Fantasy Journeys
Participants lie down with closed eyes on mattresses or in some other comfortable position. The leader provides instructions to facilitate the participants' relaxation. A story may be told and questions asked of participants about their own imaginations — sounds and music may be played. It is especially recommended to make this journey without sound and music as an introduction to allowing participants play afterwards.
For this exercise, the instructor should be experienced in being a participant him/herself. A practical idea for getting started is for the instructor to seek a suitable therapist or psychologist (obtain recommendations from people you know, newspapers, magazines, or the telephone directory) and make an appointment for a fantasy journey. It is also possible to work with other interested persons using each other as experimental subjects. Participants should know what a fantasy journey is and accept the idea of engaging in one. In contrast to working with adults, in employing this technique with children the instructor must take the responsibility for deciding whether the participants are mature enough to benefit from it.
The relaxation instruction may take a simple form mentioning different parts of the body such as the following: "Feel your head lying on the mattress — let go and let it relax." All of the instructions should be able to be followed by the instructor together with the other participants.
The journey takes place exclusively in the present even when the instructions are to look back in time: "And now, imagine yourself looking back on what has happened. Is there anything you especially note about it?"
It is a central technique to ask questions about what the participant experiences so that they may create their own content. The story should typically incorporate a broad framework. Pauses, sometimes really long ones, are important, and questions should always be followed by pauses.
Starting from the story, participants are to contact their own feelings and fantasy and the practice of "Fantasy Journey" encourages the resting of conscious and rational activity. Semi-conscious and unconscious material may arise and the experience can be dream-like and intense as novel aspects of the personality emerge. At times, intense, repressed feelings may be brought forward.
With this activity, I have used subjects like "The Forgotten Music" and "Playing Among Foreign Musicians." As an author of journeys, start with simple scenarios like journeying and arriving at places. Again, the framework must be clearly imaginable by the instructor while preparing! You may find further inspiration in psychological literature.
The instructor must take responsibility both for having a secure setting and for being well aware of the process. No one should enter the room after the story begins (put a message on the door and lock it, if possible) and the room should remain quiet. No interruptions of the journey can be accepted — this could greatly disturb the participants.
It is not possible to "correct" errors nor to make disturbances undone—they must be integrated in the whole! In spite of all precautions, should a disturbing noise from outside nevertheless occur, it is possible to proceed in the following way. Let us assume that in the middle of the journey you have said: "You are now very far from any noises. This is a very quiet place." At this point, someone hammers very loudly at the door (in spite of people outside having been informed). A possible way to integrate the disturbance is to say: "Suddenly, you think of a disturbing experience you once had. What kind of disturbing experience was this?" There is then a pause, the instructor takes steps to end the disturbing noise, and peace returns again. The instructor takes time to get back to the point in his/her own imagination where the disturbance took place: "How was your experience of that. (Pause) Now, go back to the landscape. How do you feel in the peacefulness here?"
In the case of a participant being in an intense emotional state after the playing is finished — crying, for example — the instructor and group should respect these emotions and take care of the person in question. However, do not try to excessively calm the person — the emotions have their reasons for coming up and normally one's personal defenses will limit the expression to a level that is safe. Should aggressive criticism of the form of the journey occur, it is not necessary to take this at face value. If the instructor believes that inner forces in the person are pushing him/her a bit too far, the instructor should try to redirect attention to the person's own mind, the investigation of which is the mutually agreed upon purpose of the fantasy.
After the journey, people are instructed about gradually returning from the fantasy: "And now, come back to yourself, lying there. (Pause) When you are ready, begin to move your body a little and open your eyes. (Pause) Gradually, stand up and begin playing the way you feel like."
If-Then
The pieces If-Then VIII and IX (see the closing section [in the original]) adress participants’ critical awareness whether the music process is interesting or not! This is, after all, what everything is about. Different opinions may exist, but that does not make it less meaningful to have a clear perception of it and to act responsively. These pieces take the attention to an oscillating process between listening to what is out there and paying attention to one’s own impulses and imagination. Action must then follow. You can pick that one of the two that fits best or take one after another to repeat the effort from a slightly different angle.
Rounds
While sitting in a circle, each participant plays for a brief time before the next person plays. This can be done vocally and/or instrumentally. What each participant plays may be a variation of the music immediately preceding it or a free reaction to it. Rhythmic motifs may be used. The purpose may be to work with unity (doing something collectively) or with variety (to risk making a personal statement). Can also be done with a large group with sub-groups instead of individuals (see also "Dividing the Group" (↑)).
Following Each Other
Preparatory Exercise: Stand in a circle while holding hands. Very slowly, go down to your knees and, after that, stand up simultaneously without anybody leading. Even if this seems impossible to you, continue with your attempts! Continue in music making, for example, allowing the sound intensity or pitch go up or down.
Vocal Improvisation In A Circle
This could be good for starting a lesson. The circle gathers people together and instructing the participants to close their eyes helps them to be more confident in their own soundmaking; instructions are supportive without being restrictive.
Participants should sit in a circle. The teacher states that in a short time the group members will close their eyes. He/she will then provide a sound to begin. The group itself then discovers what to do with the sound. The initial sound may determine the resultant process, especially if the group is new and has not yet come into its own. You can start, for example, with a quiet glissando on "nnn" moving slightly up into a higher register, for an example of something apt for gradual warm-up. Or the initial sound could be slightly more challenging. The improvisation could last for approximately ten minutes — it remains up to the group itself to decide when to stop. When the improvisation is over, people are instructed to open their eyes if they have not already done this on their own.
Homage to Nils Harbo
See the recipe (enclosed [in the original]).
I now usually use it as a basic training in making different and contrasting kinds of musical sound, and use the individual concepts (staccato-legato etc.) for the whole group alternatingly. These words can be read aloud, thus avoiding the necessity of photocopying. As you see, the sound categories are then taken one by one, avoiding the thick texture of many at a time. The exercise functions very well as a preparation for parameter exercises but uses more well-known words.
This may be also be performed polyphonically ad lib or on one tone, with either few or many parameters set for each musician. Take care, however, that the sounds does not get too thick. It is also good for training of improvisation in jazz, rock, and other popular forms. It can be done with improvisation which follow scales, too.