I wanted to investigate how motivic development could be a tool to incorporate thematic material from the composition into my improvisation. I was searching for a way to connect and stay close to the composed material that I liked in the composition. It involved analyzing the melody and look for motives. I looked for techniques that is being used when a motive is being developed by the composer.
The first thing I was practicing was using motives from the melody when I improvised. I learned a melody to a standard and applied the different motivic development techniques to motives from the melody. It is as a way of using the melody as a point of departure when you improvise.
I was interested in using motives as gestures and think of their melodic shape to try to open my approach to what a motive could be. Pitch contour plays a definite role in melody writing. The effect of a smooth line within a narrow range tends to be relaxing, whereas a rough or jagged line that covers a wide range tends to be more intense7. When I studied in Compehagen for one of the semesters I had lessons with the Danish jazz pianist and composer Simon Toldam. He told me he used motives of a song as cells I can improvise around. I experimented with it and saw it as a reconstruction of the composition. The written composition is containing phrases and motives that are cells which is the starting point of the improvisation. The improvisation has these melodic motives as the only structure to follow. The pulse is still consistent and present, but the duration of time spent inside one cell is stretched by the improvisers. This allows them to stay on one motive, develop it and then move through the cells when they want. To move forward to another cell there are musical ques led by the improvisers that indicates that someone now moves the next cell. To hear when someone is moving into another cell the gestures, curvature or characteristics of the different motives must be clear. For example, if the motive of the first cell contains three notes one half step from each other (B, C and Db) and are an enclosure with C as the target note. The next cells motive might contain six notes that are an arpeggio played from the lowest note to the top note. Then the improvisers can hear when one is starting to play the next motive.
These are examples of different ways to look at how motivic development creates a path with direction. There is a difference in how comprehensive these examples are in terms of form. Going from a smaller to a larger perspective. The form of the development of the motives is a zoomed-out way to apply these techniques. The form that’s created while developing motives could be seen in a couple of different ways.
It could be thought of as 1, 2 and 3. The 1 is the original motive and the 2 is a close variation such as a repetition with a rhythmic variation. The 3 in the chain of development may contain an element of surprise to break the expectation for the listener. It could be some kind of development of the original motive but also an introduction of something new. You could of course ad more steps to the process.
You could also use the idea of a call and response having two motives developing at the same time. Then one is the answer to the other, but they are developing simultaneously. You can also use the sections of the song to develop different motives. In that case having one motivic idea in the two first A parts of the song and when going into the B part introducing a new motivic idea.
I performed a solo concert at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. I played a piece that was based on the standard Emily which I called Fragments of Emily. I chose four motives that I could choose from to develop two different sections for the song. The first part, including an introduction, is based on the first motive which I see as the main motive of the standard Emily. The concept idea for that first part was to use different techniques to develop the motive while improvising the harmony simultaneously. The second part followed the original composition and modulated to A major from C. I used Inversions and retrogrades to improvise a polyphonic part where the fourth motive were being developed. Then I return to my first part before the piece ends. To think of how to develop these motives gives me a structure to improvise within.
The rhythm designs were introduced to me by the Danish drummer and composer Peter Bruun from Copenhagen. He had made a project inspired by polyrhythms, church bells and by the swedish guitarist Mulle Holmqvists reference rhythm method. Holmqvists method is a tool for playing polyrhythms using similar reference rhythms. Bruun took these ideas into playing pulses simultaneously that resolves after a longer period. These Rhythm designs allowed you to play two polyrhythmic pulses at the same time by switching the subdivision between eight note triplets and sixteenth notes in each quarter or half note from eight note triplets to sixteenth notes.
That gave me a lot of inspiration to try to dig deeper into rhythm and write my own rhythmic designs. I tried writing different compositions to explore rhythmic imitation, rhythmic expansion and contraction. I investigated how motives that rhythmically stays the same, was affected by changing the rhythm and pulse in the music around them. I wanted to see what it did to the gravity points of the motives. With different subdivisions I tried to make two pulses being played at the same time and moving between them. Within that I work with both rhythmic expansion and contraction. It happened by itself because of the two pulses that was sounding at the same time.
Creating a rhythmic design that fits in one measure makes it something I can use when improvising. Just like rhythmic imitation I have written a rhythmic pattern that works as the structure for improvisation. It has the function of a clave but is longer. I can rhythmizes with it or against it and do variations on it.
Taste of Spring With a Smell of Dogshit (Full version)
Playing with 1, 2, 3 in mind. 1. Original motive 2. Fragment 3. Rhytmic retrograde of original motive.
In Motion (Full version)
The Taste of Spring With a Smell of Dogshit - rhythmic design based on 6:7. Live from Alice in Copenhagen. (Spring semester 2023).
