Right. Many traditionally trained musicians (aka classical) never sample the joys and benefits of improvisation (which is just very quick composition that doesn't use a lot of ink) because the implicit assumption is that improvisation = jazz, and jazz = bebop, and that's not for me! Improvisation simply means making your own decisions about what you play (not something we ever get practice in in school). This approach takes what you already know and gives you ways to put it to use creating music on the spot, i.e. "thinking in music," something that every composer should spend a lot of time doing. But the system promotes the separation of disciplines (performing - theory - history - composing) and discourages the performer from composing and the composer from performing (composing becomes more cerebral and removed from performers, performing, and audiences) and both from improvising. Complete musicianship requires familiarity with both aural and literate sides of music - and it's a lot more fun. It's a revelation to find out you have a voice - that it's not just jazz players who get to have something to say. And there are an infinite number of styles or voices possible - it is the sum total of each individual's musical background, abilities, likes and dislikes. The style or styles or fusion of styles is up to you. What the book promotes is daring to experiment, invent, discover, play (in the sandbox sense), with music, with friends in real time. There are over thirty categories of games (Melody, Rhythm, Harmony, Accompaniment, Composition, Nontraditional Score, etc etc), over 500 games overall plus extensive explanatory and resource material. Jazz players have endless materials available to learn jazz. Nonjazz players (everyone else) now have a resource to know how to get started on the wondrous journey of creating one's own music. The result will be different for everyone. If you'd like to hear some of my personal samples (both very different), see my CD "Repercussions" (at
CD Baby: AGRELL/MAZUNIK: Repercussions) or "Mosaic" (
MS1158: MOSAIC - New Interpretations of Early Music, Duende Trio). I'd love to hear what you come up with using the ideas and approach in the book.