Harmony on the violin - internalising harmony for violinists and the role of (tonal) improvisation

Liesbeth Ackermans

Abstract Harmony on the violin – exploring ways to enhance harmonic awareness by improvisation. How can playing with basic elements of classical music help us to enter the music we perform ‘from within’, to enjoy the creative moment in connection with the repertoire we know so well and love so much, to ‘co-compose’… How can (tonal) improvisation be an aid to learn about harmony in a way that experience comes first, using, in this research, the violin as our voice? In this research my aim has been to create a toolbox of games/exercises that can be used working in the above mentioned way. At the same time the exploratory journey of the research proved to be a transformative experience with regard to my own relationship with the music I play, love and teach. In this paper those two threads – the development of educational material and the testing out of it on the one hand and my personal development as a violinist and musician on the other hand - are constantly intertwined. The one cannot do without the other. This paper is a report of all activities that added to the above mentioned two processes. The report will guide you through the origins of the research, the rich input of colleagues, masters and books on the subject, a report of the practising, imagining, exploring hours spent by myself in my garden house, information on the enjoyable sessions when trying out the material with students. At the centre of the paper you will find the games and exercises themselves – the content of the toolbox, called ‘Invitations’. A closer look at certain aspects of the research is found in Chapter 5 – Behind the scene. The paper will finish with a set of recommendations and conclusions and – above all – future plans. I do hope you will enjoy this research – a research into methods that can be used to let the playing from musical intuition and the building of harmonic consciousness meet. In doing so, enjoying the richness, benefits and pleasure that musical improvisation has to offer in music education.

Dutch violinist Liesbeth Ackermans studied with Coosje Wijzenbeek, Wiktor Liberman, Keiko Wataya and David Takeno. She graduated from the Utrecht Conservatoire (The Netherlands) and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. During her studies, she has been a member of the European Community Youth Orchestra.

Liesbeth has been a violinist in the London Symphony Orchestra for almost four years, in which capacity she worked together with leading musicians and conductors. She has been performing with the LSO on concert tours throughout Europe, USA, Japan and the Middle-East. Liesbeth has been performing extensively with European chamber orchestras, among others the European Union Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Academica Salzburg, and the Salzburg Chamber Soloists.

In The Netherlands, she has performed as a freelance violinist with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Radio Chamber Philharmonie and she was a violinist in Combattimento Consort Amsterdam.

Liesbeth is a regular chamber music player.

Already during her studies, she has had a lively interest and fascination for teaching. From 2002 until 2007, she has been member of the faculty of the Prins Claus Conservatoire in Groningen, teaching violin and violin methodology. Since 2008, she is a violin teacher at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. Since 2009, she is also teaching violin at the Academie Muzikaal Talent in Utrecht. Liesbeth has been a guest teacher at the Music Academy in Sarajevo and she has been faculty member of the Peter the Great Festival in Groningen for several years.

Since September 2015 Liesbeth is conducting a practise-based master research at the Royal Conservatoire, exploring ways to enhance harmonic awareness by (tonal) improvisation on the violin.

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