We are learning to improvise in several of our classes. In Ditte’s class she chooses one or more chords and a pattern and we improvise within those boundaries, all together. For example, we identify a key (e.g. F major) and the tonic, dominant and subdominant chords in the key (F major, C major and B-flat major), and decide when we change chords, then try it. It has been a very easy introduction to what seemed scary and impossible. We have done this multiple times now and are gradually increasing the complexity.

In Niklas Roswall’s class in music arrangement we took turns improvising individually on a chord progression, with the rest of the class playing the basic chords as accompaniment. In turn we tried schottis, waltz, and polska rhythms — several different patterns within the Swedish folk music genre. We progressed from 2 bars each to much longer. It feels dangerous because there is no time to plan, and you launch into your solo improvisation not knowing what you are just about to do. Like leaping off a cliff into the unknown. This was way out of my comfort zone, but unbelievably enough, it worked!