improving the stream of conciousness

Manningluck

Senior Member
This concept was brought to me via a jazz instructor. He was talking about how improv becomes a little easier when you practice and work on improving your stream of consciousness.

How is this done? Is this even something that can be practiced?

Or is this just some pseudo drummer jibberish?
 
I practice yoga/meditation so I can identify with this idea

An obvious way to improve your 'stream of conciousness' would be meditation/ Yoga.

I gather that what he means by 'improving your stream of conciousness' is to remove superfluous thoughts. ie. not fixating on thoughts and allowing them to flow. As an example: not thinking about what you're doing after the show or something unrelated to the task at hand. Immerse yourself in your playing and listening and feeling the music.

This I find can come on its own just by drumming. Meditation is merely applying focus to a single object/ thought.

That's my take on it anyways.
 
This has been posted before, but check it out. http://youtu.be/y_7DgCrziI8

It comes down to the speed and emphaticness of your thinking. Having a vocabulary to draw on, and letting it come into your head so emphatically and loudly that it comes out your hands without forcing or analyzing it. There is some thinking involved where you are aware of what is happening in the song, and what others are doing, and what of your vocabulary is appropriate. But that is a bit ahead of time. You are not thinking during the execution. Your hands (and feet) are following the sound in your head. And practicing this until you can do it at a rate that keeps up with the song. And practicing more until more of your vocabulary comes up at the rate of the song.
 
This has been posted before, but check it out. http://youtu.be/y_7DgCrziI8

It comes down to the speed and emphaticness of your thinking. Having a vocabulary to draw on, and letting it come into your head so emphatically and loudly that it comes out your hands without forcing or analyzing it. There is some thinking involved where you are aware of what is happening in the song, and what others are doing, and what of your vocabulary is appropriate. But that is a bit ahead of time. You are not thinking during the execution. Your hands (and feet) are following the sound in your head. And practicing this until you can do it at a rate that keeps up with the song. And practicing more until more of your vocabulary comes up at the rate of the song.

+1
Good stuff right there.
 
I know absolutely nothing of the theories behind improv, but in my limited experience, you certainly need to be in a totally different headspace compared to playing within a structure. Equally, it requires the other players to be in the same space, but perhaps more than anything, all players need to tap into the joy element of their craft. A willingness to explore, plus the gift of space from one player to another, are also key to the "piece" acquiring a sense of gratifying journey.

I hope to put up a video over the next few days, that features highlights from an improv groove session I witnessed last week. Not in a jazz context, but non the less satisfying. Most interesting to see the formation of direction unfold.
 
I'd encourage people to check more of Hal Galper's video clips out. Each of them inspiring, informational and insightful.

No clue coming from me on meditation but I can say as primarily a jazz drummer who plays 100% improvisational, I listen to what's happening around me and completely / totally not think a single thing I'm playing. I am having a musical conversation with the other members and am only focused on the music. Never once do I ever give thought to patterns, etc..

Just happened to me this past Monday during a rehearsal where when the song was done someone really wanted me to explain what I was doing during a certain section of a song we played. Apparently I did it similarly (but different) each time and they completely loved what I played. I was absolutely clueless as to what I did. We played the section over again and low and behold I couldn't recreate it no matter how many times I tried. It was a totally in the moment thing.
 
This has been posted before, but check it out. http://youtu.be/y_7DgCrziI8

It comes down to the speed and emphaticness of your thinking. Having a vocabulary to draw on, and letting it come into your head so emphatically and loudly that it comes out your hands without forcing or analyzing it. There is some thinking involved where you are aware of what is happening in the song, and what others are doing, and what of your vocabulary is appropriate. But that is a bit ahead of time. You are not thinking during the execution. Your hands (and feet) are following the sound in your head. And practicing this until you can do it at a rate that keeps up with the song. And practicing more until more of your vocabulary comes up at the rate of the song.

Had to log in just to thank you for that link! As I was watching I realised that it often is a problem for me when trying to play something I know I can physically execute that my mind is blocking me from doing so.
 
Conceptual application based practice.

Like when practicing BD rhythms as described in the Patterns book. Go through all the possibilities first a s a warm-up and then spend the rest of the time, which will be most of the time when you start to master it, improvising.

You can practice any beat, rudiment, lick, on any instrument that way. That's what I did all my life as a guitar player and it's now, to a large degree, how I practice drums.

Only thing to add is to do this at a comfortable tempo so you can clearly hear, feel and master the neuances of your expression. Also, start out in fre time if it's hard, so you really understand fully every aspect of what you do.
 
That YouTube link is awesome. I will try it tonight when I play drums at church (LOL). Peace and goodwill.
 
Well, that one is easy. Play jazz.

I think it's the other way around, Doc. Hal Galper talks about how in jazz everything goes by too fast for conscious thought, which is why "you don't need to be smart to play jazz".

Kenny Werner talks about this at length is this thought-provoking masterclass: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T4plqoEEwM

But ideally, you want your mind to be as clear as possible and surrender to your natural instincts, letting all the internalised listening, playing and watching make things happen. I think this applies to arranged music too - internalise it and let it pour out in performance.

IMO it's no accident that so many great musicians were crazy hedonist ratbags. Met a number of musos whose heads doesn't interfere with their instincts - great for playing, not always social or practical life.

It's arguably better to develop control so you can switch into playing mode than to live it as a method actor.

That's the theory. I never learned how to consistently get my head out of the way. How I play very much depends on how centred I am.
 
I think it's the other way around, Doc. Hal Galper talks about how in jazz everything goes by too fast for conscious thought, which is why "you don't need to be smart to play jazz".
Firstly, I sort of disagree with the quote specifically. When I jam freeform, I don't do what's in my head at the moment, I do what's in my head few seconds or measures ago. I think ahead so that I'm not behind when it's time to do stuff. I get my ideas for what to do next based on what everyone else has done, is doing, and likely will do.

But ideally, you want your mind to be as clear as possible and surrender to your natural instincts, letting all the internalised listening, playing and watching make things happen. I think this applies to arranged music too - internalise it and let it pour out in performance.
Interesting. As noted above, I certainly can't say that my head is clear when I play, especially when I jam. I'm constantly organizing all the changing shapes and textures of the music into patterns, and sometimes I even try to keep track of several options, or I'll hold onto the feel of a fill that I liked how it fit into the music, waiting for the other guys to set up that same situation again. I kind of set those things aside while I listen for the triggers and leads.

In fact, when I'm playing in front of people, and my mind goes blank, I tend to panic. It means I'm out of ideas or I've gotten bored and I'm not paying full attention anymore.

IMO it's no accident that so many great musicians were crazy hedonist ratbags. Met a number of musos whose heads doesn't interfere with their instincts - great for playing, not always social or practical life.
You may have noticed that my personality is often somewhat forward and frequently abrasive. My friends often joke that I seem to be missing any sense of filter, and will just convey whatever pops into my head.

That's the theory. I never learned how to consistently get my head out of the way. How I play very much depends on how centred I am.
Heads are funny things. Mine really likes to decide that it's going to shut down and refuse to operate when I'm faced with either the "record button of doom" or the "scrutiny-of-my-drum-teacher of doom". Yet, I can be more than comfortable playing live in front of whomever. Go figure.
 
Back
Top