Preparation for Improvisation
&
Improvising Soundtracks for
Folktales
IMPROVing: Successful and Sequential Improvisation that Develops the Musician at Every
Level,
ArkMEA Sessions,
All-State, Hot Springs, February 18, 2011
11:15 A.M. to noon
Deborah Barber, PhD
Arkansas Tech University
dbarber@atu.edu
Thank you for making this session SO MUCH FUN!
Sequence for Developing
Vocabulary for Improvisation
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•
•
•
Rhythmic patterns
Tonal patterns (solfege)
Melodic (neutral syllables)
Harmonic
*Edwin Gordon’s “Essential Preparation for Beginning Instrumental Music Education” 2010
Echo & Mirror*
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•
•
•
Teacher sings or plays a simple tonal pattern
Student then echoes the exact pattern
OR
Student sings it backwards.
T: d m
S: m d
T: d r m S: m r d
*Edwin Gordon’s “Essential Preparation for Beginning Instrumental Music Education” 2010
Chaining*
• One student improvises a rhythm pattern
• The next student repeats the first then turns
to neighbor and improvises a new pattern
• Can also be done with tonal patterns
• Later with rhythms and pitches, state names
or animals or …
*Edwin Gordon’s “Essential Preparation for Beginning Instrumental Music Education” 2010
Now for some fun…
• Find a folktale. I like stories with a message.
• Imagine a soundtrack for characters, action, and
moods of the story.
• Mark these places
• Read the tale to the class
• Have pitched and non-pitched instruments for
the students to choose
• Allow students to choose a section to bring to life
with their music
• Give a little time to experiment then perform
• Teacher reads the narration, pausing and
directing as needed.
Real Brotherly Love
A Traditional Korean Folktale,
Real Brotherly Love
A Traditional Korean Folktale, Retold by Yun Seok Kim from Korea
A long, long time ago, there lived two brothers in a village.
They were both very poor.
The older brother had a little more than the other one:
however, he had a larger family to support than the younger brother.
One autumn, they harvested their grain,
but the older one worried about his younger brother,
so at night he took some grain and secretly put it in the place
where his brother stored his grain.
The next day, even though he had done this,
his own grain supply was not reduced.
The next night he did the same thing,
and again the next day his grain supply was not diminished.
It stayed the same.
He thought it was strange, so that night he hid in the field to see what happened.
A few hours later, he saw a person approaching.
He went out to see who it was.
The stranger was his brother who was also worried about his older brother.
Each night he had been taking grain to his older brother to help him!
This was true brotherly love.
After that, they lived happily the rest of their lives
http://www.topics-mag.com/folk-tales/folk-tale-brotherly-love-korea.htm
Parts
Prelude eeee
Older brother eeee
Younger brother eeee
Harvesting grain eeee
Night music eeee
Magic eeee
Slow mystery eeee
Postlude eeee
Prelude eeee
Real Brotherly Love
A Traditional Korean Folktale,
Retold by Yun Seok Kim from Korea
• A long, long time ago, there lived two brothers
in a village. Older brother eeee Younger brother eeee
• They were both very poor.
• The older brother had a little more than the
other one: Older brother eeee
• however, he had a larger family to support
than the younger brother. Younger brother eeee
• One autumn, they harvested their grain,
Harvesting grain eeee
• but the older one worried about his younger
brother, Older brother –slowly e e e e
Younger brother - slowly e e e e
• … so at night he took some grain and secretly
put it in the place
Night music eeee
• where his brother stored his grain.
•
•
•
•
The next day, even though he had done this,
his own grain supply was not reduced. Magic eeee
The next night he did the same thing, Night music eeee
and again the next day his grain supply was
not diminished.
Magic eeee
• It stayed the same.
• He thought it was strange, so that night he hid
in the field to see what happened.
Night music eeee
• A few hours later, he saw a person
approaching. Slow mystery eeee
• He went out to see who it was.
Slow mystery eeee
• The stranger was his brother Younger brother eeee
• who was also worried about his older brother.
Older brother eeee
• Each night he had been taking grain to his older
brother to help him! Night music eeee
• This was true brotherly love.
Magic eeee
•
• After that, they lived happily the rest of their lives
Postlude eeee
Where is Korea?
CHINA
North Korea
South Korea
Japan
Miss Julie Ann Johnson
I
V
Chorus: Miss Julie Ann Johnson, oh ho.
I
Miss Julie Ann Johnson, oh ho.
1.Well, where is she going...
She’s going to …
2. Well, how’s she going to get there… etc.
3. How long will it take her…
Let’s record our song!
4. What’s she going to do there? …
Where the Wild Things Are
• Improvise music for the wild rumpus
• Part of the class act out the book and part play
a soundtrack
• Wild rumpus music is
fun to improvise over an
electronic keyboard
drum pattern
or a GarageBand loop.
This one is “Jacaranda.”
Use G D and F C
Where the Wild Things Are
• Improvise movement for creatures…
parrot
- monkey
- elephant – puppy
kitten
- prancing horse
turtle - frog - fish
giraffe - butterfly
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tedtalks-video/id160892972
#32 Charles Limb – Your Brain on Improv
Broca’s area (speech/language) is active during improv.
Webpage
http://faculty.atu.edu/dbarber/inservice/All-State2011-Improv.html
Link to this PowerPoint and
mp3 of wild rumpus music
Thank you for making this session SO MUCH FUN!
dbarber@atu.edu