Eurhythmics: Improvisation and Accompaniment of Movement - Heilke Bruns

Musical improvisation

‘Listen to each other... listen carefully... play, develop the music from the moment’.

In my ‘musical improvisation’ class, students are given various materials that encourage improvisation. In the film, they play with four-note chords and are asked to change one note at a time. They listen to the resulting chords and playfully develop new sounds. They can change the tempo, articulation and pitch. They are right in the middle of the improvisation process and learn to develop their own sound ideas. What sounds are being created? What do I hear?

Sometimes the focus is on listening to the notes being played, sometimes on listening inwardly to the sounds they are hearing. According to Herbert Wiedemann, the right hemisphere of the brain is responsible for the sense of sound. ‘While the left brain thinks in words, the right brain thinks directly in sensory images.’ (Wiedemann 1985, p. 21)

Ear-hand coordination

In traditional music education, the focus is usually on ‘eye-hand’ coordination. Musicians play what they see, what is written in the notes. Improvisation is about ‘ear-hand’ coordination. Musicians establish a close connection between playing and hearing, as well as a connection between inner hearing and playing.

Movement accompaniment

Here, the focus is on the interplay between music and movement. Students go directly from movement to the piano and improvise based on their experience of movement. They play while walking, running and swinging, and learn to accompany a wide variety of movements musically with the appropriate tempo, dynamics and mood. Or they use their music to inspire free movement. Playing to movement is very supportive for improvisation, as the musicians have a connection to the space.

Song accompaniment

In song accompaniment, they learn to accompany songs in a variety of ways and to play in different styles (such as tango, waltz, march, in different time signatures). Interludes between verses should be musically arranged. What associations do I have with the lyrics, what sounds fit them? How can a song be accompanied musically? Playing inside the grand piano offers many tonal facets for this.

My working method

It is important to me to give students a physical and playful approach to the piano. To develop good body awareness and a precise touch, I use the Body-Mind Centering® method. With various exercises for body awareness, students find an upright posture, can relax their shoulders better and let their breathing flow freely.

www.heilke-bruns.de

Body-Mind Centering®

Body-Mind Centering® (BMC) is a body awareness method developed by movement researcher Bonnie B. Cohen.

With the help of anatomical images, touch and movement, the body is explored and experienced in a very subtle and multi-layered way. This enables individuals to perceive their inner spaces more accurately and fill them with more breath and vitality. BMC has many applications: physiotherapy, bodywork/body therapy, dance, sport, acting, singing.

Podcast: ‘Touch – Encounters with the Skin’

https://soundcloud.com/user-731051173/beruhren-begegnungen-mit-der-haut-1?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Video: ‘Touch – A Reapproach’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP-iywQLoSM

Video: ‘Happy musicians’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck9gzYb9lxU

Practising and making music: ‘Perceive, breathe, immerse yourself’

https://uebenundmusizieren.de/artikel/wahrnehmen-atmen-eintauchen/