Random access: developing the complete musician.

We all know the basic facts surrounding the musicianship of the legendary composers and performers whom we revere, musicians like Bach, Mozart, Liszt, Gershwin, Bernstein, Ma and so many more. If we were to use a modern tool, such as a spreadsheet, to list and categorize the musical attributes and accomplishments of these musicians, certain characteristics would tend to pop out at us again and again.

These well-respected musicians have tended to be accomplished on their instrument (of course), often played a second instrument and usually been notable as both a performer and composer or improviser.

The concept of the musician being both a performer and composer/ improviser is as old as the concept of music itself. Prior to the development of music notation, if you performed a piece, you must have either made up your own composition or learned someone else's piece by ear or rote. Either way, being a performer meant being involved in the compositional process.

By their very nature, aural and rote learning inevitably result in the performer making changes to the composition and, therefore, becoming a co-composer to one degree or another. Without a printed score by which to measure the fidelity of a particular performance, even the most humble performer tends to take liberties with the music and play it "his way" or "her way." Modifying a work spontaneously during performance is simply a natural thing to do.

Drawing a Line in the Musical Sand

As the concept of music notation developed, so did the idea that the score is a sacred text that must be followed. It should be noted, however, that music notation took centuries to evolve to its present state and that the idea of the sacred music text is a fairly modern one.

Throughout the baroque, classical and romantic periods, the concept of the performer as co-composer can be found readily in:

* Slow movements, where the instrumentalist playing the melody was expected to embellish the music tastefully

* Cadenzas, where the soloist was expected to extemporize 

* Recitatives, where melodic and rhythmic freedom ruled

* Figured bass, which was merely a short-hand notion for guiding a keyboard player

* Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera

It is historically quite interesting to note just how often composers in those three time periods merely sketched out melodies, keyboard parts and percussion parts, fully expecting performers to "fill them in" according to accepted practices. Nowadays, however, classical musicians tend to rely on publishers and editors to fill in our scores, and thus we have the "great divide" in classical music between performance and composition. So few classical performers are comfortable playing anything other than what has been literally notated for them.

Is this divide really necessary? Are we providing an adequate musical education to students if we teach them how to play only what is on the written page? Are there major musical benefits to being able to improvise comfortably on one's instrument? Have you truly achieved mastery of your instrument if you cannot play it by ear?

Since there is insufficient space in this column to discuss these crucial questions, let's assume improvisation and the ability to play by ear are worthy musical goals. What modern tools do we have to help us out?

Fun Applications of Technology in the Service of Improvisation

Until one has made a clear and consistent aural connection between sounds that are heard and the method of creating them on an instrument, the idea of playing by ear or improvising can be quite daunting to students and many teachers. The reason is pretty obvious: there are too many ways to make a mistake. It is so easy to play a "wrong note," mess up the rhythm and goof up the harmony, not to mention the fact that there are issues of basic technique and phrasing that also pose obstacles to spontaneous performance. In contrast, music we have learned and practiced from the printed page sounds so much better--after weeks of practice, of course.

Although there are many barriers to experimenting with improvisation or playing by ear, these barriers provide us with a compelling reason to work with some simple, yet effective, electronic tools, such as the MIDI accompaniment file.

The basic idea is to provide an environment in which the student or teacher has a relatively simple improvisatory role and, therefore, a great opportunity for a fun and successful experience. After the student has achieved the exhilaration of success in a simple context, you can gradually and methodically increase the complexity of the task. Over time, one success breeds another.

This really works. Once you get your students improvising, they may never stop!

The Nature of a MIDI File 

The typical MIDI file is a multi-track song file that has separate parts for melody, bass, accompaniment, percussion and so forth. A MIDI file can be classical or contemporary. In all cases, it is something that can be manipulated easily as the need arises. For example, the tempo can be slowed or transposed to a different key. It is possible to cancel the existing bass part to make up a new bass line, or one can simply add a new part to go along with the rest.

The big point is this: when improvisation skills are practiced using a MIDI file, there isn't the burden of spontaneously creating an entire composition by oneself. Most of the composition already is created. The role of the person who is learning to improvise is to make up just one simple part, such as an ostinato or a new melody or a variation to the basic rhythm. Even if the part created is pretty simple, the totality of the composition has a built-in sophistication and coherence. The result is a sense of success with just a little risk.

Finding the Right MIDI Materials

The MIDI files required are available from many sources, although very few are marketed or labeled as improvisational tools. For example, most publishers of pedagogical piano materials have published MIDI file accompaniments for at least ten years. These files coordinate with the printed music found in their various teaching books. Almost any of these MIDI volumes can be used productively for improvisation and playing by ear--and they can be used for this purpose by students who study instruments other than piano.

You almost can pick one of these published MIDI volumes blindly and go from there, or perhaps decide to choose a volume containing familiar songs. It really doesn't matter except it helps to start with simple music.

Those who want to be more adventuresome can make their own MIDI files. A cool program that is very easy to use is Band in a Box, from PG Music (www.pgmusic.com). It is available for Macintosh and Windows operating systems. This is how the program works.

* Choose a time signature, key signature and tempo.

* Select a style (hundreds of which are available).

* Type in the chord changes for your composition.

Band-in-a-Box will then generate a multi-track MIDI file that you can use, based on your musical specifications.

Assembling the Necessary Equipment to Play a MIDI File

The next step is pretty easy. You need a MIDI file player. If you have an electronic keyboard or digital piano, you may already have an instrument with a disk drive or similar storage device that will let you import a MIDI file into the instrument. From there, the buttons on the keyboard can be used to set a tempo, cancel the playback of various tracks, continuously loop playback and so forth.

MIDI files also can be played on a standalone MIDI player or by using a software program on a computer. In the latter case, any sequencer or dedicated accompaniment program will suffice.

The Rest Is Up to You

The development of the actual curriculum for improvisation is beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say that it makes sense to approach the subject in a progressive, step-by-step manner--just as you approach the teaching of a piece of printed music.

For your students, the bottom line is this: there is nothing quite like the feeling of spontaneously passing music that originates in the inner ear to the hands, feet, mouth or other body parts that control a musical instrument. We're blessed by the fact we have a number of simple, fun and effective modern tools to help us achieve this goal with our students.

George F. Litterst is a nationally known music educator, clinician, author, performer and music software developer He is co-developer of the intelligent accompaniment software program Home Concert 2000, from TimeWarp Technologies.