Keeping It Simple Is Not So Easy

When a child speaks their first word, we are full of excitement and praise, regardless of whether the child pronounced the word correctly. We encourage the child and the child speaks more. 

Children find it much easier to improvise in music than most adults. 

So how does one learn to improvise? 

Go back to the beginning.

Simple is challenging for accomplished adults. 

Adults who did not play music as children can find learning music frustratingly slow. I love working with adults and support their determination. Every breakthrough is a victory. It is when I pull them away from the written page and we improvise that I see their bodies relax, breathing becomes more fluid, and smiles appear. The quality of their sound changes, and they are often surprised by this. Then we go back to the page, everything seems to flow more easily. I’ve had singers tell me: I have never sung like this before. 

For those adults who are experienced musicians, playing something simple feels like a big step back. I have come to see extreme simplicity as returning to the heart of WHY we started to play music in the first place. In my own improvisation journey, I found my musical voice and a profound trust in my musical intuition. I also came to understand the power of intention. If I don’t believe in what I am playing, I can hear it! Where eyes are the windows to the soul, music is the soundtrack of the soul.   

The improvisation forms (Music for People) that I use are radically simple, yet that is what makes them so challenging! Playing or singing something simple lets us drop into our sound and expression. How can we ever find out who we are musically if we are constantly worried about playing the right notes? When we embrace ALL notes, we discover new possibilities. 

Someone once asked me why I chose to engage in music so “plebeian". I had to pause and really think about that question. My answer: going back to the beginning every single day brings me back to myself. I now sing from a different place, my heart. I have also become a much better listener. 

Making something meaningful out of nothing requires a leap of faith. I remember this every single time I sing or play a duet with silence. 

Supporting beginners by becoming the wind beneath their wings is something I live for. Every person deserves to enjoy music making if that is what they choose to do. 

Everyone can learn to improvise - 

Let's start at the very beginning, a very good way to start… 

(“Do-Re-Mi” from the Sound of Music)

When people come for lessons or workshops, we will often begin with an instrument that is not their principal instrument. I have many idiophones. An idiophone is a type of musical instrument that produces sound primarily through the vibration of its own material, without the use of strings, membranes or external airflow. The entire body of the instrument vibrates when struck, shaken, plucked or scraped. Percussion instruments are primary examples of idiophones. They are generally more accessible than other instruments and can be approached very intuitively. They can also be practiced and played virtuosically. 

A First:

… she entered my studio somewhat shyly looking at all my idiophone instruments. A highly accomplished pianist, she wasn’t quite sure what to expect. She always feared improvisation. I invite her to choose an instrument, she chooses a kalimba, I pick up another kalimba and demonstrate for her without saying a word. She begins to play and explore. Within seconds, she is completely absorbed in the experience. I begin to accompany her. Without talking about it, we engage in a musical conversation. She plays something, I imitate her, feeling supported, she answers back. The quality of her sound begins to change, it’s more resonant. I play a phrase expressively, she plays something back. I hold down a beat, she imitates. I encourage her to keep the beat, and I play a few phrases over it. We both go free, we end the piece as though we had rehearsed it. Using only intuition, we improvised together. 

We talked about how it was so unstructured and intuitive, like leaving for a road trip without a map or itinerary.

Advanced musicians are faced with the paradox of choice - when you have less to choose from, improvisation can feel less overwhelming. 

I invite you to explore radical simplicity. 

KALIMBAS