AN APPROACH TO MODAL IMPROVISATION PART 2

January 25, 2024  by Stefano Palleni

AN APPROACH TO MODAL IMPROVISATION PART 2

In recent years I delved into an in-depth study of sound’s inner molecules, the intervals. Being the smallest particle of music, an interval is made of two notes which are its atomic components. The interval is the distance between these two notes. The same interval can be found in different scales and keys. The major third C - E is present both in the C and F Ionian modes, but is also found in the F Lydian mode, the A Aeolian, the G Mixolydian mode and many others. Although the same interval is present in varied contexts, what’s different is its relationship with the tonic of the mode, i.e. the one that determines the tonal center.

Therefore we’ll have two distinct tonal entities each one in relation with the other: on the one hand the hierarchy within the interval, with its intrinsic tonic which exerts a gravitational pull on the other, and on the other the position that the interval itself has in the context of the mode, which is different according on the mode’s tonic, as for example in case of the Ionian mode of C or F. Put in this view, the harmonic role and the color of one same interval will be different depending on the tonic of reference.

Just as for a copernican system, notes and intervals rotate like planets around the orbit of a tonic that acts as the gravitational center. George Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept theory finds its justification in that of Hindemith’s Grundtone, where it’s stated that the various degrees and intervals of a mode acquire significance only if placed against a tonic, with which they are in a relationship of progressive tension and release. The reasons for this fact are of an evolutionary nature: the human ear has developed to fit the sounds within a limited spectrum in a hierarchical order, creating a sound grammar that organizes the musical discourse around an established bass tone.

Research of the history of music on behalf of ethnomusicology confirms this idea. My personal experience led me to the same conclusion that music idiomas in different eras can be read according to a natural theory of harmony.

Once the sonic universe is opened up and we have acquired control of its elements, it’s possible to focus on the expressive and onomatopoeic qualities of music. Then other dynamic forces and energies that run through all aspects of life come into play. Pinned at the extremes as the cardinal points of this expressive galaxy, lie the cathartic qualities of theater and archaic rites, the esoteric tantric practices and the ecstatic raptures of the mystics. At an intermediate level, nearer to everyday life we find the whole range of human feelings mirrored by human feelings and relationships. The accomplished artist is capable of harnessing and channeling these forces into music so that it’s endowed with vital force.

This is the key to access ethnic music's non-tempered systems where intervals, unlike as it happens for standard tempered tuning, are adjusted upwards or downwards to emphasize their expressive quality. It’s there we’ll have intervals of exceeding major thirds or nearly diminished second intervals just like it happens for Arabic and Indian music or Javanese scales. The medieval pleia is but an example of how these variations are used to embellish melodies, these are microtonal inflections that singers enact to emphasize emotional aspects of a commonly shared theme at that time.

We can help ourselves with a keyboard practicing and singing enharmonic intervals. An interval of an augmented fifth and a minor sixth are enharmonically equivalent but can take on an entirely opposite expressive function set in a different harmonic context. The augmented fifth delivers tension and is fit for angular harmonies where the minor sixth appears to be languid and melancholic to the ear. Similarly, an interval of an augmented fourth will sound bright and open compared to another of a diminished fifth which instead is bleak and narrow.

According to this principle it is possible to bring out a whole array of colors drawing from the same starting material: by means of the rhythm and timbre, any Lydian mode can convey a cheerful melody, a reflective one or even nostalgic, according to the intention of the composer. The harmonic colors contained within a single chord extended up to the thirteenth, its altered tones along with the intervals in a mode are all similar to seasons for food. If properly applied, they can transport the meaning the composer wants to embed in the music. In this way, the similarity between composition and cooking can render the importance of balance of elements present in a given piece of music.

We can choose to alter some tones of the basic mode by raising or lowering them, producing a series of harmonic tensions to obtain a desired effect after we've learnt to recognize their peculiar taste. Taking for instance a mode of A Eolian, the most commonly used alteration is that of the seventh, which is replaced from the minor to the major seventh: in our case G natural is augmented by a half step up to G sharp. The sixth, F natural in the mode of A Aeolian, can be equally raised by a half step to F sharp, replacing by a matter of fact the former Aeolian mode with a Dorian mode. These are just a few of the most popular variations that the performer has at disposal in his array. He can progressively apply them to the point of completely eroding the mode, so as to arrive at chromatic substitutions in startling contrast with the original material. It’s a matter of personal taste to regulate the degree of harmonic clash; the more advanced the ear the greater the tolerance to notes estranged to the basic harmony.

It is therefore necessary for the composer to have a clear idea of what role each element covers in the idea, not just from a theoretical standpoint, but especially what associated flavor each note holds in his memory and in relationship with the others in the tonal setting. It should come as easy as we remember the flavors of food, the smells and the sensations of a familiar experience. Only this way will it be possible to develop the confidence and mastery we need to refine our own means of expression. Put in a sentence: endowing sounds with poetic significance.

This slow and tiring work is necessary to absorb the character of each single note in respect to the tonic and its parent key and requires years of constant practice to become a conditioned reflex that traces back the evolution of music in human society and culture. The effort, however, is well worth the effort and rewards us with the opportunity to revive in the span of a few years of study the entire experience and wonder experienced by our ancestors in centuries of musical inventions and discovery.

The intervallic  approach described here is the most complete and must come first hand as real experience in an exhaustive way. The support of musical theory must be understood as an aid that in no case can replace direct experience, as it would deprive music of its real meaning. Recalling for example the musical system of the Greeks, it must be kept in mind that although the idea of scales organized by tetrachords is useful, they are a systematization subsequent to the invention of melodies which can exist in themselves even without a theoretical framework.

Ethnomusicologist Curt Sachs has reported that a skilled Indian musician is incapable of playing the notes of a scale in an ordered sequence when dissociated from the parent melody. Scales are theoretical constructs created afterwards to categorize music according to the needs of Western academia models that were foreign to traditional music practice, from which modern music was developed. Early music was made up of idiosyncratic phrases related to specific geographical areas, oftenly bearing their names; these were subsequently processed through countless variations stratified over the centuries, until their character was definitely mutated in the passages of oral transmission, in the trade between peoples and the adaptation to instruments and rhythms different from those of origin.

Here’s an exercise that I practiced daily for about twenty minutes a day: select a mode randomly and try to improvise elementary phrases on a pedal or background track. Randomly draw one of the twelve major keys by means of a dice, in the same way extract one of its seven degrees to determine the pertaining mode. Then, playing a motionless drone or background track, begin to explore the mode as in the alapa (introduction ) of the Indian Raga. This is done by considering the material from different perspectives until complete mastery of the mode is achieved: you can play the two combined tetrachords in the mode or pick the intervals, you can choose among the pentatonic scales within the mode or other musical particles. In my case I decided to practice playing on a Tampura track and using some percussion applications.

There are two major benefits that come from this exercise, if you practice consistently: first you will swiftly develop the ability to produce new ideas and pre-hear the phrases you are going to play correctly with confidence, secondly fluency in all keys will be internalized and the peculiar problems of the instrument resolved. Finally, as you gain facility in all keys, none of these will assume a subordinate role due to technical insecurity. This last point is very important in order to permanently acquire a solid technique that allows us to stay relaxed and eliminate any rigidity that could limit the pleasure of playing music effortlessly. Likewise, it is advisable to establish a routine with a musical quality that does not fall into the mechanical repetition and rumination that might lead to boredom.

A mature and comprehensive approach to musical practice can’t be exempted from the study of the rhythm in which the melody is set. Rhythm always has a direct relationship with spoken language, pronunciation and the dialect of the ethnicity that produces a given musical style. The improviser's work must dive into the details of the rhythms and accents expressed by different styles, not forgetting his own identity. Obviously, having something to say means also it is necessary to nourish the ear continuously with selected listening in line with the chosen objectives. The underlying intent is to progressively reduce the latency between idea and action, which in our case coincides with instrumental technique, if possible to the point of nullifying it, so that the musical gesture becomes a natural reflex like singing or dancing.