Hi everyone! This month’s topic is once again a super-requested one that has many performers shake in fear and gasp for air very often. Yes, we are finally talking about improvisation and ad-libs. I really wanted to dedicate this topic a full post as it really haunts many of you at night and… it really should not. In total honesty, it used to make me feel extremely uneasy too when I first started singing because I did not enjoy the feeling of not knowing what I was supposed to do; but that’s the whole point! So I’m here today to break it down for you a bit and feed you some awesome videos to hopefully inspire you to see this as a new tool/skill rather than a major anxiety trigger.
Let’s start from the very beginning and say what ‘improv’ means: ‘improv’ is a term that is very often used in Pop music (very very veeeery rarely in classical music as it is actually seen somewhat as a ‘disgrace’ to the piece) and it means to improvise. Whether you’re performing following a music sheet or a song, you know what your queues and parts are so you rehearse them and prepare them for your performances, right? That’s totally correct. But every performance is different, and sometimes things happen and for a myriad of reasons… live performances don’t always turn out the way you rehearsed them (e.g. someone might play a different chord, an extra bar, a double section, etc.). So what do you do in those moments? You gotta improvise! And this goes for all musicians, not just for singers. To be a successful improv musician you really need to know your stuff and instrument inside out, and I guess this is where most people start having confidence issues and eventually… fear. I absolutely get it, as I said earlier, I used to be there. However training and practicing is really all you have to do, as silly as it may sound. It is just a matter of knowing that you can rely on your instrument and skills. In order to train for this, there are obviously specific exercises that require you to improv all the time (blues and jazz chord progressions usually are the best to get into), but what you can also do is keep pushing yourself out of your comfort zone because learning how to deal with uncomfortable feelings is how you can overcome the ‘stress’ of improvisation. I know a lot of you are already working hard on their improv skills, but if you are reading this and are still feeling unsure about it, definitely get in touch with me via email and we can sort it out!
Finally, another popular question is: “what does ad-lib mean?” The term ad-lib come from the latin words ‘ad libitum’ which literally mean ‘to your freedom of choice/liking’. If you see these words on a music sheet or someone tells you to ad-lib, they essentially still want you to improvise but there’s usually more encouragement to create something completely new in doing so (e.g. coming up with a new riff/lick, create some new lyrics, new groove, etc). Again, it takes a higher level of skills to successfully ad-lib, but it’s still all about that practice 🙂
There are mainly two types of improv: the planned/semi-planned and the totally unplanned.
The planned/semi-planned, as the name suggests, means that you know in advance that you are going to have a specific section in your set or song where you (and/or someone else) will be improvising for a specific number of bars. It is completely up to performers to then rehearse beforehand and prepare some ideas or go completely with the flow on the big day.
The second case, totally unplanned, is when things go down rather quickly and unexpectedly. Yes, essentially when s*** hits the fan! This is a moment that 99,9% performers have experienced one way or another and it’s bound to happen to anyone, but that’s the beauty of live music! For this case there isn’t anything you can do to prepare for it, however it is vital that you do not panic, keep your cool, try to assess the issue/s and… make something up in the meantime.
I am leaving a couple of YouTube links below if you are curious to see what these two different cases look like in reality (and with big names dealing with them!). I sincerely hope this post was of some sort of help to all you especially the ones struggling with the fear/block because of it. Best of luck guys!
CLICK HERE FOR LALAH HATHAWAY DEALING WITH PLANNED IMPROV
CLICK HERE FOR PATTY LABELLE DEALING WITH TOTALLY UNPLANNED IMPROV (ABSOLUTELY FUNNY TO WATCH TOO!)