A Discourse on Improvisation from Around the World

       Listening to a piece of improvisational music, it is quite impressive how fluent musicians are in their playing. Professional musicians can hear what other musicians are playing, and communicate back and forth as to what will come next. Will the sax player take a solo, or will the band go to a chorus instead? Such musical fluidity is required of advanced musicians. Because of this, many players have found ways to communicate with their fellows using music. In this regard, they use music as a language to communicate ideas. Such language fluidity is seen in all genres of improvisational music worldwide.

     Jam bands rely heavily on communication through improvisation. Toubab Krewe jams by each instrument playing a simple riff. They take turns, each instrument playing a new riff for 4 bars, then repeating the riff until it is their turn again to change. By that time, the other musicians have altered what they are playing and the sound slowly evolves into something different. This group also plays with dynamics, where one instrument will play a crescendo and the other instruments will follow, then simultaneously drop out and let the leading instrument solo by itself for a few bars, then everyone comes back in and the jam continues.

     The Grateful Dead use their own methods to perform hour long jams that never seem to end. Most songs written by them include a distinctive main guitar riff. This riff is used by Jerry to kick off the tune, but also used during jams to signal the band to stop jamming and move onto the next song, as indicated by whichever riff is used. This is how the Dead can play songs one after another without ever having to stop to consult a set list. 

     Vladiswar Nadishana, a Siberian music prodigy, creates incredibly intricate, layered music with hundreds of obscure instruments. His style follows an almost classical structure, which helps keep him focused as well as keeping from overdoing passages. He works in 'paragraphs,' presenting one idea on one instrument by itself. He repeats this idea several times, adding more and more instrumentation, then changing to a new idea and building that up in a similar manner. This pattern continues over the course of a tune, revisiting certain riffs again and again, yet presenting them differently every time.

Ian Anderson uses a similar method in his classically themed album "Divinities: 12 Dances with God." Each 'dance' starts with a different motif, explores that motif, then hints at ideas from earlier pieces, phrased to fit into the new motifs. The first dance lays out the main ideas that are referred back to throughout the piece, much like a good introduction. Because all the dances flow together, a powerful, magnificant conclusion would be expected, but his album does not provide this closure, giving it a slightly awkward ending.

     Classical Indian music is a highly structured genre focusing on improvisation. Ravi Shankar's album 'A Morning Raga/An Evening Raga' is an excellent example of a raga's structure. A raga is a musical sentence which could be thought of as a thesis, and is associated with a mood and time of day. Raga Nata Bhairav is meant to be played in the morning, and communicates feelings of hasya (happiness), adabhuta (wonder), and shaanta (peace) at the start of a new day. 

     The structure of a raga resembles the structure of an essay. Ravi opens the raga with an alaap, an unmetered introduction that outlines the motifs of the raga. This is where concepts are introduced that will later be explored during the other movements of the raga. The second movement is called the gat, where the tabla player enters and initiates the rhythmic pulse. This equates to the body of an essay, which contains the main ideas, which are elaborated upon. The tabla player improvises while the sitarist plays the raga over and over, until the drummer plays a tihai, an idea repeated three times, which then signals the sitarist to start improvising while the drummer plays a steady groove, until the sitarist plays a tihai and the drummer begins again. In this way, the musicians can communicate who's turn it is to play without interrupting the music. The final conclusion of the raga is the jhalla. The sitar plays a slow melody with the left hand while the right hand plays intricate, fast paced rhythms that build momentum. Often in this section, there is a call and response portion where the sitarist plays a riff, and the drummer imitates it on tabla. This leads to a tempo build, and the sitarist concludes the raga with an abhoga, or closing movement.

     Improvisation is the musical equivalent of a conversation. By communicating ideas back and forth, a discussion results, where ideas can be explored and fleshed out. Much practice and patience is needed to develop the fluidity of musical expression the most talented musicians possess. However, it is incredibly useful because from improvisation, ideas for new songs can be gleamed, or perhaps the jam itself could be released as a tune. And there are few things as satisfying as getting some musical friends together and jamming out.