We would like decisions to be rational, data- and fact-based. And so we devise strategies and goals - and when things turn out differently than expected, we pat ourselves on the back and praise our intuition, which we consider to be a special personal gift. However, dealing with the unforeseen, with ยซimprovisoยป, needs to be learned. It is not an excuse but an art. The associated activity is called improvisation and is integral to daily business in music.
ZHdKโs course directory lists no fewer than 45 courses on musical improvisation, covering a wide range of educational needs and objectives: the interpretation of baroque music, for example, requires historically based extensions of traditional musical texts. Improvisation has always been existential in jazz. Over the centuries, spectacular improvisational art forms have emerged from liturgical practice on the organ and are still cultivated to meet the highest standards. While so-called ยซclassicalยป music predominantly involves playing sheet music, practising formal dynamics, interaction, listening and reacting in open-ended way in ensembles significantly contributes to confidently performing and commanding a given repertoire. Moreover, the playful aspects of improvisation are of course central to teaching.
Not everyone, though, is comfortable with playing music without a safety net. Manuela Keller teaches improvisation at ZHdK and at music schools. She finds that the latter (and their teaching methods) often fail to provide enough room for improvisation: ยซThe highly specialized instrumentalists who attend our masterโs programmes often struggle to invent music on the spur of the moment. My programme also includes majors in school music who are much more open to improvisation.ยป One of them, Mattia Scheiwiller, confirms this impression. He started out as a composition student and enjoyed the freedom of improvisation already back then: ยซYou compare yourself less with others. You play, you discuss, and continue playing. You lose the fear of venturing into new territory or of not being good enough. You are simply in the here and now and play.ยป
However, you cannot earn a bachelorโs degree in music at ZHdK without developing improvisation skills. In one way or an- other, they are integral to the compulsory curriculum of all majors and are already tested at the admissions exam. One of the instructors is Lucas Niggli, a drummer who has co-headed ZHdKโs programmes in ยซclassicalยป music for 15 years. Recently, he also began teaching a jazz class. He has also set up an Advanced Improvisers Pool, which is also increasingly attracting masterโs students. Niggli emphasizes that free improvisation is not a new subject, but has been part of the Zurich music curriculum for around 40 years: ยซIt began as an optional subject but then quickly became compulsory. At the time, one realized that musicians with improvisation experience are much better able to blend in chamber music, to perceive their own voice amid the overall sound. The reasons were practical rather than creative. Improvisation as ear training. Besides, the fact that it develops and refines perception is a huge bonus.ยป
Originally a new element in the heroic avant-garde of the last century, free improvisation has long established itself in performance. It has developed standards of coherence and precision that are not inferior to those of composed music and demand considerable openness, honesty and circumspection in group lessons: nowhere is bluffing exposed more quickly than in spontaneous dialogue through music. In teaching improvision, Niggli brings to bear his experience as an internationally sought-after musician and might also serve as a role model for younger musicians. Saxophonist Gemma Galeano, for example, devoted herself entirely to improvisation after completing her instrumental studies: ยซIt was a revelation for me and a sort of therapeutic experience. At the time, I was suffering from psychological problems. Playing freely allowed me to create, switch off and be completely in the present. Ever since, I have left interpreting sheet music behind me.ยป Her decision has led to a successful stage career.
Andreas Boฬhlen has also noticed that student interest in improvisation has increased significantly. As a professor of record- er, he not only teaches research-based, style-based improvisation of historical music; as a jazz saxophonist, he also follows the tradition that most lastingly revolutionized 20th century music. For him, improvisation is also an attitude: ยซIn improvisation, you learn to take responsibility for music. ยป And, he adds, for dealing with freedom. Because little is predictable, and ultimately it is truthful moments like those experienced in improvisation that count.