Vocal Jazz Improvisation

[nafmeadmin]

Hey, teachers of music!

I’m currently a junior at Kent State University. OMEA conference wasn’t too long ago so it’s still fresh in my mind. Perhaps one of my favorite speakers gave a wonderful clinic on vocal improvisation. She incorporated very simple ways to get her choir to improvise melodies and create entire pieces through improvisation; something pretty common among vocalists. As instrumentalists (such as myself), we don’t focus nearly as much on improv unless we’re in a jazz ensemble. Any ideas of how to incorporate some in-depth improvisation into the concert band setting?

[nafmeadmin]

I don’t really have any suggestions, I also just want to express interest in how improvisation can play out in the concert band/orchestra setting. Being an instrumentalist, I’ve gotten a good deal of improvisation education and experience, but as the OP said, it was entirely from years in jazz band and private lessons. I have a lot of friends who are excellent musicians, and don’t know a thing about improvising, or even where to start. I’m just really interested to see where improvisation can play out, because it is such an important, and unfortunately rare, skill for students to have, and I’m having a difficult time thinking of ways to get it going.

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