A Sound Education: Promoting Individual and Collective Musicality Through Directed Improvisation

The musical practice of directed improvisation represents an intriguing opportunity for musical learning which fosters individual artistry, cultivates the imagination and inspires a life-long love of ensemble playing among participants. As an innovative pedagogical approach which complements traditional forms of music education, directed improvisation enables all participants to contribute equally and meaningfully to the creative process, regardless of their musical abilities or backgrounds. The techniques adopted in a directed improvisation workshop reflect many of the established concepts in music education, from fundamentals such as rhythm and pitch development to more advanced concepts such as phrasing and ensemble playing, yet leave room for individual musicians to take the initiative in creating sound, texture or melody. In addition, because directed improvisation workshops are instrumentally non-specific, workshop leaders are able to take advantage of the diversity of local musicians by including classically trained, folk or pop musicians in the creative process. Directed improvisation exemplifies the value of non-traditional forms of ensemble learning in music curricula, as well as the development of more inclusive and accessible frameworks for ensemble learning in music education.

This workshop will offer insight into the role of the workshop leader as teacher, conductor and performer within the context of an improvisation ensemble. Additionally, by demonstrating the basic skills necessary to conduct a directed improvisation workshop and providing participants with the opportunity to experience this kind of collective music-making for themselves, this workshop will also introduce participants to the processes and practices used in directed improvisation for small ensembles of mixed instrumentation, and demonstrate how musicians of varied skill and experience can collaborate to produce music that is vibrant and unique. The goal of the workshop will be to prepare an original work, the shape of which will be determined by the workshop participants in collaboration with the workshop leader.