Tuning Slide 5.27- Improvising on Improvisation

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Improvisation! That’s what I’m about to do. I know that improvisation is kind of like making it up as you go along. But it isn’t built on nothing. I was trying to explain that to a non-musician the other week and it was harder than I thought it would be. (By the way- I will not edit this when I get ready to post it. That would not be true improvisation.)

But improvisation IS based on several things, as I understand it.

• Background knowledge
• A structure of some type
• Personal experiences
• The mood of the moment.

Beyond that, I am convinced that most of life is improvisation based on those four building blocks. It doesn’t matter what your profession is or what you might happen to be doing at any moment- you make it up as you go along. Or- more formally- you don’t stop and plan every step of every action of everything you do every day. You what comes naturally to you.

As a preacher I built my knowledge on my educational background. From kindergarten on I learned the basics. In college, I learned to think critically. In seminary, I learned the specifics of the faith and the roles of a pastor. I then learned from those the structure of sermons, how to do worship, pastoral care, church administration, etc. Out I went into the world to play my pastoral role. Some sermons were good; others made my wife question my approach. I would sit in a board meeting and wonder what to do next. I would try new ideas and I learned how to think on my feet. I experienced the different moods of different times- one does not sing Christmas hymns during Lent and you don’t go bouncing and smiling at people at a funeral.

Okay- you see where I’m going, I hope. By the time I retired, I didn’t have to look up how to do things. I had a readily available storehouse of knowledge, structures, experiences, and hopefully, the wisdom of doing what fits the situation.

When I first tried improvising on my trumpet, well, it was worse than my early sermons. I knew next to nothing about the theory and practice of jazz music. Sure, I knew it when I heard it, but I had no idea what or how to get there. It took more s study and listening. I discovered the different ways a jazz solo can be built- chords, modes, melodies, chromatics, silence, rhythm. But whenever a chance came up to play an improvised solo, I smiled politely, shook my head, and declined.

Until I couldn’t do that any longer. Shell Lake Adult Big Band Camp pushed me to try it; iReal Pro gave me some structure; the big bands I play in gave me some opportunities; friends gave me suggestions. I stopped being terrified of it. Although still scared I decided to add more experiences, like playing in the praise band at a church during my winter in Alabama where the music is often just the chord changes. Soon I found it was making some sense. Finally.

What then IS improvisation? To sum it up for this post, it is how we live life. It is taking the raw materials of who we are and applying them to what’s in front of us at the moment. What we have done, what we have succeeded- and failed- at, what we are feeling at the moment. These we place on the structure of our days, relationships, and lives.

In the addiction recovery world, there is one of those sayings that is often quoted-

• Do the next right thing.

That, in a nutshell, is improvisation.

I wish it was as easy as it sounds. One just has to work it!

——— [End of writing improvisation] ———

[Note: The writing was improvised as I said. I did add the formatting I generally use in this blog. That was the structure.]

Next week I will present some of the ideas I found online to add to this general review. Since I was “improvising” in the above section, I didn’t start with a quote at the top. So here’s one to end with. It’s an oldie but goodie that I’ve used before, but if it works, don’t change it.

What we play is life.
— Louis Armstrong