In this eight-session workshop, you’ll 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 as well as learn how to create and vary melodies, use small building blocks or motifs to build a solo, practice scales and arpeggios, and much more. These exercises can be useful for a musician of any level as they work on fundamental skills of listening deeply, understanding structure and form, and relating to pulse and pitch with awareness. 

Alisa’s approach to improvising and practicing improvising was developed from years as a professional musician in a variety of musical contexts, including improvising on fiddle tunes with Scroggins and Rose, improvising for contemporary silent film scores with the Clubfoot Orchestra, improvising with the Real Vocal String Quartet, and as an Improvisation Ensemble instructor at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Alisa’s workshop is designed for intermediate-to-advanced violinists and fiddlers but would be worthwhile for players of other instruments as well.

Alisa has this to say about her workshop: 

“My path into improvisation was primarily through playful exploring and following my ears. In this workshop we’ll play games that explore isolated fundamental aspects of improvising. I encourage you to approach these exercises, or as I call them games, with a sense of play. Please know you can do no wrong. Play all the weird notes or sounds you want to—it’s part of figuring out what you want to play and freeing yourself from the eternally judging internal critic we musicians tend to have inside at all times. It can be overwhelming to be told to improvise or compose with total freedom, so these games will start with improvising with extreme limits, using only one note, or all notes and no rhythm, and we will build skills from there.” 

Alisa Rose

Grammy-nominated violinist and composer Alisa Rose is a modern musician who easily navigates between many musical styles. With roots in American fiddle traditions as well as classical music, she attracts attention for her expressive lyrical voice on the violin. Her stylistic fluidity gives her the ability to create unique and genuine music which is free from the constraints of genre. Alisa has appeared with a wide range of artists, including the Real Vocal String Quartet, 2008 Rockygrass winners 49 Special, and Grammy-nominated Quartet San Francisco. Alisa has performed and taught throughout Eastern Europe as an Ambassador of the State Department, and has performed at Carnegie Hall, NPR's Weekend Edition, the historic Carter Family Fold festival, TEDx Alcatraz with Bob Weir, Song of the Mountains on PBS, as well as numerous international tours. A dedicated educator, Alisa teaches privately as well as at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. 

This will be the link for all eight sessions, which will be held every other Thursday, from 5 pm to 6 pm Pacific Time, February 24–June 2, 2022 

Improvising for Fiddlers and Violinists with Alisa Rose
Starting Feb 24, 2022 05:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85838458573?pwd=eHRBYVhmbDBsbzB3d1FMTlJ1UWpaZz09

Meeting ID: 858 3845 8573
Passcode: 261153

Session #1: February 24

Session #2: March 10

Session #3: March 24

Session #4: April 7

Session #5: April 21

Session #6: May 5

Session #7: May 19

Session #8: June 2