Getting influences from classical improvisation

MikkoKarhula · July 2017

Hi!

Sometimes when I played more gypsy jazz I had feeling that my improvisation got stuck in certain rules. It's of course vital for prober gypsy jazz expression to get little stuck in some rules but somehow sometimes I feel that i should free myself a little from those rules. IMO good way is to practice other styles also and get new ways of thinking.
So I made little video about practicing classical influenced improvisation. I feel that classical music is part of our corner stone of music in every style. Bach’s Inventions and Paganini’s Caprices are familiar to many jazz guitarists as well to many heavy metal guitarists. Although player wouldn’t be fond of these styles I think that practicing classical etudes and improvisation is good both to technique and tonal language improvement. When I was making this video I got feeling that basic rules for scale to chord doesn’t always work. Sometimes it seemed to work mix different scales, or use only the first five notes of the scales. Sometimes scale is forming from three-note or four-note chord arpeggios with chromatic notes added. If anyone is interested you can get tabs and backing track for this lessons here:http://mikkokarhula.wixsite.com/mikkokarhula

Kindest, Mikko

Bones · July 2017

Hey thanks for posting Mikko. Way over my head but cool to hear!

richter4208 · July 2017

Really dig your playing, thanks for sharing your insight. what kind of guitar is that Mikko? Do you string with nylons?

Elí Saúl · July 2017

I agree with your statements, I myself been refreshing my improvisation resources this last couple of weeks.
Sometimes worrying to have an specific "style" can be a bit limitating creative wise.

I think classical music in general has this ease to express motifs on its movements, which depending on the author are really intense or mellow. Or a mix of both, but always it seems very clear the ideas behind them, which I personally sometimes find that jazz improvisers kind of forget that worrying bout other things.

I'll make sure to check out your site!

wim · July 2017

A nice sounding chord progression and great ideas here, thanks!

It's a shame that improvisation seems to be discouraged in classically trained musicians these days. I've read about how Bach was a badass improviser, and surely many others of that era were too. Let's hope that jazz guitar never stagnates due to improvisation falling out of fashion.

MikkoKarhula · July 2017

richter4208 wrote: »

Really dig your playing, thanks for sharing your insight. what kind of guitar is that Mikko? Do you string with nylons?

Hi! Thanks. The guitar is Cordoba C7-CE with added colpeadors and it's nylon stringed.

MikkoKarhula · July 2017

Elí Saúl wrote: »

I agree with your statements, I myself been refreshing my improvisation resources this last couple of weeks.
Sometimes worrying to have an specific "style" can be a bit limitating creative wise.

I think classical music in general has this ease to express motifs on its movements, which depending on the author are really intense or mellow. Or a mix of both, but always it seems very clear the ideas behind them, which I personally sometimes find that jazz improvisers kind of forget that worrying bout other things.

I'll make sure to check out your site!

Hi! I agree with you. I played only gypsy jazz for 7 years nothing else. Then it was just too much. I felt that things had to come out of me and gypsy jazz wasn't style that could cover all my creation. although it's very beautiful versatile style.

I agree with you also about that second chapter you wrote. The clearness and beauty of classical music fascinates me and I hope I get it somehow to my jazz improvisation someday. There is sometimes too much hazzle in jazz improvisation IMO.

MikkoKarhula · July 2017

Wim Glenn wrote: »

A nice sounding chord progression and great ideas here, thanks!

It's a shame that improvisation seems to be discouraged in classically trained musicians these days. I've read about how Bach was a badass improviser, and surely many others of that era were too. Let's hope that jazz guitar never stagnates due to improvisation falling out of fashion.

Hi! It would be interesting to know why improvisation is discouraged in this day's classical field. Could it be that classical players want to keep the idea of perfect and clean music and same time keep classical music little bit "better", more sophisticated than other styles. Or is it (also) psychological asylum for classical players when they don't "ruin" music with improvisation and take the risk. I don't know.

Shemi · July 2017

Classical musicians don't practice improvisation usually as there is not much need for it's application in the realm of classical performance but there are other skills that need to be developed, such as sight reading, etc which take a lot of focus. Of course, a classically trained musician who goes into session work requires a level of ability in improvisation, but outside of that it's not a skill that's generally perceived as "needed".

Personally, I think it's a really good skill to acquire and it's helped me feel like a more rounded musician, but my teachers when I was studying didn't really understand why I wanted to learn to improvise.

If you have time, this masterclass with Tortelier is a great insight into the levels of mastery of detail people are striving for in classical terms. The students are amazing players but as soon as Tortelier plays and discusses you see another level. A piece like the Dvorak cello concerto can takes years and even decades of dedicated practice to nail on not only a technical level but also in it's interpretation. Consider that this is just one of a myriad of repertoire that needs to be learned and it's easy to understand why there isn't much time left for practicing improvisation.