SESSION 2: Pitch

from: Improvising for Fiddlers and Violinists with Alisa Rose

This lesson is part of the course Improvising for Fiddlers and Violinists with Alisa Rose.

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About This Course

Learn to improvise and connect to your own creative impulses through musical games, simple exercises, and fiddle tunes. You’ll explore improvisation fundamentals of rhythm and pitch, learn how to create and vary melodies, use small building blocks or motifs to build a solo, practice scales and arpeggios, and much more.

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SESSION 3: Groove Loops

In this video, Alisa uses the concepts she introduced in Part 1 to improvise on ’Ida Red’ and ‘Cacklin’ Hen.’”

Links to recordings of:

“Ida Red”

“Cacklin’ Hen”

Also see the Apple Music playlist on the main Improvising for Fiddlers and Violinists page.

Try a sample lesson

The Improvising for Fiddlers and Violinists Subscription Includes:

Eight sessions that lay out Alisa’s approach to thinking about and practicing improvising
Advice and exercises that will help you develop a stronger connection to your own creative ideas, including how to come up with more ideas rhythmically and melodically, how to practice over specific chords, and how to create variations on melodies
Arpeggio, scale, and rhythm exercises that will help you create more options as an improviser
High-quality video recordings of each session so you can review what you've learned and revisit them after the workshop has concluded
Notation and tablature for each session

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SESSION 2: Pitch

SESSION 2: Q&A

SESSION 2: Pitch

In this session, Alisa focuses on another essential element of music—pitch. She says, “Without the pressure of playing in time, we’ll feel how notes relate to a drone (or held pitch) and each other. We’ll explore how different notes have varying amounts of dissonance/consonance or tension/release and how to use that to shape a melodic idea. Using the magical circle of fifths, we’ll play in every key. Then we’ll apply these concepts to “Ida Red,” “Coleman’s March,” and the first part of “Cheyenne.”

Links to recordings of:

“Ida Red”

“Coleman’s March”

“Cheyenne”

Also see the Apple Music playlist on the main Improvising for Fiddlers and Violinists page for more recordings.

“Ida Red,” “Mississippi Sawyer,” and “Stay a Little Longer” Notation (Available to subscribers)

“Coleman’s March” and “Cheyenne” Notation (Available to subscribers)

A Major Drone MP3 (Available to subscribers)

Pulsed D Drone MP3 (Available to subscribers)

Pulsed A Drone MP3 (Available to subscribers)

Pitch Improv Exercises (Available to subscribers)

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