With improvisation, there are no wrong notes

Gerre Hancock, one of the masters of the art, says this regularly in workshops. There may be notes that you did not intend, but they are not for that reason “wrong.”

Today's postlude was a good example. It was based on the hymn we sing only when January 1 falls on Sunday: “Now greet the swiftly changing year” (250 in the Hymnal 1982), a jaunty six-eight tune. I planned to do several variations, progressing through the keys D, G, C, and back to D, with an introduction and coda based on our closing song, Shirley Erena Murray's “Star-Child.” But at one point while I was in G, instead of going “sol-do” (D to G) as the tune did, I played “sol-te” (D to F natural). While that could have taken me to C major, which was my next goal, it needed confirmation as a new idea – I think that I have heard Gerre say this, as well: “If you play something unexpected, do it again. That makes people think you intended it.”

These “unexpected” notes certainly feel like mistakes, but the listeners do not know that. They often lead into the most interesting parts of an improvisation, and that was the case this morning. It led me away from the tune for a bit, playing with the “new” motif. It also led to the improvisation being a bit too long for its purpose, but I think that it maintained a degree of musical logic.

Another spot that was “unexpected” came when I reduced stops on the Great, and kept reducing until none remained, and there was no sound. I continued playing with one hand (making no sound) until I pulled a stop back on. If someone was watching closely, they might have wondered about that. But upon reflection, it probably just sounded like a measure of rest, which the piece probably needed at that point.

This is all quite wonderfully liberating.