Scan this before diving in this pandora box of ideas – course! Find out how the course is built & how to get the best out of it.
STRUCTURE
Secrets of Improvisation course is built around CONCEPTS & TOOLS.
There are 4 pretty much independent chapters defined by a concept, inside which there is a world of ideas on a topic. All that means you will be given tools, shown how to use them, you will try them with me, but the main work is for you to take those ideas and go on playing with them, applying it to all the other moves you know!
Chapter I: Back To Basics (15 videos)
Here you will be introduced to a completely new method of how to approach improvisation: developing your improvisation & flow from musical elements and forms, rather than from chunks of common jazz moves glued together.
Chapter II: Limitation Tools (41 videos)
Here you will get introduced to a few great tools of practicing improvisation, creating variations of movements. It’s a tool box under the name “Limitation” and it has this instruments: travel, repetition, form, & time. Those tools can be applicable to all of the footwork you have in your pocket. For educational purposes you will try those tools on just few major jazz steps: Charleston basic, cross over, fall of the log.
Travel, repetitions are simple ideas. Once you get the hold of them, your task is to try them with some other footwork you know.
Time Minus and Time Plus is a concept, based on music theory, time subdivisions. It’s is important to be very precise here with your musicality. You can check out my little video about subdivisions HERE.
So, these are sub-chapters of Chapter II: Limitation Tools.
Each one has few videos in them. It’s a big one.
- B1. Limitation – Concept & “Travel” Tool
- B2. Limitation – Repetition
- B3. Limitation – “Form: Rotation & Picasso”
- B4. Limitation – “Time: Minus”
- B5. Limitation – “Time: Plus”
- B6. Play With Cross Over
- B7. Play with Fall Off The Log
- B8. Colouring a dance phrase
Chapter III: Dance Phrasing (4 videos)
Here you will get to work with one of the most important things to me in jazz improvisation: phrasing. This requires some confidence & experience in your dance. We will try reproducing melodies by scatting them and creating your own melodies, fillers with it.
Chapter IV: “ Pillow (6 videos)
Crack one more beautiful tool to develop your improvisational muscle, a game I called “Pillow”. You can use it anytime, any day, anywhere to warm up your improvisation muscle, musicality and open up creativity flow. It’s an Idea that I borrowed from music. Pillow is a repetitive phrase that we always take off from and come back to when improvising. Here we will have a pleasure playing with a musician – jazz pianist Cormack McCarthy.
HOW TO USE?
Once you have picked the chapter, please go chronologically – the way I placed the videos for you. I thought it through. I have built my explanations and the material within a chapter in a progressive way.
WHERE TO START?
I definitely recommend you to start with Chapter I: Back To Basics no matter how experienced you are.
If you are starting your journey in jazz impro it will give you plenty of ideas & practical tools on how to start with improvising. You can start with using just the walk, so don’t worry if you do not yet have a big vocabulary build up.
If you are intermediate or up level in jazz or a dancer of another style it will 1. Open your mind and 2. Give you a great practice tools for impro.
You can go ahead and check Chapter IV: “ Pillow right away. Again, it’s a tool. Understand how it works first. It can be a grand finale of each of your practices. After each practice, put on a song and use this pillow concept for the whole tune, no breaks. Just flow. Whatever level you are at. Start making your free moves, free choices. Pillow – impro, pillow – impro. Improvisation is ability to make choices. First slowly simple choices, then with time, you start to flow, choices will be made for you by your heart, feet, feel, music.
WHAT THEN?
Follow Chapter II: Limitation Tools chronologically. Once you get a hold of any new tool you were introduced to, don’t just limit yourself to the example I give, try this tool on a different move you know, try to find a different or simply your way to execute the example I give. This is ESSENTIAL. This personal work of you will give you the real lasting results. Remember, this course is about tools. Don’t just look at them, USE them!
MUSIC FOR PRACTICING
I created a playlist for you in Spotify that I will continuously update.
ENJOY!