Some students study scales, chords, and the rules of harmony for years, but when they are asked to play something by themselves, they don’t know what to do. The MusicImprovArt courses are aimed at overcoming the aforementioned contradiction between the theory and the real musical practice. Theoretical knowledge is not separated from the practice, but is applied directly in the process of improvisation.
Theoretical notions are presented in such a way that the student can immediately hear and feel them. The students get to know how the harmonic progression can influence the emotional resolution of the musical form, how different rhythmic structures can build a musical tension, or how the melodic motif can be varied and developed during the improvisation. As a result, the theory is perceived not as something stiff and dogmatic, but rather as a certain basis on which it is possible to make musical decisions. Theoretical concepts gradually become intuitive and help to make decisions in the process of improvisation without interrupting it.
One of the most important advantages of the MusicImprovArt courses is that students learn the material in context. Instead of dry exercises, the students are presented with real musical situations that occur in real musical practice. They learn not only how to react to changes in harmony, but also how to interact with other musicians, how to improvise in different styles, etc. Such an approach, apart from purely technical skills, develops the student’s musical consciousness, the ability to adequately react to what is happening musically at the present moment.
After the improvisation practice, MusicImprovArt students try to analyze their decisions, to find out if there are any recurrent patterns, and if there are other solutions. Such analysis contributes to better understanding of the theory, as well as practice, and creates the feedback between thinking and playing. Improvisation becomes a conscious process (at least, to some extent), rather than a random action.
In general, MusicImprovArt changes the attitude of musicians to knowledge in music. It helps them to step over the mechanical repetition of the learned patterns and to enter the real musical communication. As a result, the students develop an integral musical worldview in which knowledge and fantasy complement each other, and they start to perceive music making as an active, expressive, and conscious process.