We had a rather large group of MIT Arts Council members sit in on class.
To demonstrate to them some improvisation, we started with a class rendition of the "emotion" peacefulness.[1] As usual, this piece was characterised by a soft volume, long held notes, and many major and perfect intervals.
Donal then talked about how to give music direction and form. We came up with a list of ideas of how to create development:
*Giving the music form: e.g. ABA
*Varying rhythm
*"" dynamics
*"" texture
*Harmoney modulation
*Layering a melody/motif
*Changing instrumentation - thus changing color, timbre
*Individual solos
[1] The whole "emotion" improvisation originated when Donal asked us, "What emotions can music express?" and Xiao Xiao countered, "Are there any emotions music can't express?" We made a huge list of emotions ranging from angst to joy and concluded music can express pretty much anything. We tried improvising on anger, which was less successful, but was characterized by discordant intervals, faster-moving notes played at a forte or fortissimo.
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