As you probably know, if she is going to make a career practicing something foreign in Japan, it is essential that she study abroad in order for her to get the Japanese stamp of approval. Do read that Odette interview. He mentions that continuo and the ability to read notation are vital for earning a living. As Rob mentioned, attitude is part of improvising. It is another language and you cannot learn a language without making lots of mistakes.
On Aug 26, 2009, at 10:17 PM, Christopher Witmer wrote: It has been quite some time since I posted to the list, but I have two questions for list members. Perhaps these two questions are related . . . I'm not musical enough to say for sure. Question 1. My third daughter, now age 17, has been playing the lute seriously for a few years now, and has decided that she would like to try to major in the lute at an overseas conservatory -- probably in Strasbourg, France. (Practically speaking, there are no conservatories in our home of Japan where she could study lute.) My daughter is extremely serious and dedicated in her studies. She just bought a new lute for about $4,000 (USD) with money that she earned through her part-time job. She plays the lute for at least three hours each day, and she is also very good at the piano. She does very well with her "solfege" studies as well. However, her lute teacher recently pointed out to her that if she hopes to play the lute professionally in the future she will need to become much more proficient in playing improvisationally. This is something my daughter is not naturally good at. I know some people are naturally good at it because my wife, who gave up piano lessons at age 13 when she could no longer advance without being able to read music (up to that point, her teacher had always assumed she was reading the music, when she was in fact playing by ear), can improvise better at the piano than anyone else in our family, even the two older daughters who are both conservatory students. And my second-youngest daughter also seems to have my wife's gift for improvisation -- in fact, a few times she has picked up a new instrument and within a few minutes she has been able to "fake it" well enough that, to an untrained person at least, she gives the impression that she has been taking lessons for a while: there is "real music" coming out. But my third daughter, despite having very good lute technique, has never been one to improvise, and this new demand is presenting a bit of a challenge for her. Is improvisational ability something that you either have or you don't? Or is it something that can be learned? Are there any tips concerning how my daughter could most effectively approach this? I'm assuming that her teacher is also trying to guide her in this regard, but it occurs to me that if he just happens to be one of those people who naturally improvises well, maybe he doesn't really know how to help a person like her improve in this area. (He plays not only lute but also rock, jazz and classical guitar, while my daughter has never played any string instrument besides the lute.) In any case, I would be interested in knowing what sorts of ideas people on the list might be able to offer. Question 2. A few years ago I found a website where someone was both discussing his instruments and also introducing a summary of Thomas Campion's counterpoint technique. I remember being impressed by Campion because it seemed like a fairly easy, paint-by-numbers approach to composing songs -- something that almost anyone could apply to song writing. I recently tried an internet search but couldn't locate that website. If anyone knows what I'm referring to and can point me to that website, I'd be very grateful. Also, is it worth picking up the edition that has both Campion's and Coprario's books bound into one volume? All of my kids (and their musical friends too, for that matter) could benefit from having access to tools that facilitate getting their feet wet with composing. Although I don't do it myself, it stands to reason that the earlier someone gets involved with composing music, the better. I also wonder whether getting some of these compositional techniques under one's belt would help my daughter to develop her improvisational ability. Is not improvisation simply composing in real time? Sorry for the long questions! Any help you might be able to provide would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you. -- Chris To get on or off this list see list information at [1]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html Ed Durbrow Saitama, Japan [2][email protected] [3]http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/ -- References 1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 2. mailto:[email protected] 3. http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/
