Helmut Eisel, a German Klezmer clarinetist, one of the teachers at the workshop I just attended in Jerusalem, directed useful sessions in improvisation (as did Raul Juarena, a master of the bandoneon, a kind of button accordion widely used in tango). Helmut, without knowing it, echoed a lesson of my musical guru, Arnie Lawrence: you don't play an instrument, you become an instrument. This is how Helmut interprets the word "klezmer," a Yiddish word that comes from two Hebrew words: kli (a vessel or tool) and zemer (song). In Helmut's view, all true musicians are klezmerim, vessels of song. I'll buy that.
However, this is a challenging proposition even for very gifted musicians, though you see and hear it when great musicians play. Emil Aybinder, whose workshop I attended, plays the accordion, a heavy, clumsy instrument (in my opinion) as if it were a part of his body, without thinking about where his fingers should go, how he should move the bellows, or what sound quality he wants. He just plays. The music flows out of him.For a musician of Emil's skill, there appears to be no gap between what his inner ear imagines and what he plays on the accordion. That's the result of years of intense, committed practice, based on inborn musicality.
Getting back to Helmut's lesson, although we were at a klezmer workshop, he gave a session about playing the blues - elementary but helpful for me, even though I've been playing blues for a long time. (Incidentally, it's important to be able to learn from music classes even when they are at a level far more elementary than yours; one must always go back to fundamentals.)
In his class, Helmut suggested the following exercise, claiming that within weeks it would take effect, and we would be able to improvise well: (1) play a note on your instrument; (2) sing that note; (3) sing a simple melody starting on that note; (4) play the melody on your instrument. (5) start over again.
I'm not a natural musician. I find it difficult to play by ear. I don't like the way I sing. But I'm determined to keep at Helmut's exercise. I've been doing it with the flute, which is somewhat difficult for a man who sings an octave below what the flute plays. I've only done it for a few days, so I can't vouch for the results yet. But I'm hopeful.
Incidentally, this exercise is similar in many ways to one suggested by Robert Dick, who has posted a lot of useful clips on flute technique, one of which is to hum into the flute while you play.
However, this is a challenging proposition even for very gifted musicians, though you see and hear it when great musicians play. Emil Aybinder, whose workshop I attended, plays the accordion, a heavy, clumsy instrument (in my opinion) as if it were a part of his body, without thinking about where his fingers should go, how he should move the bellows, or what sound quality he wants. He just plays. The music flows out of him.For a musician of Emil's skill, there appears to be no gap between what his inner ear imagines and what he plays on the accordion. That's the result of years of intense, committed practice, based on inborn musicality.
Getting back to Helmut's lesson, although we were at a klezmer workshop, he gave a session about playing the blues - elementary but helpful for me, even though I've been playing blues for a long time. (Incidentally, it's important to be able to learn from music classes even when they are at a level far more elementary than yours; one must always go back to fundamentals.)
In his class, Helmut suggested the following exercise, claiming that within weeks it would take effect, and we would be able to improvise well: (1) play a note on your instrument; (2) sing that note; (3) sing a simple melody starting on that note; (4) play the melody on your instrument. (5) start over again.
I'm not a natural musician. I find it difficult to play by ear. I don't like the way I sing. But I'm determined to keep at Helmut's exercise. I've been doing it with the flute, which is somewhat difficult for a man who sings an octave below what the flute plays. I've only done it for a few days, so I can't vouch for the results yet. But I'm hopeful.
Incidentally, this exercise is similar in many ways to one suggested by Robert Dick, who has posted a lot of useful clips on flute technique, one of which is to hum into the flute while you play.
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