Instant Songwriting: Musical Improv from Dunce to Diva Part 4 (Diva Level)
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About this ebook
This is the fourth and final part in the "Instant Songwriting" series - the ultimate how-to guide for musical improvisers and an excellent resource for songwriters. With over two decades of musical improv experience, Nancy Howland Walker guides you with clear, logical and fun step-by-step exercises, from the very basics of putting a song together, to highly advanced song techniques.
Whether you are new to the art form or experienced, your songs are improvised or written, or you do this for fun or profit, Instant Songwriting helps you take your song skills to the next level. Musical tracks are included for each exercise – to accompany you as you practice and master each step along the way.
Part 4 gives techniques for your songs to be personal and unique, and teaches you to become a Diva amongst musical improvisers!
Now go and become the Songwriting Diva you were meant to be!
Nancy Howland Walker
Nancy Howland Walker is a full time SAG/AFTRA actor, writer, teacher and trainer who has been performing, teaching, directing, and producing improv since 1989. In Boston, she was the Artistic Director of TheatreSports and ImprovBoston (New England's longest running comedy troupe). In Chicago, she is the Executive Director of Chicago Improv Associates, which offers improv-based entertainment and corporate training.Nancy’s specialty is musical improv. She has sung short-form musical improv games with ImprovBoston, the International Improvisational Theater League, TheatreSports, Just For Laughs, and the Disney Cruise Line. Nancy has also sung in long-form improvised musicals with ImprovBoston and the Free Associates (Divamatic, an improvised cabaret), and in 1998, Nancy created, produced, directed and performed in the critically acclaimed show MUSICAL! the musical, the country’s first two-act completely improvised modern Broadway style musical, which opened in 1998 at Chicago’s Royal George Theatre, and has had runs in Boston, Nashville and various theaters across the country.Nancy has developed one-day, weekend, and full eight-week musical improv curricula for improv schools, troupes and festivals, and has taught the subject to packed classes all over the world.
Read more from Nancy Howland Walker
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Instant Songwriting - Nancy Howland Walker
"Instant Songwriting is a colossal banana split of everything you’ll ever need to know about the subject; decadently generous, delightful, satisfying and sweet as can be. I learned a lot from this book, and Nancy Howland Walker kept me laughing all the way. Standing ovation!"
- MICHAEL POLLOCK, Musical Director, The Second City LA
People snuck into Nancy's full to the brim Song Improv class because word of mouth about them was so great! I sat in on one of the classes (as producer of the Fest) and was impressed by Nancy's teaching style, her great personality and knowledge of the subject.
- SUSAN SANTANIELLO, Producer, Funny Women Fest
Instant Songwriting
Musical Improv from Dunce to Diva
by
Nancy Howland Walker
PART 4
Musical Improv 401
(Diva Level)
Published by Satyagraha Publishing
Smashwords Edition
copyright 2012 Nancy Howland Walker
This ebook is licensed for your personal education and enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my wonderful husband Marshall Sweetie
Stern. We wouldn’t have met and become friends if not for musical improv. In the summer of 1999, Marshall had won a scholarship to study at Players Workshop of the Second City. A friend of his dragged him kicking and screaming to my weekend musical improv class. It should be understood that Marshall was a professional songwriter in Nashville at the time, and he HATED musical improv. But lo and behold, he LOVED the class - besides being fun and having a very intelligent and sexy teacher, it freed him up from over-thinking songs. His improv songs got immensely better, and he got unblocked for his written songs. We now teach musical improv together, among other improv classes (check out our Zenprov podcast on iTunes or at www.cia.libsyn.com!) We live each day with laughter on our lips and songs in our hearts!
Acknowledgements
When you are a first-time author (and writing on a budget!), you rely on wonderful, wonderful friends and co-workers and even strangers to help you through the process. First and foremost, I want to thank my Editor Katie Flohr O’Sullivan for spending so much time and expertise with me. Jerry Schulman, for legal help (hey - when you’re quoting songs, you have to be careful!), Mike Brown for additional publishing legal advice, cover artist Dick Hannus with Hannus Design who kept me from making any design faux pas, and Mary Olivieri for some copy writing help. My thanks to Charna Halpern, who agreed to write the foreword without a moment’s hesitation, even though she is the busiest woman in improv! Also huge thanks to all my contributing musicians. Their tracks make this book a practical course so readers can gain actual experience, rather than just theoretical knowledge. Special shout-out to Michael Pollock for going the extra mile and reading the entire book to give me a fabulous quote for my back cover. And finally a tip of the hat to Marshall Stern who helped me get my website and audio tracks working. Big love and thanks to you all!
Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Part 4 - Musical Improv 401 (Diva level)
Chapter 11 – Stephen Sondheim
Chapter 12 - Melody Rhythm and Cadence 401
Chapter 13 - Pleasing Sounding Lyrics 401
Chapter 14 - Figurative Language Lyrics 401
Chapter 15 – Harmony 401
Chapter 16 - Group Singing and Long-Form Improvised Musicals
Afterword
About the Author
Connect to the Author
Contributing Musicians Biographies
Appendix
A - List of Exercises
B - List of Musical Tracks
C - List of Games
D - Topics
E - Song Titles
F - Song Styles
Foreword
By Charna Halpern
I am a lover of improvised musical theater and am constantly impressed when a performer can create a song on the spot that is as good - nay better - than songs that are written. I have an amazing musical troupe at iO, my Chicago theater and one in LA at iOWEST. So often a student will ask me how to get good enough to get on one of these performance troupes and I really don’t have much of a way to help them - short of taking a series of our music classes. But even that can be scary. Then, I found a way to help. I read Nancy’s book in the privacy of my own home. I found myself following the exercises and trying them - right there in my living room. I was having a blast. This book breaks it down and helps a student start from the very beginning. I will now recommend it to all my improv students as well as Musical Directors who can use her exercises in their classes. Nancy Howland Walker makes you want to sing.
- CHARNA HALPERN, Artistic Director, IO
Introduction
I love music. I love to sing. I love improv. And so, I LOVE musical improv!
I’ve learned a lot from performing, teaching, producing and directing musical improv for two decades. This book is the result.
This is a book for improvisers to add an important tool to their improv repertoire. It’s a book for songwriters to get out of their heads and past their blocks. To learn, practice and gain the numerous skills involved in (instant) songwriting. And I hope this book can help people reconnect with their joyous, singing child within.
Part 4 (Musical Improv 401 – Diva Level) teaches highly advanced skills that will make you an excellent musical improviser. You will truly be a spontaneous musical DIVA once you master these skills!
But even if you have lots of experience, I highly suggest that you start with Parts 1, 2 and 3 (Musical Improv 101, 201 and 301), which have great exercises and lay the foundation for learning better and more while avoiding common musical improv problems and mistakes. The earlier parts of this book has some very wise advice and suggestions that even the most advanced musical improviser can benefit from.
That being said…have fun!!!
~~~~
Instant Songwriting
Part 4
Musical Improv 401
(Diva Level!!!)
Before we begin, I want to remind you that the skills we’ll be working on in this section are quite advanced, and important if you desire to create the best songs possible (whether written or improvised.)
However.
If you are an improviser, please practice these skills and get comfortable with them before trying to perform them. Just as athletes practice certain skills over and over until muscle memory takes over, so they aren’t consciously thinking about the mechanics of swinging a bat or throwing/catching