Another Cranbury Rehearsal

Had another outstanding 'Oh, Pierre' rehearsal last night. We had a slightly larger group this time. After reviewing the cues, we had students take turns in being 'prompters'. We did reach the point where members of the group started requesting cues as well. The more we practice, the more interesting, fun, and different the music becomes. The next step will be introducing Landmarks. Things are shaping up nicely!!

Here are some reflective comments from students following the rehearsal:

Today was really fun!
1) I find it so much fun when we create combinations of sounds that we never thought were even possible!!
2) I get a kick out of hearing one type of sound and a totally different one after it
3) This is a place where we can explore our own voice and instruments
4) It's a great way to end the day!
Thanks for inviting me to come! I love this group!!!

1) Funny stuff rocked!
2) Needs to be more spontaneus (not sure if I spelt that right)
3) I like not having to play sheet music

In improv, I learned so much! Here are some of the reasons I liked it....
You always have to be on your toes, ready to get involved!
You can learn so much and have fun in such a short time.
Improv has so many different techniques, so everyone is super creative!

I liked having members of the group conduct, and I also liked switching to brushes and mallets (texture changes). I thought it was a good idea to listen and play with eachother, something I don't think we get enough of in class.

1. Are we going to do guerilla warfare?
2. I think that everyone is more comfortable with the cues today
3. What is guerilla warfare?

Fun with Landmarks

1. 3 people trying to hold a conversation as they speak 3 different languages (Malay, German, Portuguese).

2. Spiraling, but using single words that must continue to form a sentence.

3. Play TV theme songs.

5 Short Pieces

I recorded the rehearsal in order to test the recorder. But, I thought they were interesting enough to post. I conducted one of these, and the other four were by four different members of the ensemble who took a shot at being a Monkey.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11944689/Number%20One.wav

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11944689/Number%20Two.wav

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11944689/Number%20Three.wav

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11944689/Number%20Four.wav

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11944689/Number%20Five.wav

Thoughts following the first Cranbury rehearsal...

Following our first rehearsal of "Oh, Pierre!" we asked students to submit three thoughts they had in reflection on the experience.

Here are some examples of responses:

1. I liked being in the school at night...it made me feel like a secret agent.
2. I thought it was easier for me to sing because i could be quiet and no one would notice (Quiet Mistakes)
3. I'm excited to see how much we/I can improve over the course of all the rehearsals!

1. I am DEATHLY AFRAID of this
2. To contradict that, i am UBER excited
3. I have a feeling i'll be more confident in my improv after this
4. This will be hard, but i'm up for the challenge

1. How do you pick out what symbol to use if everyone wants to do different things at the same time?
2. What if you are picked to play whatever and you don't want to play?
3. Is it possible to mess up in this?

1. Improv is not so bad as a group
2. Improv is fun!
3. more swing stuff

1. It was something new and fun
2. It was nerve-racking learning all the signs
3. It was a great opportunity to improvise

1. Going to sound interesting
2. Loved the snacks!
3. Don't mind playing by myself

"I have to say that I had no idea of what to expect before I came tonight, but I had a lot of fun! My favorite part was the dramatic changes of the music. I hope we can do a little more of where one person has "Freedom" and then the rest of the group has "Hits" at the same time, kind of like a solo section in Jazz Band. I also thought that the "Drone" was a good cue to use for transitioning smoothly between 2 very different styles of the song. Thanks for doing this with us!"

1. This seems like it will be an interesting and fun experience
2. I am excited learning new cues
3. Will we ever sound together while improvising or will we always be
playing totally separate things all the time?

Middle Schoolers' Initial Reaction to Oh, Pierre!

Yesterday, Eric and I held our first rehearsal with our middle school (grades 6-8) music students. In order to gauge our students' developing thoughts, skills and understanding of improvisation in our CD-SIDE composition, we gave students a short survey before we began on their initial reactions on being invited to participate in the project. Their answers are as follows:

OH PIERRE! Pre-participation Survey

What was your first impression of this project as you read the permission paper?

"I thought that it seemed new and strange and interesting."

"I was excited! I thought it would be a cool experience."

"I first thought I could finally stop being afraid of improvising"

"Good because you're not given any restrictions (time, key signature)."

How would you describe your experience and your level of comfort with improvisation either instrumentally or vocally?

"Experience 5/10, Confidence 2/10."

"I am fairly experienced and I'm not that comfortable with improvising."

"I am usually afraid to play in empty space since I tend to add and drop a beat or two from measures"

"Instrumentally-okay...not much confidence. Vocal- do not like singing in front of people."

"I have had much vocal improvisation from theater camps and I love it- I have to be in the mood."

What is one thing that excites you about this project, likewise what is one thing (if any) that may concern you about this project?

"I'm concerned about what it will sound like. I like how we have our own individuality in our improv."

" I am always afraid to lose time on the drums, but I've never really tried vocal."

"I am excited to hear what the final product sounds like. I'm not concerned about anything."

"I just like music. It will probably end up being pretty bizarre."

What do you hope to gain (either musically or otherwise) from your participation in this project?

"I hope to gain knowledge."

"To become a better improvolizationalist."

"Better improvness."

"I hope to play a totally different kind of music and learn to stay in time, but still be creative!"

LANDMARKS really are useful.

These are some of the things we've done so far with Landmarks:

specific chords

determined endings

modes to improvise on

quarter tones

groupings of instruments

vocal sounds

chords in a sequence conducted

beatbox effects

speaking on a topic

predetermined readings

play objects around you

applause