SESSION 7: Improvising in Context

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 7: Improvising in Context

Whether you are backing up a singer, soloing with a guitar player, or trading roles within a full band, a large part of what makes improvising so dynamic and fun is that it is usually in response to others. In this session Alisa shows you how to listen and respond to what’s around you as you improvise fills, backup, and a solo on a bluegrass song “Carolina Mountain Home” with guest artist Tristan Scroggins. Tristan and Alisa also demonstrate how to pass ideas back and forth on the fiddle tune “Liberty.”

Here are some links to recordings of “Carolina Mountain Home” and “Liberty”:

“Carolina Mountain Home” Ricky Skaggs

“Carolina Mountain Home” Ralph Stanley

“Liberty” Mark Howard

“Liberty” Naughton, Cabe, and Ritchie

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

“Carolina Mountain Home” Notation (Available to subscribers)

"Liberty" Notation (Available to subscribers)

Session 7: Backup and Practice Ideas (Available to subscribers)

“Carolina Mountain Home” Notation in D (Available to subscribers)

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← SESSION 6: Repeat, Repeat (Motives and Structure)