poetschke on improvisation pt. 5
another installment from karl poetschke:
prt. 5
when improvising with an audience present ,it is important to remember that they too are a contributing presence in the music. many times improv groups will forget this fact and sink too far into their own world and alienate the listeners. this will inevitably drive them away. the listener plays a role in the overall energy in the space that the band borrows from in order to create. here are some ways to coax the listeners into the music and redirect their energy into the music.
eye contact.
look at your people. hold eye contact with some of them. scan the audience while playing and respond to their emotional state in how and what you play. this refers back to a point i made in part 1. become aware of the overall emotional state of the audience and use it to follow the music into new directions. this will create a positive feedback loop between the performers and the audience and you will find that the energy will begin to multiply within this loop and the music will grow with it. this requires, as stated before, that you don't let your mind get cluttered with too many irrelevant thoughts and you are using your "guts" literally feeling, reaching out from your "one point" or your center of gravity located just below the naval.
this is a very powerful place to direct your awareness. in order to achieve this, sometimes i would wear a cloth belt tied around my one point. the contact between it and my skin would help remind me to place my awareness there instead of in my head.
a way to coax the listener into the music is playing softly. make them have to listen in order to hear you. sometimes i would only play no louder than the background noise in the venue. in other words i would let the space direct my volume. as long as i could hear the glasses clinking, people talking or any other noise, then i was allowing it to inspire my improvisation. after you have invited the "space noise" into the music, then you can take it higher.
also it is important to remember that music with dynamics is always more interesting to listen too then something that is always loud or always soft. in a group that is centered around drums, bass and guitar, it is the drummer who has the most control over dynamics... if everyone is listening together.
prt. 5
when improvising with an audience present ,it is important to remember that they too are a contributing presence in the music. many times improv groups will forget this fact and sink too far into their own world and alienate the listeners. this will inevitably drive them away. the listener plays a role in the overall energy in the space that the band borrows from in order to create. here are some ways to coax the listeners into the music and redirect their energy into the music.
eye contact.
look at your people. hold eye contact with some of them. scan the audience while playing and respond to their emotional state in how and what you play. this refers back to a point i made in part 1. become aware of the overall emotional state of the audience and use it to follow the music into new directions. this will create a positive feedback loop between the performers and the audience and you will find that the energy will begin to multiply within this loop and the music will grow with it. this requires, as stated before, that you don't let your mind get cluttered with too many irrelevant thoughts and you are using your "guts" literally feeling, reaching out from your "one point" or your center of gravity located just below the naval.
this is a very powerful place to direct your awareness. in order to achieve this, sometimes i would wear a cloth belt tied around my one point. the contact between it and my skin would help remind me to place my awareness there instead of in my head.
a way to coax the listener into the music is playing softly. make them have to listen in order to hear you. sometimes i would only play no louder than the background noise in the venue. in other words i would let the space direct my volume. as long as i could hear the glasses clinking, people talking or any other noise, then i was allowing it to inspire my improvisation. after you have invited the "space noise" into the music, then you can take it higher.
also it is important to remember that music with dynamics is always more interesting to listen too then something that is always loud or always soft. in a group that is centered around drums, bass and guitar, it is the drummer who has the most control over dynamics... if everyone is listening together.
posted by stashdauber at 8:32 AM
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