When it comes to improvisation, most of them seem to mean something bad, stressful, cobbled together, something that you can’t really enjoy and especially not something that you could be happy about. But why? I think it’s a nice feeling when you can accept the unexpected with serenity, benevolently and, best of all, without judgment. Because strictly speaking, this is just another impulse, a possibility to create something new, to go a different way, to be creative and try out what the inner voice is telling us. To be happy, in the worst case, that something went well with so little advance or preparation. Or be happy that new insights have emerged in the process. Who knows if and when otherwise, something in this direction would have ever been considered or questioned. Because you’ve probably heard of it before: “We have always done it that way. Never change a winning system. Humans are creatures of habit ”, and so on and immediately. Sure, planning brings security. But what if it turns out differently? Sure, you can never be prepared enough and it is also very important to me personally to go through several scenarios when planning. But with all the preparation and conscientiousness, isn’t it nice to know that something else will come up if necessary? In no case should it be a call for more planning, but gently draw attention to self-confidence so that one does not forget that improvising is something completely normal and neutral. Confidence in your own analytical skills and decisions. That might sound a bit tricky at first, but if you take a closer look, everyone does it every day and probably several times. Oh, what a shame, the favourite product you wanted to get is now sold out. And we don’t have that one ingredient for dinner at home. There is a traffic jam on the main route and somehow the scanner doesn’t really work today. I think you’ve long since realized what I’m getting at. Well, it’s no different in music either. To truly let yourself go, to unfold, to jam or whatever we want to call it, we need a few fixed parameters, a framework, a framework. It’s kind of like the initial situation. Live it could look something like this: someone starts playing something and repeats it. Shortly afterwards, another musician joins in and builds on it. And another one. And another one. And if the piece is not yet completely overcrowded with instruments, then maybe the vocalists will also dare to add something. Or not when the system is about to overdrive and the tempo now barely allows articulation. Because it’s about perceiving, checking, acting and reacting. Again. Surprise! Okay, joking aside, you can also try out musical improvisation for yourself in a small group. For example, you could let off steam on instrumental tracks or use apps that play small chord sequences. Or try to imagine a certain song in a different style, and how the song would change as a result. Or turn on the vacuum cleaner and just sing on it. Let the phone ring through and skilfully use the jackhammer, which resonates to us from the side street, as a beat. What do you think? Do you already have a slight inclination to improvise? I would be very happy to hear or read from you. You are welcome to send me your thoughts on this via email or social media. And if you like, if you haven’t already, let’s connect right away, a nice new friendship could soon develop.
In intensity, yours INTENSIA