EVENTS & GATHERINGS

Some Murmurings about VOCAL IMPROVISATION

By no means is this particularly conclusive, exclusive, or do you have to experience or believe any of what I'm writing here -- this is just a short and evolving compendium of some of my deeper thoughts about the process of coming together for group vocal improvisation. None of this is required reading or study material before coming out to experience a MURMURATIONS gathering. Sometimes people want me to share more at length about the process and the "whys", and this is just a starting point on that more intellectual pursuit...

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WHY IMPROVISE? 

ADAPTATION. Improvisation is the practice of adaptation. In real time. Actual embodied life is quite different from theory: we can study and invent all manner of theories around what is going on in our world and what we want it to be, yet the work of putting theory to practical application is messy and unpredictable -- life. When a glitch in the theory manifests in real time, how do we react? It is impractical and impossible to prepare for every possible scenario. Real life seems to offer an endless set of variables -- perhaps because living, breathing individuals and systems are intricately complex. When I encounter some unpredicted element or response in real life, I sometimes am caught off guard and feel uneasy and unprepared --  and in fact may freeze like a deer in headlights. Getting comfortable with / practicing responding to unpredictability can help ease these experiences. Instead of being "on guard" I can be at ease in my cultivated ability to respond authentically and adaptively.

 

ALCHEMY. Real time improvisation is alchemy -- turning a "wrong" (or unwanted, unpleasant, base, simple, unpredicted...etc...) thing -- a "mistake" -- into something beautiful, meaningful, and intended. It is the real time practice of THERE ARE NO MISTAKES. It is dramatically taking ownership of the narrative and fundamentally changing it. If we can do it in practice, we can do it in life. In my opinion this is one of the greatest gifts of the practice of the arts. The beloved painter/teacher Bob Ross said, "there are no mistakes, only happy accidents". "Mistakes" are unpredicted outcomes that I judge poorly and to which I likely react poorly. Some of the most startling beauty I have witnessed has arisen out of the most dire or mundane circumstances. If I am practicing a musical passage and play/sing an unintended note, I have essentially two options: 1) identify it as a mistake, stop, try again; 2) let it suggest to me a new direction and follow it. Both of these options are important! #1 (the technical improvement model) encourages me to make continual improvements in executing my intentions. #2 (the creative potential model) opens a vast creative potential -- whole new previously unknown worlds. Much of our productivity-focused world demands/prioritizes technical improvement over creative potential -- and therefore much of our training, focus, and time is spent in technical improvement/productivity-enhancement. As a result, most of us (and the world, in my opinion) can really benefit from intentional practice of creative potential.

 

NEURO-RESILIENCE. By allowing that the "unintended" is intended, by allowing spontaneous new directions to manifest within the safe parameters of my creative practice, I am creating new neural pathways and linking previously seemingly unrelated areas of my brain. My mental acuity and resilience is heightened. In this way at least improvisation is akin to a meditation practice: the practice encourages me to confront an experience without judgment or too much attachment -- for I must be continually ready to visit and explore things (sound ideas/moments, in this case) as they arise.

 

JOY. What keeps me coming back to this improvisatory practice is joy. Riding the rapids of the ever-evolving landscape(s) of sound and mind is a whole lot of fun! And it is for me a very welcome and necessary break from the technical improvement/productivity model that fuels far too much of contemporary life.

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WHY SOUND? The universe is sound. Everything is moving and vibrating, whether or not we can "hear" it. The laws of physics as we know them indicate that vibrations in resonance with one another amplify and strengthen one another. We can change circumstances and realities by changing our tune, making sound with intention. Memory is sympathetic resonance. Improvising with sound is the practice for improvising the universe -- the practice of creation -- creation.

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WHY VOICE? Voice is presence. It is bringing the theoretical to embodied reality. Using your voice to utter something beyond the mundane chatter of everyday life is a powerful, courageous, creative act. Voicing a thought, emotion, experience moves this energy through the body. Perhaps nothing moves Qi (vital life energy, as recognized in Asian medicine) through the body/mind/spirit more profoundly and beautifully as your own voice. And so it is also often cathartic, offering a portal through which I can tap into and give presence to / embody the complex inner landscapes of emotion. 

 

WHY GROUP? I can (and do!) improvise with my voice in the privacy and safety of my own space. This is a very important part of my own practice. Yet, there is an undeniable magic of doing so with others. Part of this is simply the fluid adaptation required when participating with others -- a whole lot more unexpected notes/rhythms/sounds can happen! It's also fun to share this experience with others. Making sound together is a unique joy that celebrates collaboration and exchange. And there is a deeper truth often at play: in that making vocal sound is embodiment, many of us have been unaccustomed to our embodied voices being welcome and valuable. While all manner of individuals have come to experience this from the wider mainstream society, people identified as belonging to certain groups/categories also experience this trauma in a systemic and sometimes generational context. In MURMURATIONS we specifically seek to invite the "mistakes" in notes, rhythms, and other elements of sound-making -- and so too do we seek to hear and recognize value in every voice. The creative potential model (as discussed in the Alchemy section above) identifies there are no "mistakes" -- no wrong notes, no "off" rhythms, no wrong voices. Musical elements that stand out against an expected pattern, "happy accidents", are portals to new opportunities, neural pathways, and possibility. The same can be said about hearing and valuing new voices, new ideas, new perspectives. 

 

IS IT MUSIC? Yes! And you do not need to identify as a musician in order to improvise. In fact, sometimes trained musicians find it exceedingly challenging to spontaneously make things up and adapt to unexpected sound events (like a "wrong note" or "wrong rhythm"). We study and practice for years to make technical improvement, often to the detriment of adaptability / flexibility / creative engagement with sound. For such musicians, joining in a fun group experiment that celebrates and encourages spontaneity can keep us engaged with the living culture that is music. For amateur musicians and non-musicians (and professional musicians as well) this group practice offers a safe circle in which to play with sound -- a practice in which our body, our voice, our ideas, our contributions are categorically a beautiful, welcome, and RIGHT gift to the world. 

 

To me, music is structured sound. In improvisation the structure is created in real time, but that doesn't render it any less "musical" than a symphony. In my facilitation of these gatherings I bring some exercises and ideas and frameworks to explore together, and I encourage other participants to bring ideas. Sometimes we share the role of facilitation too. I have a lot of experience and thoughts around improvisation and I'm delighted to offer some very general tips to get things started and keep them flowing. I am also delighted to never cease learning and exploring, and to never "own" our gatherings.

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Practicing this embodied, alchemical adaptive relationship with sound in a group designed

to safely hold the experience, strengthens morphic resonance.

Collectively we are creating a new way, drawing from new collective memories.

And having fun and making music all the while.

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--Jenece Gerber, revised September 2024