A lot of people have asked me to outline the steps in improvising prelude and fugue for the organ in the Baroque style. I'm sure you enjoy playing such compositions on the organ but do you actually know what is the process of improvising them?
So today I thought I'll give you a quick overview of the steps necessary to improvise such piece. I'll take a model from an actual composition - BWV 556 because it's a concise, simple, easy, and extremely listener-friendly piece. So here are the steps for improvising the prelude: 1. Choose a key (major or minor), meter, and a figure (rhythmical and/or melodic). Hint: it could be a triplet figure from BWV 556 or from any other Baroque piece that you love. To make it simple, we will use one figure exclusively throughout the prelude. 2. Play a 4 measure introduction which establishes the home key and finish with the half cadence (end on the Dominant). No pedals. 3. Play a sequence going through closely related keys up or down and finish in the home key with a perfect cadence (about 10 measures). With pedals. 4. Play 3 phrases. Phrase 1: start in the tonic key and end on the Dominant (4 measures). Phrase 2: repeat the same phrase a step higher or lower (if a home key is minor - 4 measures). Phrase 3: start on where you ended Phrase 2 and finish on the relative key (6 measures). No pedals. 5. Start in the tonic key and end on the dominant (6 measures). No pedals. 6. Repeat Step 3 starting on the dominant but end on the relative of the dominant (about 10 measures). With pedals. 7. Repeat the Steps 2 and 3 exactly. This ends the prelude. To connect Step 6 with 7, you can include a short modulation going from the relative of the dominant to the tonic key. The steps for improvising the fugue: 1. Choose a meter and a theme (subject) of 2-3 measures long. 2. Exposition: play the subject in tenor (tonic key) with the left hand. Other voices are silent. 3. Play the answer in alto (dominant key) with the right hand. Tenor plays counter-subject at that time which contrasts with the subject rhythmically and melodically. Tip: do not mix duplets and triplets together into one subject or counter-subject. End in the tonic. 4. Play the subject in the soprano with the right hand (tonic key). Alto and tenor (the left hand) move as little as possible. 5. Play the answer in the bass with pedals (dominant key). One of the three upper voices play in paralel thirds or sixths with the bass. This concludes the exposition (end in the dominant). 6. With soprano silent, play a 2 measure sequence with the material taken from the subject. 7. Counter-exposition: play the answer in the soprano in the dominant key (4 voice texture with pedals). 8. With the pedals silent, play a 2 measure sequence leading to the tonic key. 9. Play the theme in the pedals in the tonic key (4 voice texture). 10. Play 2 measure interlude with the material from the subject in the soprano (4 voices with pedals). 11. Play the answer in the pedals in the dominant key (4 voice texture). 12. Play the answer in the soprano in the dominant key (4 voices with pedals). At the end make a modulation to the tonic and conlude wih a perfect cadence in the home key. BONUS TIPS: 1. Print out these steps and write your pieces on the paper first. 2. Play them on the organ from the notes. 3. Put this verbal outline on the music rack and play from it. 4. Remove the outline and improvise without any help of the paper. To your success in improvisation, Vidas P.S. By the way, in less than 9 hours I'm closing the registration for the free video mini course in mastering BWV 556 in 7 days. If you haven't done so, go here and sign up for free (131 people are already in): http://www.organduo.lt/bwv-556-mini-course.html
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Have you ever wondered what is the procedure in creating variations on the organ in the style of Mozart? This is a very delightful and fun music to play whether you are improvising it or just composing. The style is transparent, light, virtuoso, and it will definitely leave a strong impact on your listeners. When composing or improvising variations in the style of the style of Mozart, follow this structure:
Theme - in two voices (the tune in soprano) Var.1: In two voices (the tune in soprano ornamented in running 16ths) Var. 2: In three voices (the tune in soprano, the bass in 16ths) Var. 3: In three voices (the tune in soprano in 8th note triplets) Var. 4: In three voices (the tune in the soprano, the bass in 8th note triplets arpeggio) Var. 5: In two voices (the tune in the soprano with imitation between the hands in 8th notes) Var. 6: Running 16ths in the bass, chords in the right hand (tune in soprano) Var. 7: Scale passages in the soprano, use the bass which enforces the harmony of the tune. Var. 8: Change of mode: tune in the soprano. Movement in 8th notes, some imitation between the voices. Var. 9: Original mode: three voices, movement in quarter notes with some imitation. Var. 10: 16th note arpeggio figure, tune in soprano alternating with the bass. Var. 11: Free variation which only has the same harmonies as the theme - dotted rhythms, virtuoso running 32ths. Var 12: Change in meter, theme in soprano, running bass in 16th notes. Later both hands are in 16ths. Coda (optional) - you can take a distant key, only a fragment of the theme (one motive) and build entire variation out of it. At the end add a sudden enharmonic modulation to the home key. End your variations with a bang. Follow this procedure when creating your variations on the organ today. After you can play them for yourself, be sure to play it with your friends and family. If it is really successful, you can even record a video of your piece and put it on YouTube. It is essential that you look at the actual pieces by Mozart and see how he has created them. By analyzing how the pieces are put together you can follow his examples in your compositions or improvisations and in doing so Mozart's musical language will become your own. Before improvising such pieces it is best that you compose at least 10 similar ones on paper. Don't forget the benefit of memorizing your model variations of Mozart and transposing it into different keys. By the way, do you want to learn to improvise in the style of Bach? If so, I suggest you check out my 9 day mini course in Keyboard Prelude Improvisation. Or if you want to learn my special powerful techniques which help me to master any piece of organ music up to 10 times faster? If so, download my video Organ Practice Guide. The BACH theme fascinates many organists and composers. Just the notion of being able to create a musical composition on the name by the greatest composer can be a great motivator. Although the term „Fantasia“ might refer to many different types of pieces, one of the most common one is a contrapuntal fugal fantasia with imitative counterpoint. In order to compose a fantasia on the BACH theme, you can follow these steps:
1. Place theme in the soprano (Tonic key) 2. Theme in the alto (Dominant key) 3. Theme in the tenor (Tonic) 4. Theme in the bass (Dominant) 5. Interlude 6. Theme in the soprano (Dominant) 7. Theme in the alto (Tonic) 8. Theme in the tenor (Dominant) 9. Theme in the bass (Tonic) 10. Interlude 11. Theme in the soprano in augmentation (Relative key) 12. Theme in the alto in augmentation (Relative of the Dominant) 13. Theme in the tenor in augmentation (Relative) 14. Theme in the bass in augmentation (Relative of the Dominant) 15. Interlude 16. Theme in the soprano in double augmentation (Subdominant key) 17. Theme in the alto in double augmentation (Tonic) 18. Theme in the tenor in double augmentation (Subdominant) 19. Theme in the bass in double augmentation (Tonic) 20. Interlude 21. Theme in the soprano in diminution (Relative of the Subdominant) 22. Theme in the alto in diminution (Relative) 23. Theme in the tenor in diminution (Relative of the Subdominant) 24. Theme in the bass in diminution (Relative) 25. Interlude 26. Theme in the soprano in double diminution (Dominant) 27. Theme in the alto in double diminution (Tonic) 28. Theme in the tenor in double diminution (Dominant) 29. Theme in the bass in double diminution (Tonic) Follow these steps if you want to create a fantasia on the BACH theme for the organ. After you have written on paper, play your piece on the instrument and make necessary revisions. If you compose or improvise at least 10 fantasies on different themes in different keys, you will see tremendous improvements in your creative abilities in no time. Some of the best examples of contrapuntal fantasia can be found in the works by Sweelinck, so you may want to analyze his works as well. By the way, do you want to learn to improvise in the style of Bach? If so, I suggest you check out my 9 day mini course in Keyboard Prelude Improvisation. Or if you want to learn my special powerful techniques which help me to master any piece of organ music up to 10 times faster? If so, download my video Organ Practice Guide. How to Compose or Improvise an Introduction and a Coda for a Classical Sonata on the Organ?9/23/2012 If you are composing or improvising a classical sonata on the organ, your piece will be much more interesting and advanced, if you add an introduction in the beginning and a Coda at the end. In this article, I will show you how to do it.
Imagine that you have just composed or learned to improvise an organ sonata. The next step would be to add an introduction. When adding introduction to your composition or improvisation, choose a slow tempo and a contrasting theme and texture, perhaps in chords. The introduction does not have to be long - 1 page (1 minute) is enough. End on the Dominant chord in the main key which prepares for the entrance of the Exposition. By the way, the material from the Introduction can also appear right after Exposition and at the end of Coda. In such case, end the Coda with a bang - perhaps a brief reminiscence of the main theme. This approach will make your sonata truly dramatic. If you want to compose or improvise a Coda in your sonata, you can briefly recall the main themes of your piece (perhaps in a distant key, such as flat II). Then use a sudden Enharmonic modulation to return to the tonic key. In a way, your Coda could be like a second Development section (Beethoven's invention). End your sonata perhaps with the repetition of the closing theme. For the best results, try to look at actual compositions of Beethoven, Mozart and others. If you analyze the works of your favorite composers, you will find many ideas when composing a sonata with or without introduction or a Coda. By the way, one of the most famous examples of sonatas with introduction and a Coda is Sonata No. 8 for piano by Beethoven. Here the composer uses a slow introduction before and after the exposition and even after the Coda. Beethoven's Codas tend to be much longer than by other composers. In Codas he can try to exhaust the thematic material even further than in the Development section. If you do this in your own organ sonata, it will truly be quite dramatic. Try these tips when composing or improvising an introduction or a Coda for your sonata today. At first the process might be a slow one. However, the more you compose or improvise, the better and faster you can become. You just have to remember your goal, take action, persevere and you will succeed. By the way, do you want to learn to improvise in the style of Bach? If so, I suggest you check out my 9 day mini course in Keyboard Prelude Improvisation. Or if you want to learn my special powerful techniques which help me to master any piece of organ music up to 10 times faster? If so, download my video Organ Practice Guide. Are you struggling with composition or improvisation of the organ piece in the classical sonata form? If you know how to do it, it is not as difficult as it may seem at first. Here are the steps you could take in composing or improvising a sonata on the organ.
The sonata form consists of 3 main parts: Exposition, Development, and Recapitulation. I. Exposition (in the major key) 1. Choose a key and create the main theme of the energetic character. This will be the so called "question" (4 measures). Tip: end on the Dominant chord. 2. An answer to the question (4 m). Tip: end on the tonic chord. 3. Repeat the question (4 m). 4. A different conclusion (4 m) in the tonic key. 5. A bridge from the main key to the Dominant. End on the Dominant of the new key (8 m). 6. The secondary theme in a lyrical character in the key of the Dominant (4 m) 7. An answer to the secondary theme (4 m). 8. A contrasting episode (question) (Dominant of the Dominant, 4 m) 9. Answer of the contrasting episode (Dominant of the dominant, 4 m) 10. Repeat of the secondary theme (4 m) 11. A different answer to the secondary theme (4 m) 12. Closing theme of a lively character in the Dominant key (4 m) 13. Answer to this theme (4 m) 14. Repeat of the answer (4 m) 15. Repeat of the second half of the answer (2 m) 16. Repeat the cadence only (1 m) in the Dominant. 17. (Optional) Repeat the Exposition from the very beginning until this place. II. Development Tips for creating a Development section: 1. You can start with the main theme in the minor dominant key or minor Tonic. 2. When developing a theme, choose a fragment of it (1-2 measures) and use sequences, modulations, and imitations. You can also change melodic intervals in the theme, rhythms, harmony, and texture. 3. Structure you development so that 1) you will develop the main theme in the above ways, 2) develop the secondary theme, and 3) prepare for the recapitulation. 4. The preparation is usually done by using a Dominant pedal point - an episode which increases tension. Here the main emphasis is on the Dominant chord which alternates with the 2nd inversion tonic chord and/or diminished 7th chord built on the 7th scale degree of the Dominant. The reason for a rising tension is this - there is no real resolution to the tonic chord. III. Recapitulation 1. Repeat steps 1-5 from the Exposition but instead of modulating in the Bridge, stay in the tonic key. Tip: In order to end this Bridge on the Dominant chord of the tonic key, START the bridge in the Subdominant key. 2. Repeat steps 6-16 from the Exposition transposed to the Tonic key. Variation: you can reverse the order of the main and the secondary themes in the Recapitulation. Use these tips when composing or improvising a classical sonata on the organ. For best results, don't forget to analyze the works of your favorite composers. If you choose an opening minor key, the first modulation of the Exposition is in the relative major key. In such case, the secondary theme and later parts of the Recapitulation can be in a major tonic. By the way, do you want to learn to improvise in the style of Bach? If so, I suggest you check out my 9 day mini course in Keyboard Prelude Improvisation. Or if you want to learn my special powerful techniques which help me to master any piece of organ music up to 10 times faster? If so, download my video Organ Practice Guide. Do you want to know how to learn to improvise preludes in the style of Bach? Basically there are only 9 easy steps in learning to improvise such preludes and if you master one step each day, you are progressing towards this goal one step at a time.
Here are the 9 steps: Step 1: Mastering the Figure. In this step you get familiar with the figure upon which your prelude will be build. The figure is a melodic or rhythmic formula. Usually in a prelude there are only very few figures. In order to fully understand the structure of the figure, you need to memorize it and transpose it to as many keys as you can. Step 2: Opening Cadence. This is the opening formula of the prelude. It establishes the main key and has a tonic pedal point. Usually it also has some excursions to the key of Subdominant. Memorize and transpose it for best results. Step 3: Cadence. Contrary to the opening cadence which introduces the main key for the first time, the cadence brings a musical idea to a close. Cadences can be found at least several times during the course of the prelude. Again, memorize and play it in various keys. Step 4: Descending Sequence. Such sequence is a common device to connect two different keys. In other words, it is used as a way to modulate. Step 5: Ascending Sequence. It is perhaps somewhat less common than the descending version but nevertheless very useful. It creates a rising tension because it ascends upwards. By the way, sequences can also stay in the same key as it started. As with previous step, you need to memorize it and transpose to various keys. Step 6: Closing Cadence. You need some kind of harmonic idea which would suit well for the ending of your prelude. Some closing cadences also have pedal points (both Dominant and Tonic). By the way, if you use Dominant pedal point the listeners will feel a tension rising because there is a constant emphasis on the Dominant note (5th scale degree) without proper resolution. Tonic pedal point, on the other hand, emphasizes the Tonic note (1st scale degree) in the bass and has a feeling of completeness and tranquility. Step 7: Application of the Figure. After mastering Step 6, you are now equipped for every kind of compositional device to improvise the prelude. However, it is very useful first to apply the figure to different harmonic structures. For example, we can take chords from some other existing compositions and play them by using our figure. Step 8: Improvisation of the Chordal Outlines. Contrary to the previous step, where the chords where given, you will now improvise chords for your own prelude. If you mastered all the steps so far, Step 8 is not that difficult at all. Step 9: Putting It All Together: Improvisation of the Prelude. This is the culmination of the entire learning process. You take figure, sequences, and cadences and create (improvise) a prelude based on the previous step. As always, transposing everything to various keys will give you much freedom. If you internalize many different figures, cadences, and sequences, they will become truly your own. This way you will become a master at improvising any prelude you want. I bet this would be a skill you could be really proud of. By the way, do you want to learn to improvise in the style of Bach? If so, I suggest you check out my free 9 day mini course in Keyboard Prelude Improvisation. Or if you want to learn my special powerful techniques which help me to master any piece of organ music up to 10 times faster? If so, download my free Organ Practice Guide. If you want to learn to improvise on the organ, you inevitably have to face certain challenges. Without overcoming them, it will be very difficult to succeed. In this article, I will share with you what is the biggest challenge you should overcome as an improviser.
I believe the thing that many people struggle the most when it comes to improvisation is having to many wishes. Organ music is so wonderful and the repertoire is so vast, spanning almost seven centuries. Therefore, it is only natural that you like certain historical styles, composers, national schools of organ composition, or genres more than others. If you do, then you might wish to learn to improvise like many various composers have done so in the past. In other words, you might want to imitate many different musical styles or genres. While this is a very positive sign in itself, I believe that at the beginning of your process in becoming a good improviser, having too many wishes can actually slow down your progress. I will explain why it is so in a moment. Let's pretend you have a limited time during your day for improvisation practice. Let's say, you have 1 hour. You see, if you have only 60 minutes which you should spend on developing your improvisation skills, you should focus and practice in a way that allows you to progress the fastest. If you love the music of 10 different organ composers and would like to imitate their styles in your improvisations, you only have 6 minutes for each of the composer, style, or genre. What can you achieve as an improviser in 6 minutes? Can you learn many interesting tricks or techniques that way? As a matter of fact, in 6 minutes, you will not be able to master even 1 sequence or a cadence. By "master" I mean that you should be able to memorize it, and transpose it to 24 different keys at least 3 times in a row without mistakes. You will need much more time to do that. It will take at least 30 minutes or even longer, for most people. And remember, that you have 9 other techniques, or tricks to learn and master. There is no way, you can do it in 1 hour. So I hope you see the inherent problem here. In learning organ improvisation, you must learn to focus on the task at hand, finish it, and only then go on to the next task. If you like many different organ composers and genres, it is better to fully focus on only one or two techniques in one practice session. In order to have the fastest progress in improvisation, the next day when you sit down on the organ bench, I recommend, you repeat the previously mastered material very briefly and only then learn something new. Perhaps learning this way, you will learn to improvise only 1 piece or genre in a week or so but you will know that you gave your best focus. Even better, I suggest you choose one genre and work on it for a full month. We will call it "a genre of the month". Then the next month you go on to another technique or genre and practice it for a full month. Use these tips in your practice to have the fastest progress in organ improvisation. This way you will overcome the biggest challenge of having too many wishes when learning to improvise. By the way, do you want to learn to improvise in the style of Bach? If so, I suggest you check out my 9 day mini course in Keyboard Prelude Improvisation. Or if you want to learn my special powerful techniques which help me to master any piece of organ music up to 10 times faster? If so, download my video Organ Practice Guide. This is the third and last article in our Prelude Improvisation Formula series. I hope you have read the first two articles about 9 deadly mistakes new organ improvisers make and a proven and tested system for long term improvisation success. These two instructional articles really set the stage for what I consider the most important article in this series. So in this last article, I would like to give you some down-to earth strategic advice and 5 steps for creating a plan which will lead you to your success in organ improvisation regardless of what kind of musical style or genre you will be improvising. In order to get the most of this article, make sure you read the parts where I share with you some real-life examples of how this system works. It should be especially fascinating to read the original citations from historical authentic treatises about improvisation so make sure you read them all as well. Right now you are probably wondering what those 5 steps are, so I’m giving them to you now: Step 1 – Select the Best Model Piece for Easy Copying. This is the beginning of the system. It’s all about knowing which compositions will be the right for you to copy. Step 2 – Identify the Musical Elements from this Model Fast. Of course, I’m talking about taking notes of various figures, cadences, and sequences you found this piece. And I’m going to show you how to do it very quickly. Step 3 – Internalize the Elements from This Model. Once you know what elements will work for your improvisations, you have to make them your own and so automated that you could re-create them in the middle of the night. Step 4 – Put the Elements Together and Start Creating Your Own Music. This is actually the first step were you will be improvising and I’ll show you some strategies for doing that. Step 5 – Maximize Your Success. In this step, you will learn some advanced techniques which will be necessary for making your improvisations stronger, longer, and more creative. After I’ve showed you what those 5 steps for learning to improvise successfully are, we will discuss each of the steps in detail. And I hope you will be taking notes because this is really practical down-to-earth information. Step 1: Select the Best Model Piece for Easy Copying Let’s go into the first step right now. How do you go about selecting the best model for your improvisations? Well, I want you to think about these questions which will help you to find the right model to use for learning to improvise. Does a model have enough quality musical substance? This is a crucial point. If this composition doesn’t seem like a genuine work of art, it may not worth your attention. You see, life is short and you want to select models which are of the highest quality. The next question is this: can you play the model with precision and clarity? Your model can sound quite sophisticated and be worth of in depth study but if it put too many technical demands on your technique, it will be very difficult for you to improvise successfully a piece based on that model. In other words, if this piece has many jumps, double trills, advanced polyphonic texture, or pedal parts which you can’t really play right now without mistakes, the same mistakes are going to show up in your improvisations. That’s why it is better to choose a piece which is currently within your reach. In fact, it is even better if the piece is easier than you can play at the moment. Last but not least you should ask yourself if you are passionate about it? If you have a wonderful piece which is technically not too challenging but you are not exactly passionate about it, then you will have a hard time imitating it. You will have to choose wisely because remember, you are going to spend a great deal of time studying this piece, analyzing it and improvising your composition based on the material from it. Therefore, your model should be of interest to you. If you found the model piece which you like and it consists of quality musical material and the technical level is within your current abilities, you are ready to go to Step 2. Step 2 – Identify the Musical Elements from this Model Fast Here is how I do it very quickly. Once I have my model in place, I play it through once or twice and circle the places that I especially like with pencil. For example, if I see a nice sounding cadence which I think might serve for my improvisations, I mark this place in the score. The same is with sequences. Somehow descending sequences are more common in music, but ascending sequences create a nice tension and drive. If a piece is constructed using several figures (melodic, rhythmic, or harmonic) I also might make a note of them because they will be very useful in my improvisations later on. If I see an episode where the composer adds imitation between the voices (dialogues), I try to find out how these imitations work. Usually they are based on harmonic structures. What I mean here is that these passages in separate voices which are repeated exactly or in part in some other voice normally have a basis in chords that are used at that moment. Since imitations greatly enhance any polyphonic composition, I recommend taking notes of them as well. A special note on the form of the piece. A form is also one of the 7 important elements which constitute a composition. So when I look at the model, not only do I try to analyze the cadences, figures, or sequences but also I try to find out what is the form of the piece. In other words, here it’s necessary to see how the piece is put together. Repetition of the thematic material helps to identify the form. Even if you don’t know the proper term for such form simply mark letter A for the first theme or episode that is present in the score. Then if you see something new, mark letter B and so on. If the theme is repeated exactly, mark A again, if repetition is with some alteration put A1 etc. Once you go over your model and mark all the thematic material, you will have a very clear picture of how the piece is put together and you can use this plan for your own improvisation. When we talk about identifying various musical elements, compositions in a modern French style deserve a special attention. You see, typically pieces by modern French organ composers, such as Messiaen, Tournemire, Langlais, Dupre, Durufle, Alain and others have a very colorful harmonic language. We call it a modal style. Here the term „mode“ is used because we don‘t normally meet major and minor key systems in such works. Instead, what stands out is the mode – a term sort of similar to tonality or a key, but has a broader meaning as well. A mode can be described as a whole of musical sounds used in a composition or in some part of it. So in other words, if we want to know what notes constitute the mode of this episode, we have to count all the notes in such measure or two. The beautiful thing about the modes is that once you know what kind of modes does your modern piece have (Lydian, Dorian, Mixolydian, Lydian-Myxolydian, or Octatonic, Whole-Tone or many others) you can master them and re-create them in your own improvisations. And that‘s how you will get a modern French style. By the way, you can listen to one of my compositions which is written in the style of Jean Langlais. It is a piece for communion from the Mass for the Second Sunday in Lent. So anyhow, once you have your model in place, look deep into the piece and take notes of various compositional elements that are used to create this piece. Once you do that, you are ready to go to Step 3. Step 3 – Internalize the Elements from This Model. It goes without saying that if you only mark the musical elements that you like in the score or if you just write out all of them on the separate sheet but without mastering them, you are not going to be able to use them in practice. In other words, it’s like reading a text in a foreign language. If you translate the unfamiliar words and write them down in your own notebook, you will also need to remember them. While in the process of learning the language memorization and repetition are the most important techniques which help to internalize the words and expressions in the foreign language, in a musical world, we also have memorization. In addition to memorization, transposition helps to achieve fluency in many different keys. In other words, it is not enough for you to be able to play a cadence or a sequence by hearth in the original key or in C major. In order to reap all the benefits that go with it, you will need to transpose it to many different keys. There are a couple of ways you can approach transposition exercises. First, you can transpose them using a system of circle of fifths. This means that you play the exercise in different keys which are arranged in ascending fifths. In order to return to the original key you have to have a closed circle, so at the point of 5, 6, or 7 sharps you must switch enharmonically to the flat key. For example, going from C major the next key would be G-D-A-E-B-F#=G flat-D flat-A flat-E flat-B flat-F-C. The second option in transposition would be to play the exercises in keys arranged in ascending order of accidentals. For example, after playing in the key with 0 accidentals, play in keys with 1 sharp and flat, 2 sharps and flats, 3 sharps and flats and so on. Continue transposing until you reach 7 sharps and flats. Using the first method the exercises start easy, then get more difficult and gradually return to the easy keys. The second method allows you to transpose by progressing in a step-by-step manner until you reach the most difficult keys. In you master exercises in any of these two ways from memory without mistakes at least 3 times, you will achieve a complete fluency in your chosen musical elements. Incidentally, the power of memorization and transposition was known even in the 16th century when the famous Spanish composer and theoretician Thomas de Santa Maria wrote in his treatise “The Art of Playing the Fantasia”: "The third thing is to note all the kinds of cadences used in the pieces, to understand them completely, and to hold them in memory in order to use similar ones in the [improvised] fantasy. … And observe also what melodic progressions are pleasing in each voice, and commit these thoroughly to memory in order to form various fugal subjects from them, for this is of great benefit toward achieving richness and abundance in the fantasy. …In order for beginners to progress in the fantasy, they must practice repeatedly with the subjects they know, so that through usage art is made a habit, and thereby they will easily play other subjects. It is also a very useful thing to transpose the same subject to all the pitch signs on which it can be formed, but with the warning that wherever it is transposed it must retain the same melodic line. So that all the foregoing may be fruitful and beneficial in the fantasy, one must practice it many times each day with great perseverance, never losing confidence but holding to the certainty that continual work and practice will prevail in all things and make the master, as experience shows us at every step. And therefore a wise man has said that the stone is not carved out by the water drop that falls one time or two, but continuously“. (Taken from Thomas de Sancta Maria, The Art of Playing the Fantasia, Book I , translated by Almonte C. Howell, Jr. and Warren E. Hultberg (Pittsburgh, PA : Latin American Literary Review Press, 1991), 155-56). Notice how Santa Maria stresses the importance of great perseverance and repetition in the process of gaining a true fluency. If we take the analogy of learning a new language, it is so true because the scientists have proved that you have to repeat one word or expression at least 80 times before it is recorded in our long-term memory. That’s exactly what happens if you memorize and transpose the musical elements in all of the keys at least 3 times in a row without mistakes. After you have achieved fluency in your musical elements by memorizing and transposing them in different keys, you are now ready to advance to Step 4. Step 4 – Put the Elements Together and Start Creating Your Own Music. In this step, this is where a true improvisation actually begins. Up until now you only had separate musical elements, mastered them to a complete fluency and now you can mix them in any order you want to create your own music. The way I usually do this step is this: Because I analyzed my model piece and know what kind of figures, cadences, and sequences can be useful in my improvisations, I can also copy the structure or form of this work. By form I mean not only the order the thematic material but also the tonal design. In other words, I can use in my improvised piece the same keys that the composer of my model uses. This way I can be sure that my tonalities are chosen in a logical order because it has been done before by a master composer. Now, perhaps you are thinking: “if I take the musical elements AND a form AND a tonal plan from the same piece, will my improvisation sound original?” That’s a very good question because you don’t want to replicate the compositional material your composer uses just to create a piece which is an exact replica of it. Instead, you want your improvisation to be BASED on this material, be similar to the original piece but also unique. To put it in another way, you want your improvisation to be a new piece and you want your listeners to think: “Oh, this must be some piece by Bach that I’m not familiar with yet” (if you are improvising in the Bach style, of course). In order for your improvisation to really sound unique and original, the best way is not to use the same elements with the same form and tonal plan. Instead, you can take the elements from one piece but the form and tonal plan would be from completely different piece. Or you can just invent your own form and tonal plan. Either way, your improvisation will sound very original but at the same time based on the specific style of this composer. Read how an English author Roger North from the 17th century describes this process of putting all the elements together in improvising a voluntary which was an English form of a prelude (NOTE: the language is original, so don’t be surprised to see many old words here): „It is not to be expected that a master invents all he plays in that manner. No, he doth but play over those passages that are in his memory and habituall to him. But the choice, application, and connexion are his, and so is the measure, either grave, buisy, or precipitate; as also the severall keys to use as he pleaseth…Then for connection, these passages which a voluntiere serves himself of are (by transitions of his owne) so interwoven as to make one style, and appear as a new work of a good composer, of whom the best…useth the methods of a volunteire, and more or less borrows ayre from those who went before him, and such as he hath bin most conversant with. (This is exemplified in the game of chess, of which they say he that hath most gabetts hath the advantage, which gambetts are pre-contrived stratagems, which are put forward as occasion is given by the walk of the adversary. So he that hath most musicall passages drawne off from the musick of others and in most variety to be put together with extempory connection, is the best furnished for voluntary). But as I sayd, the connexion, handling, and setting forth is his owne; for no one man is an absolute inventor of the art, but comonly takes up and adds to the inventions of predecessors“. (Taken from Roger North, Roger North on Music: Being a Selection from his Essays Written During the Years c. 1695-1728, edited by John Wilson (London: Novello and Company Ltd, 1959), 141-142.) Notice how Roger North creates an interesting analogy between improvisation and the game of chess and stresses the importance of having many opening strategies in order to dominate the game. Likewise, an improviser must strive to be fluent in as many different pieces as possible for truly extemporaneous performance. By the way, in the video below you can see how I mixed the various elements in order to create a chorale prelude “O Lord, How Shall I Meet You” which is based on the famous “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” by J.S.Bach. I improvised this chorale during a live recital by using the form, texture, and the tonal design of the model piece with a different thematic material. So now after you have improvised your piece with different musical elements mixed together, you are ready to progress to Step 5. Step 5 – Maximize Your Success. In this step we aim for taking your improvisations to the next level where they no longer will sound like exercises but as true works of art. In other words, at this level you will strive for a mature style, techniques, and application. A famous 19th century composer Carl Czerny gives us a terrific plan of action for achieving a high level in improvisation when he writes on similarities between an orator and improviser: “Just as the orator must be completely accomplished as much with his tongue as with his speech in order never to be at a loss for a word or turn of expression, the performer’s fingers must likewise have the instrument completely in their power and be at the disposal of every difficulty and mechanical skill. Just as the orator must combine extensive reading of a general nature and fundamental knowledge in all branches of his field of scholarship, it is similarly the responsibility of the keyboardist, in addition to studying basic principles of harmony and becoming acquainted with many works of varying degrees of value by the masters of all periods, to have memorized a large assortment of interesting ideas from that literature and also to have at his command the current musical novelties, the favorite themes from operatic melodies, and so on.” (Taken from Karl Czerny, A Systematic Introduction to Improvisation on the Pianoforte, translated and edited by Alice L. Mitchell. New York: Longman Inc., 1983: 42). Notice, how Czerny sees a huge similarity between an improviser and an orator by suggesting that both of them should be fluent in as many different fields of study, genres, and styles. It is only in this manner that a freshness and spontaneity of execution and breadth of ideas can come into play. So I encourage you to go and find as many different works that you like as possible and repeat the previous 4 steps with them so you can become a true master at expressing you musical ideas on the organ. OK, let’s bring it all together. Here is your first challenge: 1. Go ahead and find a model for your improvisations. This is very simple and easy step. 2. Then master your first 10 musical elements. Once you’ve done that, you have a foundation and you can build from there. 3. You can mix those elements together in various ways and create your first improvisations. All right, I hope you got so much value from this article. Moreover, I hope you’re going to take this information and actually go and take action now. That’s what this is all about. You can read and learn as much as you want but if you won’t take action – you’re not going to succeed in organ improvisation. You must remember that information alone does not produce results – a practical application of this information does. Are you an action-taker? I certainly hope you are. Later in the week I will be opening the doors for the Prelude Improvisation Formula, a 16-week coaching program which teaches the art of improvising keyboard preludes in the Bach style, so if you like these series of articles and my free mini course in improvisation, then this is the program for you. Did you find value in this article? If so, leave a comment below. A few days ago I wrote an article about 9 deadly mistakes new organ improvisers make and how to avoid them which is the first instructional article from the 3-part series of articles of how to master prelude improvisation in the style of Bach. This is a must read if you are interested in developing your improvisational skills, so if you haven’t done so, go ahead and read it now. These 3 articles are part of the opening celebration for Prelude Improvisation Formula, a 16-week training program which teaches the art of improvising keyboard preludes in the Bach style. So in this article, I would like to tell you how I personally came up with proven and tested system for long term improvisation success and how I learned improvising preludes in the Bach style. Make sure you read this article all the way to the end not just because I’ll be sharing some awesome information with you here but also because at the end of it, just as a way of saying thanks to you for taking the time to read this article, I’ll give you a free gift which will help you solidify your goals in organ improvisation. But before I tell you about my system of improvisation and how it works, let me share with you some of my personal current interests in the field of improvisation. As I’m writing this, I’m very interested in exploring advanced ideas of French modern improvisation style. I’m studying the works of Messiaen, Tournemire, Langlais, Dupre, Durufle, Alain and some other composers so that I can better understand the techniques that they used in their works. While looking deep into these pieces, I also need to internalize these techniques so that they become my own. This way not only can I improvise pieces in the French style but also it helps me in the compositional process as I compose new organ music on paper. (By the way, you can watch some of my new compositions performed live by me during an organ recital on the largest pipe organ in Lithuania (Vilnius University St. John's church): But before I started learning improvisation, I was just a regular student organist at the Lithuanian Academy of Music in Vilnius. And one day back in the spring of 2000, I noticed a brochure about the upcoming International Organ Academy in Gothenburg, Sweden. I started communicating with the organizers of this Academy and felt a strong desire to go there. In that Academy I met a few brilliant improvisers, most notably William Porter, Edoardo Bellotti and Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, all of whom left a deep impact on me of what could be achieved in this field. As a result of this Academy, I went on to study with Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra at Eastern Michigan University for my second Master’s degree. I was so fortunate that she introduced me to the art of improvisation in the Bach style. She was so passionate about the art of improvisation in historical styles that her teachings were full of inspiration. My studies in this field continued also at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as part of my DMA program, with two legendary Bach experts – Quentin Faulkner and George Ritchie. All of the professors mentioned above contributed greatly to what I was able to achieve today. I was so fascinated with the works of Bach that I wondered if I could study his compositions and incorporate his techniques in my improvisations. When I looked at the works of Bach and decided that I want to assimilate his style so that I could create something of my own which would be similar to his compositions, at first it was very overwhelming. What I saw initially in Bach’s pieces was an incredible amount of creative variety in his compositions. In other words, because of his creative genius he had composed so much of musical material, I just saw it impossible to start learning from it. This was my initial struggle in learning to improvise – the incredible wealth of musical material and the necessity to limit it for the instructional purposes in creating a system. But I had to start somewhere. As I’m looking back now at all these years of trial and error, all these experiments that I had done with myself in search for a perfect system, I understand that it takes a very specific mindset to learning improvisation without which it would be very difficult to succeed. It takes a mentality of not giving up when you don’t feel the results. You just have to stick to your plan and not let yourself be distracted when a new technique, a new style, or a better system is on the horizon. We call it “a shiny object syndrome”. You have to persevere with your efforts if you want to achieve something. You have to try not to make any excuses and just do the steps which have to be done. But you know what is truly inspirational in all this quest? It’s knowing that so many people have achieved this fluency in improvisation. An that’s not a myth. It’s a reality. We have so many great examples of living organists who are experts improvisers and we had even more famous composers in the past (Handel, Bach, Chopin, Liszt, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Franck, Dupre to name just a few) who were equally renowned for their improvisations. To know that somebody has taken the same steps as yourself in the past is truly an inspiration and motivation to never give up. So anyway, determined that there was a way to de-construct Bach's pieces so that I could re-discover his creative process, I started to look for some systematic collection that would suit my purpose. And that's when I came across this wonderful collection of keyboard pieces called Notebook for Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (in German - Clavierbüchlein für W.F.Bach). This collection was put together by Johann Sebastian Bach with the intent to teach his 9-year old son not only the principles of keyboard playing but also the basics of composition and improvisation. In this collection, we can find not only preludes, but also early versions of many preludes from the Well-Tempered Clavier along with the 15 2-part inventions, 3-part sinfonias and some other pieces. However, Bach called the inventions as Praeambules and sinfonias as Fantasias. At any rate, when I looked at these pieces, especially the preludes, a number of things became apparent to me. 1. In any given piece there are only a few melodic, rhythmic or harmonic ideas (I call them figures) that dominate the piece. By the way, if you have completed the free 9 day Keyboard Prelude Improvisation Mini Course, you learned to improvise a prelude based on just one figure. 2. Additionally, there are several significant places in each composition where the musical idea comes to an end. We call them cadences. Some cadences are particularly fit for the beginning of the piece, some - for the middle of it, and some are best used to end the composition. 3. Finally, most of the time one of the main compositional procedures that Bach uses to connect different musical ideas is a sequence. Basically, this is an ascending or descending group of notes or chords moving in the predetermined manner that either stays in the same key or modulates to another key. When I came to understand this, I also needed a way to systematize all the musical material that I wanted to learn which would allow me to internalize those creative processes. In other words, those figures, cadences, and sequences had to become my own. Speaking in musical terms, there are 2 techniques which can help you to assimilate the musical material: memorization, and transposition. So I selected all of the preludes as models for my improvisations out of this Notebook for Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and made notes of the various figures, sequences, and cadences from this collection. In order not to become confused with the great number of musical elements, I labeled them and numbered them in the specific order. Then I committed every figure, cadence, and sequence I could find in this collection to memory. It took many repetitions of each musical detail but it the first step. In addition, I transposed them to all of the 24 keys (from memory) which gradually helped me to master them completely. In other words, they had become my own. And then something wonderful happened. Because I internalized these musical elements, it is now possible for me to re-arrange them and use in completely different order. I can mix them together and can recollect any given one at any moment and improvise the preludes in any key which greatly enhances the music. These improvisations no longer sound like the exact Bach compositions but rather like pieces in the Bach style. Does is make sense? It's exactly in agreement with what many renowned authors and composers from the previous eras had wrote that although the elements are taken from the actual works, the ordering, arrangement, and application is the choice of the improviser. And that's when a true fantasia or prelude is born. When you have this moment of a true fluency of musical expression, it feels really great. It feels like you are on the right path toward your success in the art of improvisation. But the journey doesn’t end here. There is always so much new to learn and so much new to discover, and if you master one genre, you can always go search for another. If you learn how to improvise a prelude, you can start improvising chorale prelude. If you are thoroughly familiar with a style of one composer, you can always start imitating some other style. Actually, the more styles can you improvise in, the more unique your own improvisational and compositional style will become. If I hadn’t created a reliable system of learning improvisation, I certainly would not have achieved all these things in this art. I would have probably just stuck in trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t. I would have stuck in learning to improvise my third prelude, that’s for sure. But more than likely, I would have given up practicing improvisation altogether. And if there is just one tip, I could give to people who want to learn improvisation on the organ, I would say “get help”. Find an experienced teacher or a mentor you can trust and follow his or her advice. This will save you time, energy, and money because it will eliminate the trial and error in this process. That’s exactly what happened to me in the past. There were times when I was pursuing some technique or idea which led to nowhere and I was set back for several months or more. Occasionally I still do these mistakes nowadays but the results are inconsequential. Of course, there will be always some things that you have to experiment with and decide if they will suit you. Things, like whether you should use this sequence or that, whether you should choose this cadence or that, but at least the advice that your instructor will give you will cut out all the unimportant parts of your learning process and give you the things that work and that you need the most. And if you ever feel stuck, you can always ask your teacher to help you out. So you see how this process leads to a great fluency of expression of melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic ideas. I hope this information was valuable to you and that this article helped to clarify the question of how this system works. As I promised in the beginning of this article, here is my gift to you which will help you solidify your goals in organ improvisation. I call it Improvisation Goal Setting Form and I suggest you download this form, save it on your computer, print it out, fill out the necessary fields and keep it in a place where you normally practice improvisation. By filling out the fields in this form, you will start thinking of what do you want to achieve as an improviser. This form will also give you a clear path, a vision and help you to stay on track with your goals for the beginning, intermediate, and advanced stages in improvisation. Here is the form which you can download now: ![]()
In the third article, I’ll show you a practical step-by-step plan for getting started with your improvisations. Be on the look out for this article in a few days and the course opening for a limited time later this week.
Did you find value in this article? Share your thoughts in a comment section below.
Many organists who fall in love with Bach’s organ music at some point may have heard about his extraordinary skills in improvisation, stories how he improvised a complex six-part fugue in front of Frederic the Great, King of Prussia or elaborate chorale fantasia which lasted almost half an hour for Jan Adam Reincken, the organist of St. Catherine church in Hamburg.
Upon remembering such accounts, I used to think that it was impossible to achieve such mastery for regular organists. However, my opinion started to change when I first heard organists like William Porter and Edoardo Belotti improvise at Gothenburg International Organ Academy (Sweden) back in 2000. These were the people who thought that everything that was composed theoretically could be improvised as well. They were especially interested in reconstructing the improvisation techniques of the 17th century. At the same Gothenburg International Organ Academy, I met Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra who taught improvisation in the style of Johann Sebastian Bach. Her deepest passion was to discover and reconstruct Bach’s improvisation pedagogy. Her discoveries were supposed to be published in the form of a book in 2001. I had a privilege of studying improvisation and organ performance under P.Ruiter-Feenstra at Eastern Michigan University for my Master’s degree. However, we had to wait for the appearance of her book about ten years. This book, „Bach and the Art of Improvisation“, (Ann Arbor, MI: CHI Press, 2011) “represents a lifetime of experience and experimentation, teaching and researching, performing and improvising”, as Joel Speerstra writes in the Foreword of this book. In this article, I will give a short review Volume One of the book „Bach and the Art of Improvisation“ by Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra (please note that Volume Two is forthcoming). Volume I is devoted to Chorale-based improvisation and consists of 7 chapters – Chapter 1: “Improvisation as Extemporaneous Composition”, Chapter 2: “Tenacity, Touch, and Fingering”, Chapter 3: “Thoroughbass and Cadences”, Chapter 4: “Chorales and Harmonization”, Chapter 5: “Counterpoint and Chorale Partitas”, Chapter 6: “Bach as Teenager: the Neumeister Collection”, and Chapter 7: “Bach at Forty-Something: Dance Suites”. Volume II will focus on improvisation of Free works and Continuo. The approach that P.Ruiter-Feenstra uses in her book is rather unique among other books on improvisation. It is not only a textbook with exercises but much more than that. The students who will be studying this book will acquire a comprehensive knowledge about various 18th century performance practice aspects, such as articulation, fingering, and pedaling etc. In Chapter 1: “Improvisation as Extemporaneous Composition”, P.Ruiter-Feenstra sets the stage for the entire book and presents what we know about Bach and learning, contexts and definition of 18th century improvisation. In addition, she writes about improvisation pedagogy of Bach’s time in this chapter. Remarkable is her approach to existing compositions, as models for improvisation and her method of improvisation pedagogy what she calls the cycle of Construction-Deconstruction-Reconstruction. In Chapter 2: “Tenacity, Touch, and Fingering”, the author introduces Bach’s mindset towards the process of learning and invention. In addition, she informs the reader about the basics of early keyboard technique, articulation, fingering, and pedaling and gives numerous exercises. She also writes about the importance of the clavichord technique for any keyboard instrument of the day: spinet, harpsichord, regal, positive, and organ. Here P.Ruiter-Fenstra gives an account of the experiment with two groups of students when teaching improvisation. Group A was taught early fingering first before commencing improvisation studies. On the other hand, Group B practiced improvisation right from the start and skipped the fingering section. The results were surprising: at first students of Group B were better than students from the other group on improvisation, but within 10 days Group A was improvising with more confidence, fluency, and sophistication that Group B. This experiment clearly shows the need to combine the studies of historical performance practice with practical improvisation. In fact, the author believes, that applying early fingering principles helps the students to achieve the fluency in improvisation. In Chapter 3: “Thoroughbass and Cadences”, P.Ruiter-Feentra introduces the principles of Bach’s thoroughbass playing as described in his “Precepts and Principles for Playing the Thoroughbass or Accompanying in Four Parts” and other sources. From this point onwards, the author’s improvisation pedagogy is based on the principles of thoroughbass. This chapter presents us also the concept of cadences with numerous examples and their applications on most popular chorales of the day. In Chapter 4: “Chorales and Harmonization”, the author shows what kind of system Bach used to harmonize the chorales. For example, instead of using the term “modulation” for excursions into different keys, P.Ruiter-Feenstra introduces the term “Mode shift” which she believes was an original procedure that Bach’s contemporaries, like Johann Gottfried Walther and Niedt used. The modulation in the Baroque period meant a completely different idea – “the manner in which a singer or instrumentalist brings out a melody”, as the author states. This is a major difference between our traditional understanding of harmony and 18th century composition and improvisation pedagogy. Based on this system, there are numerous chorales given to practice and harmonize. It is important to point out that this chapter also deals with the concept of affect, and different harmonizations of the same chorale tune according to the meaning of text. By the way, the Doctrine of Affect in the Baroque period was a theory stating that different modes, melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic ideas or figures could evoke different feelings or moods. In Chapter 5: “Counterpoint and Chorale Partitas”, the author discusses the role of counterpoint in creating chorale partitas as presented by Johann Joseph Fux. However, she admits that Bach’s system and the one that Fux used was not without differences. Nevertheless, Bach new and owned counterpoint treatise by Fux and his method of Species Counterpoint is still valid for improvising chorale partitas. In addition, the author also looks at Bach’s Two-Part Inventions from the counterpoint perspective and they serve as models for improvised inventions. Another feature which I find especially valuable is the overview and a catalogue of rhetorical figures. These melodic, rhythmic, harmonic, formal, and affective figures all have their precise names in Latin or other languages. Especially practical are tables of the two four-note and three note figures with specific names for each one. Upon memorizing and mastering these figures an improviser will acquire a great tool that he or she can use not only for chorale partitas but for improvisation of other forms as well. Chapter 6: “Bach as Teenager: the Neumeister Collection” deals with Bach’s early compositional style and gives models and techniques from this collection to improvise chorale preludes in the same manner. At the end of this chapter, the author discusses the principal stylistic features and principles of Bach’s later, and compositionally and technically more advanced chorale preludes. Such compositions are presented in the Orgelbuchlein, Schubler, and Clavierubung III collections. They too, serve here as models for improvisation. In Chapter 7: “Bach at Forty-Something: Dance Suites”, P.Ruiter-Feenstra discusses the main types of dances that were part of the traditional dance suite. She even gives an example of the French drawing of the choreography with a dance melody. When we think about dance suites we usually have free works in mind. However, the author, citing examples and models from contemporary sources introduces the idea that dances could be improvised even on a chorale melody. Therefore, she gives precise directions and steps to improvise the main dances of the period: allemande, courante, sarabande, minuet, and gigue. The models for these dances are taken from Bach’s English and French suites, and works by Buxtehude, Bohm, Duben, and Niedt. In conclusion, I believe the book “Bach and the Art of Improvisation” is indispensable for every serious student of historically-based improvisation. Not only organists, but also pianists, harpsichordists, and other keyboardists will have the benefit in studying the principles given in this book. After studying such comprehensive information, techniques, and exercises in Volume One, the true fans of improvisation will eagerly wait for the appearance of Volume Two which will focus on improvisation of interludes and cadenzas, preludes, fantasias, continuo playing, concerto improvisation, thoroughbass fughettes, and finally, improvisation of fugues. By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music. |
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