Risk. Trust. Listen. Reflect. Respond.
Be affected by what you hear.
Imitate. Copy what you hear (either from yourself or others). Say it once. Say it again. Then say it again, but change something.
Keep repeating and idea - but play it differently every time.
Don’t be afraid to repeat something. Over and over and over.
Do the opposite. Contrast! Vividly! Don’t hold back! Stay away from the «middle.»
Mean what you say, say what you mean (not what you think someone wants to hear, or what someone else would say).
Practice inventing motifs of three to four notes. Be able to fluently transpose to all keys and to play these motifs in sequence, both diatonically and chromatically.
Learn to transform short motifs in a variety of ways.
Use short and memorable thematic material of motifs.
Lower your expectations. Go for quantity.
When you hear a good idea (either your own or someone else’s), support it or relate to it in some way.
Music is not about playing the right notes - it’s about using your imagination.
Silence is a very important part of interesting music. Don’t forget to rest at times.
Practice improvising with a partner as often as possible. A partnet can challenge and inspire you, be an «ear,» give you creative energy and ideas, and help you «show up.»
Jam with a group as often as possible. Improvistion is about a social as well as a musician connection.
The more people in the group, the less each one plays.
Record your improvisation as often as possible. Listen carefully to learn from your choices and gleam ideas for future improvisations and practice.
Rhythmic ostinati are powerful foundations for compositions.
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