My Cart: 0 item(s)
Using Boundaries for Improvisation
Boundaries and limits can help you grow as an artist. They relieve you of the overwhelming burden of infinite choice. Here's a fun exercise you can use to create and explore new sounds on your harp.
Below you will find three dice. Each die has seven sides, one for each note name (C, D, E, F, G, A, and B). Click to roll the dice.
Here are the rules:
- Disenegage all of the levers on your harp. (It doesn't matter what key your harp is tuned to.)
- Look at the note on the last (third) die. Now flip up the lever on every one of those strings. So if the die reads C - then flip up all the C levers.
- Use the first two dice to form a chord with your left hand. So if the first two dice read A and D, find an A and a D in the lower register to be played with your left hand.
- Now for the fun part. Using you left hand, alternate playing the two notes from the dice at a moderate tempo. Create a steady rhythm.
- Use your right hand to improvise at will in the upper register.
Check out the quick video demo.
It will likely sound a bit odd or exotic. That is the point. Continue to play and notice how it sounds. See if you can get to a point where the sound and scale sound good or interesting. See what this arrangement wants to sound like. Be curious and open about what you are hearing. There are no wrong notes or incorrect rhythms in this exercise. Just be open and play. Play within these boundaries.
Some rolls of the dice are going to be interesting and fun from the very start. But even if something doesn't sound interesting or fun at first, try sticking with it for a bit longer than you want to and see if the sound grows on you or starts to make sense in a way.