Introducing Students to Improvisation

A good way to introduce students to improvisation is to create an environment where no one is singled out,
and nobody can possibly fail in their attempts to improvise.
Begin by telling students "play back what I play to you." Put on a background accompaniment (see the
section on music technology). Use a single D chord, or a D-G progression. Have them play back these
patterns to you:

Depending on the tempo and style of the background, the eighth notes can be played either straight or in a
swing style.
DO NOT pass out a sheet of music with these patterns. DO NOT write the letters or anything down on the
chalkboard. This must be done COMPLETELY by ear.
Add one new pitch at a time, so the patterns you play increase gradually in difficulty:

then:

The students now know 12 one-bar patterns. Spend some time playing them, mixing up the order. When you
feel like they know the patterns well, try this suggestion:
"We've learned 12 one-bar patterns. Let's try a call and response. When I play a pattern to you, play back a
different pattern. It can be any pattern we've learned, as long as it is different from the one I play to you."
Don't single out students at this time. Let them all play back together so they feel free to get comfortable with
this activity without any pressure to perform.
Change your background accompaniment to the key of A, and teach them all the same patterns on the A
string. Start with "play back what I play to you," and then try "play back a different pattern."
Change your background accompaniment to a 4-bar progression: 2 bars of D, 2 bars of A. When the
accompaniment is on D, do a call and response on the D string.When the accompaniment is on A, do a call
and response on the A string.
Extending to longer patterns
It is easy to make a transition to 2-bar call and response patterns. Making the transition from 2-bar to 4-bar
call and response patterns is more challenging.

When students feel comfortable with the 1- and 2-bar pattern call and response, pair them up with a partner
and let them try "trading 2s" or "trading 4s." All of the students are doing this at the same time, so there still
isn't any performance pressure. Some students will be more successful than others at this activity, so pick a
pair that is doing really well to model for the class - or pick one excellent student for you to use as a partner.
Pentatonic Blues
A great way to introduce string players to improvisation is to teach them a minor pentatonic scale - D-F-G-AC-D. It is really easy for students to play this scale on all the instruments. This scale can be used to
improvise over a 12-bar blues progression:

The patterns above can be played either with a swing feel or straight feel, depending on the rhythmic
backbround selected. Step 2 is to play patterns like the ones suggested above on the A string with the 12bar blues background in D. Step 3 is to combine the patterns on the D string with the patterns on the A string
over the 12-bar blues background in D. Step 4 is to ask the students to play back a different pattern then the
one you play to them. Step 5 is to pair up the students with a partner and ask them to "trade 1s." Step 6 is to
extend the patterns to 2-bar patterns and repeat the whole process.
As this process unfolds, ask students to create their own 1 bar "riffs" using the pitches from the D minor
pentatonic scale.
As you play patterns to the students, vary the dynamics, tonal color, articulations, bowings, add glissandi
(slides), and make subtle changes to the rhythm of the patterns if you repeat them. This will help students to
think of improvising as being about more than just pitch and rhythm, and encourage them to think about all
the elements of music.

Fiddling

A great way to introduce students to the improvisational aspects of folk fiddling is to take a very simple tune
and do a variety of bowing variations. A commonly used tune is "Bile 'em cabbage down" (Boil them
cabbage down, or Cabbages). The tune can be quickly taught by ear to beginning level students:

Step 1: Teach the tune. Teach it in 1-bar patterns ("play back what I play to you"), then teach it in 2-bar
patterns, and then play the whole song.
Step 2: Teach the class the chord roots by playing the rhythm of the melody with the chord roots (e.g., D-DD-D-G--G--, etc). The chord roots (and 5ths) can be played entirely on open strings.
Note: In the final bar, beat 1, the harmony should be D major, but it works as written above (if only the A is
played as harmony it implies a 2nd inversion D major triad), and it keeps the chord progression a little
simpler for teaching to beginners.

Fiddling
Step 3:Show them how to play root and 5th as double stops for an accompaniment.

Step 4: Show them how to play the accompaniment using a shuffle rhythmic figure.
Step 5: Teach everybody how to play a bass line (pizzicato). Then ask the basses to keep playing the bass
line as you introduce the next variations. As basses get comfortable they can add a slap in between each
note or elaborate the line. You can teach all the variations to the double basses but be prepared for lots of
rumbling sounds if they play the double stops.

Step 6: Play the melody, but add a "drone A" as a double stop. Then try the melody with the drone in a
shuffle rhythm. The shuffle rhythm should be played with the accents on the off beats(& of 1, & of 2, etc).
Step 7: Ask the violins to try the melody on their A string.
Step 8: Create your own variations to teach the class.
Step 9: Play through the tune 3 or 4 times. Let each student choose which variations they would like to play.
Each time, everyone needs to play a different variation.
Step 10: Add a "kicker" at the beginning and a "tag" at the end.