Posted on June 10, 2008 by Eric Steiner in - Creative Expression/Improvisation
Like the Rhythm Machine Game, this game is designed to get kids comfortable with making things up on their instruments as an introduction to improvisation. It also helps students learn to cue and communicate with each other.
Students sit in a circle. There is no real ball in this game, but the goal is to pass the musical idea around using eye contact and physical cues. The student who “starts with the ball” plays some sort of pizzicato figure and then “passes the ball” by looking at someone else in the circle who will play something else pizzicato. The second student should continue the line without pause. If there is a break in the music that is considered to be “dropping the ball.” The ball continues to be passed randomly around the circle, at greater and greater speed. The students must really be watching and paying attention to ensure that they will “see the ball coming.”
The students could pluck any combination of notes in any rhythm. For students with no improvisation experience, suggest that they just play a two note glissando pizz to “receive and pass the ball,” or if they feel comfortable with improvising, they can “dribble the ball” a bit before passing (i.e. play something longer).
The musical line does not need to have any tonal continuity, though as students gain more experience the teacher could add a harmonic structure by providing an accompaniment on the piano, and ask the students to substitute short melodies for the pizzicato glissandi. (The teacher could use any existing piano accompaniments that don’t modulate, such as many of the Suzuki book 1 accompaniments.)