Even if you don't know anything about music, you can be a musician immediately --- really!
There is a very common idea out there that says that only people with special gifts can make music, and that only extremely rare folks have that added mystical ability to compose and improvise music that has never been done before.
Well, there is a certain measure of truth in that, as there is about giftedness in all areas --- but I disagree with the word "only"! Music has a structure that will do all sorts of things for you if you just let it. And the simplest introduction to this is something I still enjoy after a lifetime of improvising:
Look at a piano keyboard. You'll see that the black keys are arranged in a repeating pattern of twos and threes. If you play all the twos you'll see that they're all the same two notes, just different by being in higher and lower octaves. The same is true of the threes, too. Well, combine a set of twos with a neighboring set of threes, and you'll get a nice-sounding combination of five notes that happens to be the most universally popular scale of all time --- a "pentatonic" (five-note) scale. (Some very famous tunes use that very scale, such as "Amazing Grace.")
Now you have the structure of music at your disposal, and you can make nice music without knowing anything else!
Pick three or four notes (technically we call this a "motif"), say, the bottom of the group of three keys and then the two of the two-key group. Play those three notes twice in a row, then repeat them in the opposite order, then back to the first, then add one of the other notes you hadn't played yet, or change one of the notes, and just start wandering around on the black keys and occasionally returning to the first set of notes you played. You will probably start hearing a new free-form melody emerging! It may even seem surprisingly organized, and very likely quite pretty.
Keep experimenting: Try a new set of notes, or a new rhythm, a new speed, whatever you feel like. Maybe two different notes at the same time.
I'm aware, too, that some people are expert musicians who have, say, played wonderful Chopin on the piano all their lives but have never tried a single note that's not from a master's written page. This concept is just as freeing for them as for novices!
And now for one last idea: Can you, even at this stage of new improvising, make music that says something special, that creates a certain mood, that moves your very own soul?
I do think so!
Timothy's Blog
You can improvise --- yes, you! Free Improvisation on the Black Keys
About the author
Related Posts
Information about Cookies
A cookie is a small piece of data (usually a text file) that a website asks your browser to store on your computer or mobile device. It enables the website to remember your actions and preferences (such as login, language, font size and other display preferences) over a period of time, so you don’t have to keep re-entering them whenever you come back to the site or browse from one page to another. Most browsers support cookies, but users can set their browsers to decline them and can delete them whenever they like. Cookies can be used to collect and store user data while connected to provide you with requested services. More information about cookies can be found at http://www.aboutcookies.org.
In addition to cookies that remember your preferences mentioned above, cookies are used for the purpose of purchasing items off this website, and for login and user profile details should you provide them by creating an account or signing up for the blog posts or newsletter.
Third party cookies are also used on this site. Specifically, Google Analytics is used on this site -- a popular web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. Google Analytics uses cookies to help us analyze how users use this site. It counts the number of visitors and tells us things about their behavior overall – such as the typical length of stay on the site or the average number of pages a user views.
The information generated by the cookie about your use of our website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of our website, compiling reports on website activity and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage.
Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google undertakes not to associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.
If you have Adobe Flash installed on your computer (most computers do) and utilize audio or video players, Google Analytics will try to store some additional data on your computer. This data is known as a Local Shared Object or Flash cookie. This helps us to analyze the popularity of our media files.
Finally, this website makes use of Google Maps. Google Maps is used to provide locations for Timothy Seaman's performances. In clicking on a performance location, you can allow or deny Google Maps knowledge of your location for purposes of getting directions from your location to the event site.
You can control and/or delete cookies as you wish – for details, see aboutcookies.org. You can delete all cookies that are already on your computer and you can set most browsers to prevent them from being placed. If you do this, however, you may have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit a site and some services and functionalities may not work.
Your failure to control and/or delete cookies for this site constitutes your acceptance of cookies as outlined above.
Comments
[...] You can improvise yes, you! Free Improvisation on the Black Keys. [...]