more poetschke thoughts on improvisation

Prt.
3

"one foot in the past and one foot in the future leaves you pissing on the present".


now that you are aware of your thoughts (thoughts being a product of past experiences and assumptions of the future) and not harping on them while performing. your ears are open to what is happening right now and you are focused on the present. the trick now is, can your body transcribe what you are hearing and execute it on your particular instrument of choice?

this brings us to my last statement in part 1...


"... that you have already acquired enough technical mastery of your instrument that your body can readily and easily play the instrument without too much resistance."

physical mastery of your instrument is essential in being able to re-produce what you are hearing in your minds ear with out having to think about it...which slows you down or shuts you down altogether. this is called "ear training" and you don't have to know "music theory" or have "perfect pitch" to do this. as part of your practice routine try this...sing a note then play it on your instrument. it may take a few trys to find the note but eventually you will begin to get it the first time. if you are practicing as a band or with a friend, turn your backs to each other and try to play what the other person just played. it can be frustrating at first but in time you will burn open the path from your ears to your instrument. drummers have to be a little more creative with this practice but they too can benefit by playing back rhythms and even some tones on their tom-toms via. elbow pitch shifting.


you may find that this practice has a meditative quality to it and will further advance your ability to play in a "no-thought" space. the idea is to become a "responder"in a musical conversation instead of a "reactor" and it is through this gateway that we eventually come to "the art of transition".