I’m writing a post on first steps for improvisers. If you’ve ever written anything you know sometimes it comes flowing out and it’s there and done. Sometimes it comes flowing out but the following day you realise there’s much unsaid that needs to be said. And there’s the stuff that needs to be edited–because it didn’t make sense in the first place. Well.
In the meantime here’s a very short excerpt from what’s coming.
Play the one note. Any note will do. Listen to it. The attack of the note. Hear how it sustains. Listen to how it decays. Listen to what happens when that one note appears to fade away. Because on a piano it won’t fade straight away. It’s more like the process of fading fades in and out. It’s a pretty amazing phenomenon. Usually we’ll hear it only if we listen specifically for it.Of course the obvious question is: What’s next after the playing that one note? The answer is do it again! Repeat the steps described in the previous paragraph.
