This is one of those videos I'm only sharing here, because it feels safer than the big Facebook world: because there are parts that are out of tune. There are parts that sound gross to me, unpolished and untidy. But I also want to share it here because there are some parts that are really beautiful, really interesting, and really relevant to learning to improvise on flute. Perhaps I feel about my singing voice the same way many of you feel about your flute playing: I've gotten good enough to receive plenty of compliments, but I still feel insecure about my abilities. I'm disinclined to share this video with its imperfections on the larger platforms, but I wanted to give you a little peek into the practice room (or practice park in this case!) when rehearsing with a friend. We wrote this song together. It only had a simple chorus: "Throw rocks at the wall. Make the barriers small/fall. Open your hearts... and share some art!" But if you listen to this recording, you'll notice I improvised with my words later on, making some new ones - like the title of this post! One of the things that I like about flute is that you don't have to worry about the words!!! But I think it's good to improvise on instruments we're not experts at. Me here on my voice, Sonny there on the tongue drum. It forces us to focus on the elements of music: like rhythm, articulation, dynamics, and style. I was impressed that Sonny was able to make a varied drum solo and accompaniments, even though he'd only played this instrument once or twice before! It was fun to listen to him learning how to do it. With my voice I used many of the same techniques I use to improvise on flute: Varying the range! (high or low?) Vary the volume! (loud or soft?) Varying: melody or harmony? Leaving time to rest! (Let the music breathe!) What elements of music do you notice us improvising with? What elements about this practice session do you recognize from your own?

How does playing music compare to driving?

If you are a perfectionist set on 100% perfection then you are doomed to big failure in improvisation! The path TO excellent improvisation is THROUGH many tiny mistakes. Thousands of them! My friend Pat said he became excellent in improvising in Spanish only after he set a goal to make 30 mistakes a day. What do you think would happen to your improv improvement if you started making at minimum 30 mistakes a day?

I went to a different park today. There were guys working and a guy who was getting ready to kayak. He said he enjoyed my flute playing. Which was encouraging. You can hear a lawn mower, wind and birds as background noise:) I was trying to make a short melody and add to it. I liked the melody. What I would have done different would be more space and dynamics. I felt a bit more nervous this time, I think it was because it was a new spot. Exposure therapy in action!!

https://youtu.be/5pd79MiZAvs?is=008y5Q2ja4gkGuC2