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The Art of Improvisation – Audio Premium
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The Art of Improvisation – Audio Premium

on Jul 7th 2010 with 3 comments
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In this week’s Audio Premium content, Toby Pitman waxes lyrical about the art of improvisation, and gives us some practical tips about how to develop our ability to improvise.

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Whether you’re a stand up comedian or a musician knowing how to improvise is an essential craft. Although this article won’t teach you ‘how’ to improvise it will give you an insight into the thought process behind it and the tools you’ll need to start.

In musical terms ‘Improvisation’ is the process of performing or composing music in real time, on the fly, in the spur of the moment, off the cuff or whatever you choose to call it. Basically your making it up as you go along! This can include the creation of new musical ideas or a new interpretation of an existing melody or composition. The whole point is that it’s not preconceived but flows naturally from you as you play taking any direction you wish.

Table of Contents

  • What is Improvisation?
  • Not Everyone’s Cup of Tea
  • It’s Not Just About Solos You Know!
  • Ordered Chaos
  • When In Rome!
  • What Are You Trying To Say?
  • Reading, Writing And Communicating With Other Musicians
  • Teach a Man to Fish!
  • Useful Tips and Exercises
  • Conclusion

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Rollover to read this author's bio or click through to see a full list of posts by this author.

For the past 18 years Toby has worked as a freelance session guitarist and programmer. A self confessed 'studio nerd' Toby also writes music for TV/Advertising as well as doing the odd bit of production/writing for various artists. He spends most of his time in his studio staring into a monitor or playing guitar. Recent clients include George Michael and David Arnold.  

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  • skyliner

    You mean “Whether YOU’RE” – jeez, it’s not rocket science….hope the rest is better written.

    • http://adriantry.com Adrian Try

      Thanks for picking that up, Skyliner. It’s a great tut, and very well written, coming from Toby’s many years of playing and improvising. You’ll learn a lot from it. And you probably realise that one small typo says very little about the quality of the writing.

      • http://tobypitman.com Toby
        Author

        Crikey! I feel like I just killed his dog!