AMasterLessononRyoNoda's

IMPROVISATIONI
byStevenMauk

ThenameRyoNodashouldbequitefamiliartomostcollegelevelandprofessionalsaxophonists.
Manyofhiscompositionsforsaxophone,especiallytheunaccompaniedones,havebecome
contemporaryclassicsintheinstrument'srepertoire.Ofthese,probablynoneismorepopular
thanhisIMPROVISATIONI.

NodawasborninAmagasaki,JapanonOctoberI7,I948.HestudiedsaxophonefromI96872at
theOsakaCollegeofMusicwiththefamousJapanesepedagogue,ArataSakaguchi.Nodacontinued
hisstudiesintheUSwithFredHemkeatNorthwesternUniversityandinFrancewithJeanMarie
LondeixattheBordeauxConservatory.Nodaisparticularlywellknownforhisperformanceof
avantgardeworksforsaxophone,manyofwhicharehisowncompositions.

IMPROVISATIONI,writteninTorontoinI972,wasNoda'sfirstcompositionforsaxophone.Itis
specifiedforunaccompaniedaltosaxophoneandwasuniqueatthetime,duetoitscombinationof
EasternandWesternmusicalstyles.Thework,publishedinI974byLeduc,isapproximatelyfour
minutesindurationandisdedicatedtoJeanMarieLondeix.

Style
Thefirstaspecttoconsiderinthispieceisthatofstyle.Thoseplayerswhohavegrownupwith
EuropeanharmoniesandtonalitiesmayhavedifficultiesinterpretingtheJapaneseaspectsofthe
piece.Topreparemystudents,IassignthemrecordingsofJapanesemusic,specificallypiecesthat
usetheshakuhachi(anendblownbambooflutewithfivefingerholes).Thisallowsthemto
becomeimmersedinthesoundofJapanesemusic,sothattheycanbetterrepresentthisstyle
whenplayingthepiece.Gotothiswebsitetohearexamplesofshakuhachifluteplaying
(http://www.shakuhachi.com/TOCAudioLinks.html).

Next,Ihavethemdosomebasicanalysisofthework,bothforscalematerialandform.They
quicklyrealizethatthemuchofthepieceisbasedaroundthefivenotepentatonicscaleofABC
EF.Thisscale,alongwithitsneighbortones,isclearlyseenasthebasisfortheintroduction,the
VivoandPiuvivo,andtheclosingTempoIsections.TheformislooselyanABA,withafewbridge
sectionsinbetween.(Iusethedoubleslasheswithfermatiassectionbreaks,whichhelpme
delineatetheform.)Thelackofmeterandbarlines,however,evokesanimprovisatoryfeeling,as
iftheplayerismerelycreatingaworkaroundthisscalarmaterial.

Notallofthemusicisorientalinstyle.Thetrillsattheendoflinetwo,thefirsthalfoflinefive,and
theopeningfigureinlinesixallsoundlikeWesterninfluencedclassicalmusic.Thesemaybe
playedusingstandardvibrato,tone,andmusicalshaping.

Pacing
Theinterpretationofthesuggestedtempo,rhythmicvalues,andnotatedrestsandfermatiplaya
majorroleindeterminingthepaceofthispiece.NodamarksLentetsoutenuatthebeginning,
whichmeans"slowlyandsustained."Heindicatesthataneighthnoteshouldbeperformedatthe
metronomemarkingof80.ThisdoesnotmeanthattheIMPROVISATIONshouldbepulsatedor
playedmetronomically.Nodaonlygivessomegeneralguidelinestohelptheperformerestablisha
pace.

Onegoodwaytopracticethisistosetthemetronomeat80andcountoutthebeatsfromthe
beginningtothefirstfermata.Dothisseveraltimes,soyougetasenseofhowmuchphysicaltime
isusedtoperformthispassage.Then,withoutcounting,playorsingthepassagetofillthat
approximateamountoftime,beingsuretokeeprhythmsgenerallyinproportion.Bydoingthis,
thepieceavoidsapulse,butstilloccupiestheappropriateamountoftime.

Oneparticularpacingproblemoccursinthemiddleoflinetwo,duringthebracketedadlib.
section.Moststudentswilljustplaythesenotesinaratherfast,rhythmicmanner.Ithinkthat,just
likeajazzadlib.passage,thiscadenzashouldbeplayedinthestyleoftheprecedingmusic.Add
somedynamics,rests,variablevibrato,gracenotes,andcuttingtones,justaswasusedinthefirst
twolines.ThismakesthecadenzamoreinterestingandcontinuestheJapanesestyle.

Theaccelerandoattheendoflinetwoisquiteimportant.ItisusedtosetupthefollowingVivoand
Piuvivopassages.Thetrillsshouldalwaysberapidwiththetimebetweennotesbeingreduced,as
indicatedbythediminishingrhythmicvalues.

ProbablythebiggestmistakemostperformersmakeisinplayingtheVivoandPiuvivopassages
toofast.RememberthatVivoonlymeans"lively;itdoesnotmeanplayasfastasyoucan.I
suggestthatsaxophonistspracticeitbyeliminatingthegracenotesandjustplayingthemelody.
Shapethismelody,addingbothsomeaccelerandosanddecelerandos,tomakeitmoreinteresting.
Oncethephraseshapehasbeenestablished,thegracenotescanbereinserted.Noda'smarkingof
nonmesur(notmeasured)confirmsthisideaofmetricflexibility.

ThePiuvivoshouldonlybeabitfaster.NoticethatNodamarksthispassagewithsixteenthnotes
followedbysixteenthrests.Togethertheystilladduptoeighthnotevalues,asintheVivo,only
nowthenotesareabruptlyclipped.Donotbefooledintothinkingthispassageistwiceasfast.
SavetherealspeedfortheendofthePiuvivo,wheretheaccelerandoismarked,oritwilljust
soundsloppy.

Theinterpretationofthefrequentfermaticanalsoeffectthepacingofthepiece.Noticethat
fermatiareusedoveravarietyofsixteenthrests,eighthrests,wholeanddottedwholenotes,as
wellassingleanddoubleslashes.Besureyougivethesefermatidifferentvalues,sothatallthe
pausesdonotbecomethesame.

Fingerings
AnelementthatgreatlyaffectsthestylisticperformanceofIMPROVISATIONIistheuseofaltered
fingerings.Iusethemthroughoutthepiecetocreateamorehollow,flutelikequality,similarto
theshakuhachimentionedpreviously.Thefollowingexamplesmaybeofhelp,butkeepinmind
thateachbrandandmodelofsaxophonewillrequireslightlydifferentfingerings.

TheinitialD#isplayedwiththepalmEflatandEkeysonly,whilethemiddleEisplayedbyjust
addingthehighF#tothispreviouscombination.ThesamefingeringsareusedontheD#Ejust
beforethefirstfermata,aswellasthosethroughouttherestoflineone.Thesamealtered
fingeringsareusedattheendoflinefiveandattheTempoIoflinesix.

Thereareseveralotherspotswherealteredoralternatefingeringssimplifythepiece.Themiddle
oflinetwohasaBtoA#,whichisbestperformedwitha14fingering(thefirstfingersofeach
hand).ThiscanthenbefollowedbyanalternateF#,whichresolvessmoothlytotheFnatural.At
theendoflinetwo,theBCtrillshouldbeplayedwiththeSideC,whiletheDBtremoloworks
wellwithaBpluspalmEnaturalkey.

ThemiddleC#gracenotesattheVivoworkbestwitha"covered"C#fingering.Beginbyfingering
themiddleEandjustliftthefirstandsecondfingersofthelefthandtoproducetheC#.Whenthe
noteschangetoanForD,useadifferent"base"intherighthandtocorrespond.(Bytheway,I
thinkthereisamistakeinthemusicneartheendofline3.IthinktheG#inthesecondgroup
shouldbeprecededbyahighC#,notamiddleC#.)

Inthefifthline,thehighCF#leapworkswellusingthefrontFfingeringplusthehighF#key.This
meansyouhavetorollthefirstfingerabittogetdowntotheB,butitdoeseliminatehavingto
coordinateallofthepalmkeysatonceontheupwardleap.Thesamefingeringcanbeusedforthe
highF#nearthebeginningoflinesix.Othercreativeusesoffingeringsarementionedunderthe
sectionofSpecialEffects.

SpecialEffects
Thereareavarietyofspecialeffectsusedinthiswork,includingvariablevibrato,portamento,
quartertones,pitchbending,fluttertonguing,timbretrills,andcuttingtones.Whilethecharton
thelastpageofthemusicdescribestheseterms,itdoesnotindicatehowtheyaretobeperformed.
Abriefdiscussionofthesetechniquesmaybeofhelp.

VibratoplaysamajorrollinIMPROVISATIONI.Thepiecebeginswithstraighttoneandgradually
developsintoavibrato.Theundulationsfollowtheshapeofthewavylinedrawnbelowthestaff.
(Becarefulthatonlythevibratochanges,notthedynamic.)AvoidtakingNoda'svibratodiagrams
tooliterally,however,orthevibratocanbecometoowide.Thiswillcreateacomicalratherthan
mysteriouseffect.ToretaintheJapanesestyle,itisbesttoavoidvibratoexceptwhereindicated.
Theexceptionsmightbethebeginningsoflinefiveandsix,whichbenefitfromamoretraditional
approach.Ievenuseatimbrevibratoatthebeginningofthelastnoteofthepiece.Ilowerand
raisethefirsttwofingersoftherighthandtobendthepitchupanddown,andgraduallychangeto
ajawvibratoastheamplitudedecreases.Theeffectismoreuniqueandeffectivethanwhenusing
justajawvibrato.

Portamentomeansabendingorslidingbetweennotes.Thisiseasytodowiththevoice,trombone,
orstringinstrument,butdifficultonthesaxophone.Thefirstpitchbendoccursinlineone,where
theupperAisbentI/4toneflat,backuptonormalandthenI/4tonesharp.Ilowerthejaw,open
theoralcavity,andslowlyaddthefirstfingeroftherighthandtobringthepitchdown.Toraiseit,
Ibringthejawupwhilegraduallyaddingthesecondandthirdfingersoftherighthand,eventually
endingupI/4tonesharp.(Otherfingeringsmayworkbestonyourinstrument.)Practicewillbe
requiredtomakethisbendseamless,withoutanyabruptshifts.Thissamefigureisusedattheend
ofthepiece.
3


Theotherportamentiareindicatedwithbowshapedmarkings.Theintentistobendfromone
notetothenext,againasseamlesslyandsmoothlyaspossible.Linetwocontainsaportamento
fromlowEtomiddleD.IfingerthelowEandgraduallyraisethefingersoffirsttheright,thenthe
lefthand,whileslowlyaddingtheSideCandpalmEflatkeystoproducetheDnatural.In
addition,IquicklydropthejawassoonasIbegintoopenkeysandthenslowlybringitupto
producethebend.Likethefirstportamento,thiswillneedmuchpracticetocoordinatethejaw
andfingersandtoworkoutallofthebumps.

Iusethesameapproachandpalmkeyfingeringsfortheportamentopassageattheendofline
five.ThebendfrommiddleAtoBisdonebyslowlyopeningtheSideBflat,thenliftingthesecond
fingerandmanipulatingthejawasbefore.TheportamentofromBtoEisdonesimilarlyandI
againusethepalmEflat,EandF#keystofingerthemiddleE.Bendingthejawdownwardand
slowlyreleasingthepalmEandF#keyswillmakeasmoothportamentotothefinalDattheend
oftheline.

Oneofthemostconfusingsectionsofthepieceisthecoloredindecrescendomarkingonthelast
noteofthefirstline.Thechartindicatesthatthisnoteshould"GrowhazytoneorFlatter,"which
meansverylittle.Abovethenoteistheabbreviationflatterz.,whichlikelystandsforflatterzunge,
theGermanwordforfluttertongue.ThismakesmoresenseandiswhatIuse.Forthosewho
cannotfluttertongue,theadlib.givestheplayertheoptiontoeliminatethiseffectandmerely
decrescendo.

Thetimbretrills,usedattheendoflinefour,areeasiertounderstand.ThehighC#isplayed,
followedbyrandomandrapidfingermotionusingthefingeringssuggestedinthechart.Thespeed
ofthetimbrechangesareindicatedbyadiagrammadeupoftinyXs:firstveryactive,gradually
slowingdown,brieflyspeedingupagain,andfinallyslowingtoresolveintothehighCnaturalat
thebeginningoflinefive.Rememberthatthedecrescendoisseparatefromthefingermotion,sodo
notgetlouderwhenyouspeedupthefingers.

ThemostuniquelyJapaneseofthespecialeffectsarethecuttingtones.Theseareshort,accented,
andabruptreleasesoftone.Iuseatonguereleasetostopthereed,makingtheeffectmore
dramatic.Thereshouldbe,however,noheavytongueslap,justasuddencuttingoffofthetone.
ListeningtoJapanesemusicthatemploysthistechniquewillhelpplayersunderstandhowthey
aretobeperformed.

Onelasteffectcanbequitestunningifperformedcorrectly.ThehighD#trillsinlinefouraretobe
playedwithanaccelerando,crescendoandprogressivelyheavieraccents.Toamplifythiseffect,I
addaquickpitchbendtoeachnote(almostlikeonequickvibrato),whichgetscontinuouslywider
andwilder.Theeffectismorelikeahumanscreamorhowlthanasaxophonetrillandis
reminiscentofJapanesevocaltechniques.Thisisnotindicatedinthechart,butisaveryeffective
personalinterpretationofthisfigure.

RyoNoda'sIMPROVISATIONIisanexcellentcontemporarypieceforunaccompaniedsaxophone
andonethatcreatesawonderfulmoodforthelistener.Mostadvancedstudentswithtimeand
patiencecanmasterthetechniques.Ihopethatthesesuggestionswillmakethiscreativepiece
easiertointerpretandperform.