Tag: improvisation

Percussive Sounds

I sat down with composer/bassist Chris Van Voorst Van Beest recently to go over some of the extended techniques for the flute. Chris asked me a lot about the percussive sounds available to flutist, and in the spirit of sharing, here some of the things we talked about. Most percussive sounds will only sound in … Continue reading Percussive Sounds

Improv Project – Day 11

Today, I improvised in the style of Mozart's GM flute concerto, Mvt. 2.  I did something inspired by Mozart, using some of his themes, to try and get a better grip on what I'm working on.  This is a interesting way to practice that puts me in the composer's shoes for a minute.  It makes … Continue reading Improv Project – Day 11

Improv Project – Day 9

Continuing my exploration of rhythmic limitations, today I did an improv with a pulse.  Rhythm is something that I personally have a hard time with so I'm taking my time playing around with these, pulse/no-pulse/other rhythmic parameters improvs.  This is also particularly useful if you plan on playing jazz, as most is very rhythmically driven.  If … Continue reading Improv Project – Day 9

Improv Project – Day 8

Today while I was practicing I stumbled upon an idea for a free improv that was exclusively fast, short phrases.  So that's what I did today.  I was hoping it would help me break into some new textures and ideas since it was very different than anything I've done recently, and I think it did. … Continue reading Improv Project – Day 8

Improv Project – Day 7

Today, I decided to use a format for my improv that I learned at UMich in my very first introduction to improvisation.  The format is simple, an improv in AB format, where A is un-pulsed and B is pulsed.  I feel like I need parameters to help me sometimes when I'm improvising, just to give … Continue reading Improv Project – Day 7