improvisatory activity that many of our students have already engaged in (for better or worse!): arcade video games. A popular one is the game in which you get to experience driving a race car along constantly winding roads. Sometimes the path straightens out and you can see far ahead, so you become confident and accelerate; you may even feel cocky and try to edge out the driver next to you! Other times, the road suddenly curves sharply, so you not only slow down but also go into a cautious "wait and see" mode since you don't know what obstacles may lurk just around the bend.

The degree of your playfulness and exploration also changes during one of these arcade "improvisations." When you first discover a steering maneuver that keeps you on the road, you use it over and over and over-it's fun and exhilarating for a while. But then you gradually tire of it (pun intended!). You either start looking for a new technique to accomplish the same thing, or better yet, you discover a different maneuver that works in a better way (who wants to keep doing the same thing forever?). After all, the payoff for an improviser is the pleasure derived from the process of what is being done-improvising is primarily an act of play.

The above example demonstrates that all of us can and do regularly engage in improvisatory activities (conversation being the most common), perhaps without realizing it. It also reveals that the ideas that inspire most improvisations are usually few in number, and surprisingly basic and childlike in their simplicity.

It is no different in music. A convincing interpretation of an improvisatory passage may at first allude us because we may be looking for something more complicated than what it is actually there. Just because there are gobs of notes does not necessarily mean there are more than a few underlying ideas.

How I teach piano students the written-in improvisatory gestures in repertoire depends on whether they have already improvised or composed.

For students who have never improvised or composed:

After the student has physically mastered the mechanics of an improvisatory section (the notes and fingering, the counting rhythm, and the articulation), I create activities at the lesson that help the student experience the mindset and feelings of an improviser. This requires that both the student and teacher have a willing imagination, a desire to continually improve the ear, good analytical skills, and a bit of an adventurous spirit.

For example, here is one of the written-in cadenzas in a popular late-intermediate piece, Mozart's "Fantasy in Dm, K. 397." To elicit what Mozart might have experienced while improvising this passage, it is useful to recognize:

• the "zig-zaggyness" or straightness of the melodic lines, and the resulting emotional impact
• the simplicity and affective quality of the underlying harmonies
• the scarcity of patterns - just two - and their repetitions. (see example below)

I first use guidance teaching to evoke comprehension of the objective aspects of the passage. Aural recognition is best, but visual and intellectual skills are also usually needed. Then, in order for students to experience the emotional aspect of these events:

• I have students improvise a different short motif of their own. As they do so, they experience the inherent precariousness that looms during the birth of an idea. Then I have them apply this same feeling to Mozart's initial motif in this cadenza. This might result in their playing it in a sneaky or tentative way, or even in a spirit that I didn't anticipate - that's good, too. If it makes any sense at all, I encourage it.
  
• I ask students to re-play Mozart's initial motif (the first ten notes in the excerpt) and then vary it slightly within each octave as it moves downward; this could be done by changing an interval here and there. Then, I have them not vary the motif (which is what Mozart did). This allows them to feel how natural it is to speed up slightly with each recurrence - literal repetition has very little "friction" during improvisation.

It is not a coincidence that the lowest note- the arrival point of the descending line - explodes with a new harmony (the C natural in the descending line was a non-chord tone, but this one is not). Its fresh sound is the impetus for the melody suddenly changing direction. If students don't perceive the specialness of that tone, I create an activity that helps them do so. I could simply tell them about it, and that might set the groundwork for their starting to perceive it. But it's easy to be mislead into thinking that someone learns something merely by being told about it, so it is prudent to follow teacher-talk with the student doing something at the keyboard as a result of that talk.

One such activity is to temporarily change the note Mozart gave us at the bottom to a different one which is in the harmony of the descending line (in this case, C#), and then arpeggiate upward on c#o7. The student can readily hear how predictable and dull that version of the passage sounds. Then, when the actual lowest note and harmony that Mozart gave us is put back in and played, it is easier to appreciate how startling it is; such a dramatic tone demands some lingering - it takes a moment for us to recover from the harmonic shock!

The ascending line has no zigzags but is perfectly straight. Once it is established, it just wants to blast its way up the keyboard.

Although this process may take more lesson time than just coaching the student on how to play the passage in a "musical" way, it is a fine investment - the student moves closer to being able to interpret a score artistically without the need of a teacher.

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Generally speaking therefore, one way to spur a student into more authentic and perceptive playing of a written-in improvisation is to "fool around" with the score itself - to improvise on the improvisation! This yields insight into the landscape of the particular passage, and also fosters an improvisatory mindset that will be valuable the next time music similar to it is encountered in other repertoire.

For students who have improvised or composed:

There is much less to write in this section, because there is much less for the teacher to do. Students who have already improvised or composed (particularly those who started such activities during their elementary-level instruction) have already experienced the emotions of spontaneous creation. Therefore, the disposition required to make these types of passages come alive in imaginative and uniquely personal ways is already present, ready to be tapped. All we have to do is help students perceive what is objectively present in the score, and assist them in either fine-tuning or exaggerating their responses.

Modern piano method series point the way here. Many have specific suggestions for helping youngsters make up their own pieces. To stimulate improvisations, some have starter-motifs, skeleton phrase structures, and basic harmonic plans for students to use as points of departure. These guidelines and activities, like the given repertoire, become more sophisticated throughout the series.

There are also other kinds of publications that help address these issues. Two in particular that I find highly commendable are Compose Yourself by Carol Klose, and the Explorations in Music series by Joanne Haroutounian. The Klose book has imaginative and well-structured plans and activities for incorporating composition into weekly lessons. It is available from Too Klose for Comfort Publications, 1845 N. 72nd St., Wauwatosa, WI, 53213. Haroutounian's series incorporates theory and analysis, composition, and ear-training in an attractive package that can't help but foster creative musical development in young pianists. It is published by Neil A. Kjos Music Company.

More teachers nowadays are leading their early-level students toward creating compositions, or improvising blues, or any number of other fun activities that allow the growing pianist to acquire a deepening understanding of the language of music. Such an understanding is essential to the independent interpretation of any type of music, but especially to the kind discussed in these two articles.

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Biography

BRUCE BERR is Associate Editor of KEYBOARD COMPANION'S Rhythm Department.