Improvisation

What is improvisation? Improvisation, in music, is the composition of music in real time; music written almost instantly without the luxury of time. Improvisation is a technique utilised to great effect across a wide variety of genres and serves as both a failsafe for when somebody forgets a part of a song during a live performance and also as a way to compose songs (or parts of a song).

Elements of improvisation Coherent and proper improvisation requires extensive knowledge of the instrument being used in the improvisation and the genre of the music. This includes: Rhythm: time signatures, syncopation, swing Melody: using different scales and the modes of said scales Harmony: 3rds, 7ths, 5ths, etc Lyrics: the subject of the lyrics, the emotions they convey, the message they deliver

What is rock music? Rock music is and historically has been one of the biggest and most popular genres of music. It started out as ‘rock and roll’ in the 1950s in the United States, with artists like Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Ray Charles amongst others. Since then, it has been vastly developed into a very wide array of genres and styles of music. Rock has its roots in R&B and country music and is heavily influenced by blues and jazz.

Improvisation in rock music Typically, an electric guitar is the core of a rock band and their music. It is usually supported by an electric bass and an acoustic drum kit. Drum rhythms in rock tend not to be too complicated, usually taking the form of simple, un-syncopated 4/4 beats. Some of the modes commonly used in rock include mixolydian, dorian, major and minor. A lot of the harmony in rock comes from triads, but there are many examples of the use of fourths, fifths, sevenths e.t.c.

Improvisation in rock music The use of electric guitars within rock music means there are a vast variety of sounds which guitarists have access to – there are lots of techniques at a player’s disposal which, when used properly, can spawn some peculiar sounds (e.g. harmonics, feedback, divebombing). Different guitars and amplifiers have their own unique sound. In addition to this, effects can be applied to a guitar to create an even wider range of sounds; examples of such effects includes flanging, phasing, chorus, distortion and delay amongst others.

Improvisation in rock music Of course, the drums also play quite a large part in rock music, especially during live performances. Each drummer will have their own sound through which they are distinguishable from other drummers as well as their own playing style; whilst on stage, the idea of the drummer’s presence, attitude and character on stage and the use of drum solos is paramount for a good performance, and plays a big part in improvisation within rock.

What is blues music? Blues is a genre that came about in the late 1800s and originated from African-American communities in the Deep South area of the United States. It was developed mainly from work songs and folk music. The blues form involves specific and often repeating chord progressions played in 4/4. Melodies are typically played on the flattened third, fifth or seventh – these are known as blue notes. Steadily played walking bass rhythms are another trait of blues music.

Improvisation in blues music Blues verses are usually made up of a single line repeated in an AABA form. The lyrics of blues usually consist of a story that portrays woe or dismay about quality of life – this stems from blues’ African-American roots when slavery and other forms of exploitation were rife. Another characteristic of blues music is call and response; a phrase is chanted or sung with powerful emotion without any harmony beside it; it is then repeated by both the vocals and often a guitarist.

What is jazz music? Jazz is a genre of music which was developed in African- American communities (similarly to blues) in New Orleans, United States, in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some of the inspiration for jazz stemmed from blues and ragtime. Improvisation is pivotal in jazz, and is where a lot of jazz music is derived from and how a lot of it is written. Skilled jazz players can improvise their own parts with each other and end up with a fully fledged jazz piece. Much like blues, jazz features call and response – a soloist either singing or playing will make a call (a played or sung melody) and will get a response (either a repetition of the call or a slight modification of it) from other players.

Improvisation in jazz music Again, very similarly to blues, jazz makes extensive use of blue notes. Blue notes occur when a musician plays through an entire scale which results in the flattening of some of the notes. This results in bent or blue notes which are dissonant due to being flattened – dissonance is a very unique feature of jazz music but is used in other genres such as progressive rock and post-hardcore. In jazz, the third and seventh notes of a major scale are flattened with the second and sixth notes removed to create a minor pentatonic scale. Alternatively, the same can be done in addition to the flattening the fifth and adding a non flattened fifth afterwards to make a blues scale. Both of these scales are used frequently in jazz improvisation.

What is metal? Metal is a genre of rock music that emerged in the late 1960s and 70s in the United Kingdom and United States. It is often thought of as being one of the upper extremes of rock music. Metal achieves this through its almost universal use of high volumes and aggressive singing and playing styles, characterised by heavily overdriven or distorted guitars, long and intricate solos and complex drum patterns. Public and critic opinion of metal is mixed – many think of it as irritating and meaningless noise, whilst people who like metal tend to be very devout fans to the bands they like. Despite such thoughts, a vast amount of metal bands have been extremely successful and have left a lasting impression on musicians, listeners and the music industry.

Improvisation in metal Metal improvisation is seen often as difficult and very diverse, and when wanting to improvise it is paramount to make sure that such improvisation fits with the theme of the song. Metal songs often have an underlying theme, or tell a story (for instance, the band Coheed and Cambria’s songs retell the story of a comic book series in a musical form). The themes in metal songs are often used to represent anger and aggression as a form of self-expression and a way to therapeutically vent one’s emotions. Metal guitarists almost always use guitars with extreme distortion or overdrive where possible in addition to certain playing techniques such as bending, divebombing and the use of harmonics. Singers usually use specific screaming techniques (often colloquially referred to as ‘ screamo’) to properly deliver the aggression associated with metal.

Improvisation in metal Drummers in metal are just as important as guitarists, and are pivotal to both recordings and live performances. Metal drumming is often very loud and complex, done at a high tempo. Drummers usually choose big and powerful sounds (often in the form of their cymbals) for the rest of the piece to ride on. Metal drumming also often employs intricate and often difficult fills, made to both supplement the music and impress at live performances.