Improvisation and media

It seems I am not capable of keeping my learning for these two courses in separate categories. Each experience in one class informs my perception of content and process in the other, and I am left with just a small window of time to reflect on where it might lead me after the summer session is over.

I spend the mornings in improvisation class participating in  many small games, exercises, challenges, and practice to build confidence and gradually learn to trust myself to risk bigger mistakes in front of colleagues without breaking down or being angry and defensive or blaming others for my clumsiness.  The course has a solid structure which I found hard to accept, probably because I thought I was ready to jump in a little farther along than where we began.  Probably wishful thinking and a certain impatience on my part to stick with process and not product. As well, I am more interested right now in the philosophical and global relevance of improvisation than doing it myself.

In the afternoon class, I am challenged to "improvise" with all the programs and apps to create a new paradigm for my classes.  Here, flexibility and relevance to each teacher's situation is of prime importance, and I am struggling with new technology and new ideas at the same time. I am tired, depleted and facing reinventing my teaching, at a point when I am just "retired" and going back on a term.  I just want to get something done, to complete the assignment, however I realize that this is worth the sweat, so I am trying to be my own cheerleader and plan my last few evenings to crunch through my framework.  While the ideas excite me and I am totally on board with trying these concepts with my students, I do have to wrestle with  how am I going to

• complete the assignment using the technologies explored this week
• implement the changes at school in the class time I have available. 

I hope the universe provides some intuitive solutions: I have the creative seeds....just not sure how to get them sprouted by Friday!

Graphic score interpretation activity

http://www.creative-ed.ca/creative-ed/Graphic_Score.html

from R. Murray Schafer, appears in Hearsing

The class is divided into groups and each group is given the drawing below:  Each group has ten minutes to prepare a performance using the drawing as a musical score.  This could be done with voices or with instruments.  Although quite simple, the shapes in the drawing are very suggestive of different sonic textures and the number and variety or interpretations is unlimited.

Let each group perform their “interpretation” and then explain it.

Creative Constraints in Improvisation

Found this today on a blog I follow which is written by someone I knew in University.
I am looking forward to trying this one out in class.

Improv Game of the Day: Economical Beauty

BY JEFFREY AGRELL ⋅ NOVEMBER 27, 2012 ⋅ POST A COMMENT

FILED UNDER  CLASSICAL IMPROVISATION, IMPROV GAME

1-4 players. Your challenge is to create the most beautiful melody possible – using only three pitches of your choice.

Pitches may be repeated at will or played in any register.

With two players, players should decide if pitches chosen may overlap or are exclusive.

An example of exclusive pitch choice using the C scale only might be:

Player 1: CEA

Player 2: DFG

With three players, there will necessarily be some overlap. Example:

Player 1: CGA

Player 2: DEF

Player 3: CEB

With four players, there will be even more overlap. Example:

Player 1: CDF

Player 2: DGB

Player 3: CAB

Player 4: EFA

Players may choose in each case to either relate to each other (listen, imitate, interact) or play independently.

Hint: Vary timbre, articulation, dynamics, note length; don’t forget to add silences.

As with almost every game, percussion may be added by an extra player or two.

Variation 1: Use four pitches.

Variation 2: Choose pitches from the full chromatic scale. Try both overlap and nonoverlap versions. Perform an experiment: is it easier to create a beautiful piece using overlapping or nonoverlapping pitch choices?

Hello World!

Hello! I am a music teacher, enrolled in a creativity course which requires me to investigate new media.  This is my new playground.


The name of my blog means "speeding up" , a musical term I love because of the connection to string instruments, but it also represents what technology and new media do to communication and relationships.

I am also the parent of a very creative 20 year old university student. I watch as she moves between deviantart, facebook, several blogs, sound cloud, tumblr and twitter. My older daughters and I use pinterest and we are doing family history on ancestry.

All of these sites are personal markers like inukshuks 

 and Kilroy                                    
which represent our physical presence in the digital world.   

I follow about 15 blogs regularly and stumble upon many more just surfing the net.  The blogs include travel journals, artist journals, self promotional tools, personal reflection journals, education related journals, recipe blogs, design and "how-to" blogs, charity fundraising blogs.

I do not know the writers of half of these blogs, but what they are doing interests me.  The writers are investigating their experiences to make meaning, preserve memories and to document their personal presence on the planet.  I believe what motivates writers to start blogging is to have the possibility of touching others.  When I comment on a blog post, there is often immediate feedback: who are you? how did you find me?

Modern day message in a bottle 
(Aside: when searching google images for the above picture, I found it on a blog from a teacher who was starting his first blog...irony ;)  I suppose I should link it, but it appears that he has since migrated his site to a newer one, and I think he has moved on.)

Which brings me to this question: what are the rules for this game anyway?
How do you remove your digital footprints when you wish to move on?

Ok now, I've jumped in, I'm wet.