IMPROVISATION WORKSHOPS
UNLEASH YOUR POTENTIAL for CREATIVITY AND IMPROVISATION!
You have been playing an instrument for a short or long time and you dream of being able to express yourself more freely by improvising but you don’t dare to make the leap ?
come to a DISCOVERY IMPROV WORKSHOP!
This workshop is open to all, beginners or not, pianists or non-pianists (but who dream of it!), young and old, in search of a free expression through a music that is neither written, nor planned, but authentic and welcoming the unpredictable.
The objective is to find or rediscover a relationship with the instrument that is more intimately linked to sound, gesture, intention and feeling rather than to knowledge, technique, and mental planifications…
We will explore how to let go and open up to this unknown, sometimes intimidating but so vast and rich world of improvisation and thus reconnect with our spontaneous creative part. Simple keys accessible to all will be offered which will allow each one to have some basic references to hold on to in order to express himself/herself easily at the piano with fun and joy.
(Workshop inspired by the teaching of Marc Vella)
Testimonial:
“After my disastrous experience with guitar lessons as a child when the teacher told me that I didn’t understand anything about music, the belief took root in me that I wasn’t meant to play music. So I found my expression in dance, which is inseparable from music and rhythm. I met Frédérique about 3 years ago, and I immediately got hooked into the improv workshops she was offering: it spoke to my body and my right brain! I was so surprised to find this little girl who marveled at the sounds she could produce spontaneously, and the desire to do the experience again and again! This experience with Frédérique, the opposite of the one with my guitar teacher, helped to free and heal that part of me that had wanted to make music but had completely closed the door to it, believing that it was not for her. So if you want to stop believing those little voices that ruin your life, I really invite you to go and experience Frédérique’s improvisation workshops: it’s a safe environment, gentle and welcoming, and the only risk, in my opinion, is to make NO wrong notes, to meet ourselves in our authenticity and to reconcile with ourselves! Sandrine / Anouk Chavenon
Price: 50 euros per person
If you have any doubts or questions please contact me, to be sure that these workshops are for you (or not!) and for the next dates: frederiquemusic@mailo.com
For more details read on:
You think that improvisation is only for those who have been given the gift or who are very advanced and know everything about music?
NOOOO!!!! IMPROVISATION IS YOUR BIRTHRIGHT!
YOU HAVE IT IN YOU LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!
you just have to wake it up and give it room to express itself.
I myself have long believed that one was born with or without the ability to improvise, and for me it was without, since my learning of music was done by the classical and academic way of the conservatory and at my time anyway (!) improvisation was never even mentionned in this context.
But my thirst for a deeper and more intimate relationship with music pushed me to search in all kind of directions for a way to find this richer and more nourishing relationship with music. It has been a long road from my conservatory years when I was stuck to the score, to now when I no longer conceive of music without improvisation. I made some detours not being guided in my quest (also because I didn’t know well how to define it either.)
In any case, today I am the living proof that it is possible to access to improvisation even if one has the impression of not being born with it, and of being completely incapable of it, while having the 1st medal of piano and solfeggio of the conservatory (!), therefore the knowledge and the so called “necessary” technique…
Because the most important thing in improvisation is neither knowledge nor technique but an attitude of openness, discovery, letting go, a spirit of exploration and an impulse to dare the adventure which is really not only musical.
It’s a wonderful path of self-discovery and personal evolution !
There may be traps and obstacles along the way and you may have encountered them…
– You may have already taken improvisation classes or tried it on your own.
– You have learned different techniques, ingested theory about the scales to use, done exercises etc… and you remain frustrated or blocked, you don’t feel that wind of freedom in your sails, that spontaneous impulse that you see in people you admire and for whom it looks so easy.
– Maybe you think you need to work more on technique first, to gain that freedom.
The instrumental technique of course gives freedom in playing, but if your mind is blocked and your mind tells you – even in a muffled way – that what you are doing is not good enough, that you are not made for it etc… this freedom will not serve you to improvise. (It will serve you for many other things of course! So it’s never a bad idea to dwell on it too 🙂)
Richie Beirach used to tell me “Technique is like a very sharp pencil”. Indeed it’s useful to draw but it doesn’t give you the inspiration to draw.
SO IT’S TIME TO CHALLENGE SOME BELIEFS ABOUT IMPROVISATION!
-> I hope I have done so for the one according to which it would be necessary to have a perfect theoretical knowledge of music and a breathtaking technique to improvise!
-> there are no wrong notes in improvisation, only unexpected notes!
-> improvisation is natural to ALL of us! We are constantly improvising in life, when we talk, when we walk, drive, we are constantly adapting to the situation of the moment. I think you have noticed that life cannot be completely planned and controlled, there are always unforeseen events !
When we improvise with the unforeseen events of life, they can turn into new discoveries, new potentials, if we look at it like this, … it’s the same in music and in improvisation, with the unexpected notes.
-> Perfection doesn’t belong into the world of improvisation, we can relax!
(I’m sorry to tell you that perfection is not of this world at all! 🙂
SO ARE YOU READY TO UNLEASH YOUR POTENTIAL of CREATIVITY AND IMPROVISATION ?
-> Being accompanied and supported with kindness, with someone who has made the journey.
-> Being more relaxed, stopping putting pressure and demands on yourself that stress you and prevent you from expressing yourself.
-> Fnding a relationship with the instrument more intimately linked to SOUND, LISTENING, INTENTION and FEELING rather than to knowledge, technique and the mind (the left brain).
-> Daring the adventure of letting yourself be guided by the richness of your unconscious (97% of your brain!) and your right brain, because that is where creativity is centered!
It is for you that I have created the IMPRO WORKSHOPS!
and to start with the IMPROVISATION DISCOVERY WORKSHOP
-> An afternoon of 4 hours of guided exploration in a small group (from 4 to 6 or 7) in a friendly, light and supportive atmosphere.
-> We will explore how to let go and open up to this unknown , sometimes intimidating but so vast and rich world of improvisation and thus reconnect with its spontaneous creative part.
-> You will receive simple keys accessible to all that will allow you to have some basic references to hold on to in order to express himself/herself easily at the piano with fun and joy. (we say “play an instrument”…).
-> you will discover the No Waste method (!) no false notes, we do not throw anything in the trash, we recycle! It is about welcoming unexpected notes to transform them into enriching musical discoveries.
-> individual passages at the piano, joyful moments of 4 hands and time for sharing experiences
PRICE: 50 euros per workshop and per person including the audio replay.
If you have any doubts or questions please contact me, to be sure that these workshops are for you (or not!) and for the next dates and themes of workshops :frederiquemusic@mailo.com
POSSIBILITY to register for 4 WORKSHOPS at 175€.
5 WORKSHOPS at 200€.
These workshops take place during the school year.
They include the following themes:
1. IMPROVISATION DISCOVERY Workshop
2. MODES #1 Discovery + practice
3. MODES #2 Practice + Deepening
4. PULSATION- RYTHM
5. RYTHM and LEFT HAND ELABORATION
6. CYCLES OF ACCORDS
7. IMPRO JAZZ Workshop
8. IMPRO INSIDE THE PIANO
9. MULTI INSTRUMENTS Workshop
make your suggestion for a theme that is not in the list! 🙂