Parallel Lives: Suzuki and the Art of Improvisation and Jazz

I’m so fortunate that my musical lines were blurred at an
early age. My parents were music lovers who exposed
me to a wellspring of blues, jazz, soul, the Motown
sound, and classical music.
Growing up in the Detroit public school system, my
middle and high school teachers were accomplished jazz

players. We played the requisite classical repertoire in state-
wide orchestral competitions. But we also played orchestral

jazz pieces.
Trumpeter Jesse Virden was my middle school teacher who
encouraged us to play by ear. Violist Anderson White was my
high school teacher who introduced my classmates to electric
violins and orchestral jazz arrangements. He would make us
“stand up and take a solo” in the glorious big band tradition.
I took private lessons as well with Joe Striplin, who was the
first Black violinist in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
My goal is to create and execute a different idea each time

that I improvise. This is what makes a well-rounded, versa-
tile musician. Because there are no mistakes—only better

choices. That’s why I love teaching improvisation and jazz.
Dr. Suzuki Comes to America
Lilies in a field of floating violins.
That’s what I imagined when Dr. Shinichi Suzuki came to
the Max and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center in downtown

Detroit. The Fisher Center was the perfect place to experi-
ence jazz and chamber music. Formerly Orchestra Hall, the

venue had been renovated after many years and the acous-
tics were ideal; they rivaled the sonic perfection of Carnegie

Hall and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. I could see and

hear each child individually and, simultaneously, experi-
ence the excellence of the ensemble: the marriage between

the breaths and the music and the meditative inspiration of
Dr. Suzuki’s pedagogy transformed my thinking. I wanted
to weave the textures of the ensemble playing into my own
teaching methods and performance rituals. Dr. Suzuki had
rocketed me into the fourth dimension.
Matsumoto with Dr. Suzuki
After I received my Suzuki training at the Spartanburg
Suzuki Institute in Spartanburg, South Carolina, I traveled

to Tokyo to play concerts in jazz clubs, which were coinciden-
tally aligned with the Talent Education Research Institute’s

summer program in Matsumoto. And that’s where I met Dr.
Suzuki. I had the privilege of spending two fantastic days
observing his significant teaching methods.

They included:

• “Listening to good music”
• Developing good tone production before note-reading
  skills
• Learning by memorization
• Bow placement exercises for speed, balance, phrasing
  and articulation.
  Dr. Suzuki encouraged us to listen in ways that we were
  new to me. This is a universal philosophy for any musician
  who wants to explore and expand their artistry.
  For the curious minded player, transcribing improvised
  solos enables us to understand how phrasing, articulation,
  and chordal foundations are organized. Transcribing is
  especially valuable for the classically-trained player who’s
  eager to reach beyond their level of comfort. The visual
  transcription alone allows us to conceptualize—and further
  imagine—what we’re listening to.
  I would also prioritize the importance of learning how to
  develop a good sound. This comes with learning how to align
  your instrument with your body. Particularly for very young
  players, bow hold and pulling–pushing the bow is a lot of
  information, even before they learn how to read. By routinely

listening to good music, and being vigilant about body align-
ment and tone production, we can prepare our students for

a successful approach to developing their sound and style.

Once these physical logistics are in place, consistent repeti-
tion facilitates dexterity, speed, and good tone production.

For beginning players, I enjoy implementing consistent
repetition by introducing pentatonic scales as an opening
improvisation game. This scale is easy to hear and utilizes
a fingering sequencing that skips either the second or third
fingers, depending on the key. I also ask students to stay
within this pentatonic pattern when they are improvising.
(For example, by using E pentatonic, we use only the D and
A string.)
The natural tendency for a string player who is improvising

is to play a long phrase without a pause. And I encourage stu-
dents to stay within the tonal boundaries so they understand

the discipline involved in improvisation. But when students
are limited to two strings, it becomes a unique challenge to
create rhythms and shorter melodic ideas. I use the analogy of
becoming a storyteller. Within the story are sentences which
have commas and periods. There will also be new paragraphs.
While playing these new melodic sentences, students should

lift their bow and breath. And when they reach a new para-
graph, it allows for a new melodic framework to develop.

A next step would be to add the outer
strings which would have different
notes and fingerings. It’s important
that students think of the same notes
in different octaves, on different
strings. Tapping into a wider range
of octaves expands the color of the
improvisation; this also challenges
a student to simultaneously create
beyond their comfort zone.
As we delve more deeply, there are
also specific notes within a key (usually
the dominant or subdominant) which

lend themselves to alignment with com-
mas, periods, breathing, and resolve.

I always like to remind students that
we are creating music, melodies,
rhythms, and moments that have
never been heard!
Parallel Lives

Learning to execute is the founda-
tion of playing.

With improvising players, practicing
specific scales, patterns, chord
progressions and melodic ideas in
consistent repetition becomes blurred

intentionally after it is learned com-
fortably. The motive is to create a

variation or new idea on whatever
theme, melodic fragment, or phrase
that we practice.
Many times, a melodic idea or cell
that has developed from this process of
practicing becomes an original theme
by which improvising players who also
are composers will utilize this for a
segment of an original composition.
And this is the beauty and magic of
conceptualizing: the notion that

composers and improvisers are inter-
changeable music-makers.

I believe that bowing is the turning
point in the art of improvised music.
It can create marvelously warm, slick,
soulful, jazzy and bluesy sounds. I
love the upside down bow flip that Dr.
Suzuki uses in his teachings; it’s a great
way to become fluent in phrasing and
articulation. Generally, string players
can do themselves the ultimate justice
by paying close attention to the finesse
of phrasing on other instruments.
This can be especially helpful as well

for students who are studying specific
scale and transcription work where
constant repetition is required.
By studying singers, horn players,
piano players or any other instrument

from somewhere else in our global vil-
lage, we can heighten our sensibilities

and awareness beyond the classical
realm; these new sounds will not only
transport but also engage you to play
with the widest-angle lens.
Incorporating
Improvisation and Jazz
How do we encourage a student to
solo during an orchestra rehearsal?
When I am teaching residencies and
haven’t had enough time to become
acquainted with students, I sometimes
incorporate the idea of “collective/free
improvisation” as a way to provide a safe
haven for everyone to feel “free enough”
to experiment without being heard.
I encourage them to choose a scale
that is comfortable for everyone and
compose a short melodic theme to play
in a freestyle approach. As I observe the
collective in motion, I can notice which
students seem to focus in on their own
sound; this enables me to single them
out for short moments of improvising

and then engage with the entire en-
semble again. I may repeat this pattern

for a few more rounds with various
other students to get my finger on the
pulse of who is becoming “intrigued”
with this improvisation game.
I’m also a big believer in the breakout
group. Throughout my years as a
teaching artist, I have witnessed the
most amazing results when young
people have the creative freedom to
explore with each other. Seeing them
huddle and return with a new melody
or a harmony they’ve just composed
is breathtaking. The process not only
empowers them artistically but also

encourages free-thinking, social con-
sciousness and a democratic kind of

teamwork and team-building. The pro-
cess also promotes hidden talents and

skills, and brings out the promise and
potential of many budding arrangers.

Hearts and Minds

Here are a few of the classically-
trained improvisers and composers

who have inspired me:
Violin
John Blake, Stephane Grappelli, Stuff
Smith, Ray Nance, Ginger Smock,
Leroy Jenkins, India Cooke, Jean
Luc Ponty, Billy Bang, Regina Carter,
Charles Burnham, Papa John Creach
Viola
Svend Asmussen
Cello
Akua Dixon, Deirdre Murray, Tomeka
Reid
Quartets
Turtle Island String Quartet, Harlem
Quartet, New Muse4tet, Catalyst
Quartet, Publiq Quartet

And so I will leave you with the fol-
lowing thoughts: Are you open to

exploring sounds and techniques be-
yond your training and experience? Do

you allow yourself to become creatively
vulnerable? Do you have an obligation

as a teacher to represent to your stu-
dents a multicultural view of music?

Gwen Laster serves on the Board of
Directors of BeaconArts, a 501 (c)
3 non-profit organization that has
promoted and nurtured the arts in
Beacon for over 15 years. The mission

of BeaconArts is to foster and encour-
age the advancement of the City of

Beacon as a center for arts and culture.
To read more and support BeaconArts,