Thursday, April 22, 2004

Wow, 7 months since my last blog! I guess I've been distracted with other things. Anyhow, now that this blog is linked to the Northern California Flute Circle website, I guess I need to be more consistent with my postings.
One of the key underpinning principles that I believe in regarding the Native American Flute is that it is a wonderful, solo improvizational instrument. This principle is at the center of all of my classes. To that end, as folks learn more about how to improve their improvizational skills it's important to understand the roots of modern improvization techniques. I recently discovered a wonderful website dedicated to Jazz Improvization. This site contains a wealth of information about the theory of improvization. I especially like the section on Jazz Fundamentals, and the section on Chord / Scale Relationships. The Basic Theory page has the best explaination about the "Circle of fifths" that I've ever read.