Becoming Grounded

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One of the most magical musical experiences I ever had occurred when I was improvising a passacaglia once during communion at the Cathedral in Aix-en-Provence. Starting from a single soft pedal line, I steadily built a crescendo of sound and activity until I reached full organ before finally concluding softly. I remember feeling like I was having some sort of out of body experience as I turned to look over the railing to see how much longer I would need to play. I knew something special had happened at that moment because I was literally shaking at the end of the piece, and the priest thanked me for sharing such wonderful music when he made announcements. Perhaps the scariest part was that I knew I had to start playing again in just a moment for the Sortie!

Focus

While I have searched for years to return to that same mental state where the music just flowed out of me, I recently heard an interview with Steven Kotler (author of The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance) where he identified some of the characteristics that help create this state which researchers now call “flow.” The first of the seventeen triggers that he identifies is focus. I believe as an improviser, one of the best ways to focus is to improvise over a ground bass or passacaglia. On that day in Aix, I had a bass line written out with figures above the notes to remind me of my intended harmonies. An easy place to start would be a short descending scale in major:

PassacagliaDMajor4
or minor:
PassacagliaDMinor4

Goals

The second trigger Steven Kotler identifies is to have clear goals, i.e. to know what we are doing and why. A passacaglia, not only gives us focus, it provides a clear definition of what we are to play. At Aix, I also had a reason to play that passacaglia: to provide music during the distribution of communion which would last 6-8 minutes. That was my larger goal, My shorter goal was each variation of the bass, and the immediate goal was what to play for the next chord.

Feedback

The third trigger for flow is feedback. As an improviser, we receive immediate feedback on our results. This is not a test or other written assignment where we choose an answer or what to say and find out sometime later (if ever) whether we were correct or pleased the reader. Hopefully, our ear will let us know instantly if the notes we have chosen to play have met our goal or not. The other advantage of a passacaglia is the harmonic and rhythmic drive forward of the form. We use the feedback to move us forward, continuing with an idea that works, making changes to ideas that were not so successful.

Bored or anxious?

The final psychological trigger identified by Steven Kotler is the degree of difficulty of the task. If we are bored or otherwise unchallenged, we are not likely to get into flow. If the task is too daunting, we will most likely be nervous, and doubt will keep us from achieving our best performance. Flow lies somewhere in the middle where we have confidence in our skills and yet feel challenged by the task at hand. Perhaps the themes above are too simple for you. How about one of these more chromatic basses?

PassacagliaChromatic4


2005improvisation1
Regardless of the complexity of the theme, we can still challenge ourselves by increasing the harmonic complexity, increasing the tempo, increasing the rhythmic complexity, or setting other technical challenges for ourselves.

The Zone

Perhaps it’s simply because of that experience I had in Aix, but I have a special interest in passacaglias. I believe I’ve discovered part of the reason now through Steven Kotler’s seventeen triggers for flow. What forms do you improvise well? Are there any styles or processes that you use to create your best music? While I might not have told you how to improvise a passacaglia today, I hope I have given you some inspiration and reasons to do so. Hopefully this grounded form will keep you focused so that you too can enjoy that same out of this world experience that I had in Aix.

May all your improvisations be fabulous!
Glenn

 
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Newsletter Issue 16 – 2014 08 18
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Peter Ewers – Just play!

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Peter Ewers
Just play! An invitation to improvisation

With a copyright date of 2013, this is the newest improvisation method book that I have seen. I just received my copy this week and very quickly began exploring the contents. Because the book is a hardcover (and includes a ribbon book mark!), my first impression was that rather than a method book, this might be a theoretical tome rather than an instruction manual, but the book does live up to its subtitle: An invitation to improvise.

The book is comprised of short sections of text that read almost like blog posts. While some of the sections are more philosophical in nature, they read easily and definitely are not technical academic writing. One of the earliest “philosophical” points Ewers makes by drawing a parallel with a physics experiment:

When a physics experiment is conducted, one tries to set as many parameters as possible to a fixed value in order to observe remaining parameters, ideally a single one, more precisely. In a vibrant improvisation, all aspects mix up constantly. Nevertheless, in the course of this book, the focus will be on a small number of parameters in order to lift the veil which has been drawn over improvisation.

This paragraph was a light bulb moment for me, and let me know that Ewers has a pedagogical approach to improvisation that makes sense to me. Each of the first chapters chooses a parameter as the focal point (meter and rhythm, harmony, tone colour, dynamics, melodics) before he moves into material that combines multiple elements (Storytelling, the school of Sainte-Clotilde, Pierre Cochereau, and “Be consciously unconcious!”). Within each chapter, the material is delivered in bite-size chunks – i.e. “the blog post” – with a single idea for the student to ponder or to explore at the keyboard.

Another novel idea for me is the graphic notation system for form outlined in the “Storytelling” section. By relating form to plot and a graphic scheme, the student has much more flexibility with the potential realization of the scheme and can quickly develop a form without being so concerned about the details (such as Dupré provides in his Cours Complet D’improvisation). Several compositions are analyzed using this notation, and I think this could be an excellent way to guide group improvisations.

In my quick evaluation of the book, while I have found much to recommend it, there are a few weaknesses that I want to point out. First, this book is a translation from German. While most of the phrases and instructions are clear, there are the occasional phrases that seem a little odd, and a few which simply don’t make sense. One of the other issues is a production/editorial decision to fully justify the text. While this looks beautiful on the page, it created many hyphenated words that are either divided in the wrong place or would not have been divided by a native English speaker. Finally, while the table of contents only identifies areas (not specified as chapters), it would be helpful when flipping through the other pages of the book to actually know which chapter I was in and what topic actually constitutes a major subject area change verses a new sub-topic in the same subject area. While it may be a bit of a pain to layout and proofread for these sorts of issues, a few extra hours spent pre-production could have remedied these problems. The content is good, I just wish I didn’t have these obstacles to my encounter with the content.

Just play! An invitation to improvisation by Peter Ewers provides a wonderful guide for an organist to explore the world of improvisation. It provides steps that are accessible and easily managed by the most reluctant improviser. While covering solid material, it does so in a way that is fun for the reader and student so that the contents aptly fit the title: Just play!

Regina Caeli

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ReginaCaeli
One of four Marian Antiphons sung at vespers, this chant is normally used during the season of Easter.

See a list of other chant themes here.

Videos:
Eric Dalest – Improvisation on ‘Regina Caeli’ – Aubagne
Olivier Latry – Sortie on ‘Regina Caeli’ – Notre Dame, Paris
Pablo Márquez – Improvisation on ‘Regina Coeli’ – Nicolaasbasiliek, Amsterdam
Xaver Varnus – Improvisation on ‘Regina Coeli’ (1/2) – Saint Peter’s Cathedral, Frascati (Rome)
Xaver Varnus – Improvisation on ‘Regina Coeli’ (2/2) – Saint Peter’s Cathedral, Frascati (Rome)

Pierre Segond

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Pierre_Segond_1982Swiss organist Pierre Segond was born in 1913 in Geneva and died in 2000. He studied at the Conservatoire de Genève under Henri Gagnebin and Alexandre Mottu. After that, he obtained his Premier Prix from the Conservatoire de Paris in the class of Marcel Dupré. His classmates included Jehan Alain, Jeanne Demessieux and Marie-Louise Girod. He served as organiste titulaire of the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre in Geneva from 1942 to 1994.


Recordings:

Segond: Les grandes orgues de la Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Genève

Audio:
Pierre Segond – Improvisation (1958) – Haarlem

Nicaea

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Nicaea

The tune NICAEA is named after the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) at which church leaders began to formulate the doctrine of the Trinity to oppose the heresies of Arius. The melody was composed by John B. Dykes for Reginald Heber’s text “Holy, Holy, Holy!” The two were first published together in Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861), and have been virtually inseparable ever since.

See a list of other hymn tunes here.

Videos:
Christoph Bull – Hymn Improvisation on ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’ – First United Methodist Church in Round Rock, Texas
Patrick A. Scott – Improvisations on Nicaea – University Christian Church, Austin, Texas

Hautbois8 – Improvisation on ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’ – St. Laurens, Rotterdam

Michael Joseph

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Michale JosephMichael Joseph earned both a Bachelor’s degree in Music Theory and Composition and a Master’s in Music Education from the University of New Hampshire in Durham. For over thirty years, Michael has worked in music education in both MA and NH and directed music ministries for several churches in Manchester. He also served as Director of Music Ministries for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester. He currently serves as an adjunct professor of music at Rivier University and Director of Music Ministries at First Baptist Church of Nashua.

Michael Joseph offered a masterclass to the Manchester AGO Chapter that you can watch here.

YouTube Channel:
ProfJoseph4855

Videos:
Michael Joseph – Improvisation on Hyfrydol – First Baptist Church of Nashua, NH
Michael Joseph – Symphonic Improvisation on ‘Slane’:Minuet – St. Joseph Cathedral, Manchester, NH
Michael Joseph – Symphonic Improvisation on ‘Slane’:Finale – St. Joseph Cathedral, Manchester, NH

Coherence through repetition

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One of the quickest ways to be coherent is through the use of repetition. Even Gerre Hancock in explaining his first axiom (“Never stop.”) urges the student, should an unexpected and harsh dissonance occur, be sure to repeat “the mistake.” Through the repetition, we have balance and intention, so the audience may begin to doubt if that first surprise was unplanned. What if, instead of repeating ourselves when we made “a mistake,” we choose to practice our repetition intentionally?

Ostinatos

An ostinato pattern can give us a repeated motif that can provide tonal and rhythmic coherence for a piece. It can also enable us to practice our mental gymnastics. While a repeated pattern may appear mindless, if we focus too much on what else we are trying to do, it could very easily fall apart. Ostinatos should be short and simple enough that we can repeat them easily and spend our mental energy on the other voices we add to the pattern.

While I improvised freely at the piano as a young student, there came a time when I became attached to the notes on the page. The jazz piano lessons I took from Laurie Altman began to free me once again from that attachment. One of the first pieces he had me learn was “Peace Piece” by Bill Evans. The YouTube video below is Bill Evans’ 1958 recording with a transcription by William Hughes.

The entire piece is built on two chords and lasts over six minutes! The left hand provides the ostinato, keeping the rhythm and tonal center for the piece while the right hand is free to explore different ideas, sometimes quite far away or very rhythmically complicated. While the transcribed rhythm at the beginning is rather complicated, the simple version is as follows:
EvansPeacePieceOstinato
While this is obviously a piano composition, I think it would adapt quite well to the organ with the feet playing the lower notes (stems down in the above excerpt) and left hand playing the chords (stems up). Start with a soft flute (or celeste) registration for the accompaniment with some sort of a solo stop for the right hand to explore.

Exploration

While the left hand provides an anchor, the right hand is free to explore. After initially keeping to notes in the same scale, an F# appears, and then many other accidentals. My jazz piano teacher actually encouraged me to explore several different modes with the right hand while the left hand remained constant.

Notice also the change in register. Not only is the left hand repetitive, the right hand repeats melodic ideas, often at different octaves. The right hand even comes all the way down into the ostinato pattern at one point.

From the title, we gather that Bill Evans’ intention was to create a softer reflective mood. Without changing the ostinato, how could we do to change that? What if we got louder, creating a crescendo as we went along? How about increasing the chromaticism in the right hand? increasing the speed of the right hand rhythms? increasing the number of notes in the chords the right hand plays? I think we could become rather wild and frenzied using this “Peace Piece” ostinato!

Transposition and modification

As with any improvisation exercise, it’s always good to transpose it into all the other keys. I remember Laurie Altman suggesting creating a B section for the piece by moving into Eb major (or was it E major?). This way, we could have a nice little ABA piece with a calm beginning and ending and a contrasting more active (in a different tonality) middle section. If you practice in multiple keys, there’s no reason you couldn’t create a multi-part rondo (ABACA). Even if your sections are half as long as Bill Evans, that would give you 15 minutes of music all based on the same idea! (Perhaps you could try it the next time you play a wedding and the bride is late…..)

This is only one ostinato. Michael Joseph offers another in the New Hampshire AGO Workshop which I posted this week (video part III). I’m sure there are many others that you could find or create. Next week, I plan to look at a slightly longer ostinato pattern we commonly call a passacaglia.

Hoping all your ostinatos have variety,
Glenn

 
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Newsletter Issue 15 – 2014 08 11
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Slane

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Slane
SLANE is an old Irish folk tune associated with the ballad ‘With My Love Come on the Road” in Patrick W. Joyce’s Old Irish Folk Music and Songs (1909). It became a hymn tune when it was arranged by David Evans and set to the Irish hymn “Be Thou My Vision” published in the Church Hymnary (1927). SLANE is named for a hill in County Meath, Ireland, where St. Patrick’s lighting of an Easter fire–an act of defiance against the pagan king Loegaire (fifth century)–led to his unlimited freedom to preach the gospel in Ireland.

See a list of other hymns and chorales here.

Videos:
Michael Joseph – Symphonic Improvisation on ‘Slane’:Minuet – St. Joseph Cathedral, Manchester, NH
Michael Joseph – Symphonic Improvisation on ‘Slane’:Finale – St. Joseph Cathedral, Manchester, NH

Lionel Rogg – Improvisation Course for Organists

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RoggImprovCourseVol1
Lionel Rogg
Improvisation Course for organists
Cours d’improvisation pour les organistes
Editions Musicales de la Schola Cantorum
1988.

While there are two volumes mentioned for this course, I only presently have the first volume that I can review. The topics for volume one are practical harmony, ornamental counterpoint and chorale. Volume two is supposed to cover modal and free style improvisation.

While many of the method books I have examined are full of text and sometimes lacking in exercises, this improvisation method book is virtually 100 percent exercise material. Rogg begins with simple chord voicings, giving students a chance to train their fingers with different positions and resolutions. It is real easy for this to be a bilingual book because the amount of written instruction is very minimalistic. While the instructions may be sparse, the time a student will need to complete the exercises will be quite lengthy. Many of the exercises are the beginning of sequences that the student is expected to continue until the sequence makes a complete circle. There is then an instruction to transpose the exercise into multiple keys (preferably all keys), so three of four measures on the page if practiced as instructed, could becomes an hour or more at the keyboard!!!

Many of these exercises also include the instruction for the student to invent or improvise other ones of the same kind, so even though the exercises may seem very basic, Rogg expects the student to be creative with the given material from the very beginning. Rogg may give several harmonic schemes for the student to practice, but will then also give several ways to vary the texture (usually with only a few notes to indicate an idea to the student), so it really becomes the student’s task to take the material provided and combine it together in a musical way. There are times when I almost wish Rogg provided more instruction for how to work with the material he provides. While sometimes the ornamentation style is clear, at times a few words to explain the intended ornamentation would greatly clarify the goal.

While I did spot a parallel fifth in one of the examples, this book focuses on common practice harmony. Counterpoint is learned through ornamenting different voices in standard harmonic progressions. The chorale melody is the primary thematic material for the book once Rogg moves beyond basic chords and harmonic sequences. Numerous chorales are given throughout the book, sometimes with bass (figured or not), sometimes only the melody. The last fifteen pages of the book are devoted to themes for the student to practice. Nine of those pages are chorale melodies, followed by one page each of psalm melodies, Gregorian chants, other tunes, passacaglias, and finally two pages of fugue subjects. I expect the second volume would contain material about other musical languages and forms not related to counterpoint or variation. (I hope I will be able to find a copy of vol.2 soon.)

Overall, I find the material in this volume to be very useful and presented in a logical order. It may present some challenges for a student pursuing independent study, but I feel like this book may be a compilation of the materials Rogg covered and distributed to his improvisation students during what I suspect might be a first year course in improvisation. (Volume 2 would be the second and final year before earning a certificate or prix from the conservatoire. Just my guess. I’d love to hear from anyone who could confirm my suspicions.) If you want to learn to make a chorale partita, this is an excellent method to study.