Getting Started

I don't like to practice my usual classical repertoire in front of other people, because it makes me self-conscious. I always feel that their presence makes it to some degree a performance. At the very least, the sound I am producing is caressing or assaulting someone else's ears. So practicing within earshot of others, or even just the belief or possiblity of it happening, can alter the way I practice. Specifically, I tend to get less detail-oriented, playing through my pieces a lot more rather than working on trouble spots, and I also take fewer risks.

When practicing improvisation, my self-consciousness is amplified. I'd never improvised before starting this class, at least not anything beyond fooling around on my violin in boredom, so this is a totally new thing that I know that I am not good at. Furthermore, with improvisation, there's not really any sheet music (beyond a rough lead sheet) in front of you as a safety net. You're not following a road that has been paved ahead of you. You're out there all on your own, forging new paths in the moment. But that nervousness, and the embarrassment of making mistakes in public, are all things I need to be comfortable with in order to perform in this recital on December 10. So maybe I should start practicing in front of people?

Well, I suppose there are tools to help, too. I should learn about chords, since Donal has been using them to explain aspects of the pieces we listen to. (In any case, 21M.301 will make me learn them.) Also, it will help to learn the blues scales, which we are going to go over in class. You could argue that I should just use my ear, but I would also argue, as I've learned in 6.034 (Artificial Intelligence), that giving a name to an idea or concept gives us power over it. (Prof Winston would be proud.)

I've tried practicing improvisation on violin a few times already. I think I need to start writing down cool things that I discover, because otherwise I just forget them after a while.

I have found that it's pretty easy to hear a jazzy tune in my head, but quite difficult to play the same kind of sounds on my violin. I think it is due partly to the fact that my fingers are used to certain configurations on the fingerboard, so just in the moment, they go to the places they are used to going. I have to slow down and consciously try to get a different sound. Playing along with recordings is a good idea. After all, learning is at some point an attempt at imitation of someone greater, whether it be a teacher or a track on a CD. Recordings will give me ideas that I wouldn't come up with by myself, since I am kind of stuck in a classical mold.

Ironically, it's actually easier right now for me to improvise on the piano, though my technique on this instrument is far worse than my technique on violin. Maybe it's due to the fact that I can really see where I'm going on the keyboard, and picture the chords, whereas this is more difficult on the violin. Or maybe I'm not constrained by prior technique.

I should go ask Sarah to jam sometime. We're already going to be playing the Brahms Violin Sonata No.3 together (incidentally, performing it around the same time as the improv class concert) and this would be another interesting facet of music to explore with her.

Finally, trying to play in this class reminds me of a video I saw about a year ago on Youtube of a "hip-hop" violinist.

Introduction

I'm currently enrolled in 21M.355, Introduction to Muscial Improvisation, at MIT. Donal Fox, our illustrious instructor, has asked each student to keep a journal of our thoughts and discoveries as we progress through the course.