How to Develop Improvisation Skills?

[newbie]

Yes, I would disagree as well, for a couple of reasons…

First, becoming extremely familiar with individual songs is the best way for you to internalize the structures of a musical genre so that you feel comfortable navigating with songs of the same genre that you’ve never heard.

Second, if you’ve been around the tango community long enough you know that the vast majority of songs being played at milongas are old ones that have been playing for years and years and will continue to be played for years. We play to recordings, not live music, and tango is different from some other dances in that most of the music is from the Golden Age and is not constantly being churned out by new artists. Alex Krebs even said in an interview with me that musicality in tango is currently being partly defined by the dancer’s ability to “memorize” a common repertoire of songs.

Memorizing songs does not mean you memorize specific sequences of steps to go to the musical features you have memorized; it actually means the exact opposite. Just like muscle memory allows you to forget about your movements and just let the dance flow, so too does music memory allow you to stop guessing and analyzing the music and just let it come out naturally. So memorizing songs does not take away from the improvisational nature of the dance as long as you have the right mindset, that each dance is different because of your partner and the unique connection you have with them in that particular dance, not to mention your own changing mood and creative interpretation in the moment. If anything, playing to the same songs allows for greater musicality in a particular direction because you can constantly find new ways of expressing the same types of rhythms, taking you deeper into the possibilities that exist. It’s very similar to “set plays” in sports. These are not intended to take spontaneity out of the game but rather to enhance it. It provides a common language to build on in order to create greater communication and connection instead of always starting from scratch.

Looks like you're talking about musicality, not about improvisation.

 

[Mladenac]

Looks like you're talking about musicality, not about improvisation.

Musicality brings improvisation.

1. to have technique so good that he have no restraints in his movements
2. Apply those unrestrained movements in various forms according to the music he dance to

 

[Joy In Motion]

Looks like you're talking about musicality, not about improvisation.

I just reread what I wrote, and I think it could be said about either or both. I believe musicality and improvisation are inseparable, that's how they feel in my dancing and what I enjoy about my favorite dance partners regardless of skill level, and I think that's the goal if not the entire point. Obviously when you're learning you might separate the two to really focus on one thing at a time, but the goal should always be to bring them back together. But really, I would have an extremely difficult time trying to talk about one without including the other. It's an integrated and holistic kind of thing.

 

[dchester]

#1 It's true for everyone, it is called determinism

I don't agree. Are you claiming that determinism is a fact, and not just a theory?

 

[bordertangoman]

I don't agree. Are you claiming that determinism is a fact, and not just a theory?

I knew you were going to say that

improvisation requires technique first; if you want to play on quarter notes you gotta get up to speed in your dancing; or if yu want to lead your follower on a single beat while you dance double time..

exercises could be to explore possible movements; as mentioned above.