"Just Improvise"
As the holiday season draws near, I can already feel the pace of life picking up. While Southern California is one of the only places you can have your heater on with a sweater one day, and your AC with a t-shirt the next in winter, the seasons are nonetheless changing. Grateful that I don't have to drive through snow to reach my students, I still feel winter approaching.
One of my favorite things about this time of year is the music. It is a time when music can really bring people together. Families, friends. . . strangers. One of my favorite composers that I pull out to listen to every December is Vince Guaraldi (composer/arranger for the Peanuts cartoons). This year, I decided to do him one better, I decided to play his music. So I picked up the song book and started practicing, and even recruited a jazz drummer to play with me. But in my practicing, I got to a portion that said "repeat for all solos" and felt my stomach drop. I need to solo? Like . . . a jazz solo? -gulp- I know how, but that has always been an area I approach with great caution.
So, instead of leaving it to the pros any longer, I will be learning how to improv with confidence this holiday! I have also started to look into curriculum tie-ins that teach improv, ordered a couple books to try, and will be researching them to see which will be the best fit for my students. I am excited to expand both my own repetiore and that of my students to include musical training beyond the strict classical style.
One of my favorite things about this time of year is the music. It is a time when music can really bring people together. Families, friends. . . strangers. One of my favorite composers that I pull out to listen to every December is Vince Guaraldi (composer/arranger for the Peanuts cartoons). This year, I decided to do him one better, I decided to play his music. So I picked up the song book and started practicing, and even recruited a jazz drummer to play with me. But in my practicing, I got to a portion that said "repeat for all solos" and felt my stomach drop. I need to solo? Like . . . a jazz solo? -gulp- I know how, but that has always been an area I approach with great caution.
So, instead of leaving it to the pros any longer, I will be learning how to improv with confidence this holiday! I have also started to look into curriculum tie-ins that teach improv, ordered a couple books to try, and will be researching them to see which will be the best fit for my students. I am excited to expand both my own repetiore and that of my students to include musical training beyond the strict classical style.