My Musical Improv 101 class at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade, taught by the incredibly talented Eliza Skinner, ended the other week. It was undoubtedly the most fun I’ve had in an improv class to date. Learning to sing improvised songs was a liberating experience, not only because singing is so much fun, but because it’s a class that you truly feel on the same level as everyone else.

I haven’t felt this free since 101

The mechanics of musical improv are undoubtedly a little different than that of scenic improv, but at their core it’s the same stuff. You agree, support, and play games in the same way, however because you are operating within a song, there is an added level of structure that plays alongside it all. Where a two person scene was once king, you now have to do all, most of the time by yourself, in song. It sounds far more difficult than it actually is.

The song structures in musical improv is fairly simple. You have two basic structures a tagline song or a verse chorus song. What I found so interesting is that previously, in 2 person scenes, I would be a very “one note” player. Rarely did I “if this is true, what else is true.” But in a song, the verse structure cannot move forward if you aren’t actively heightening your subject choices. Additionally in a Verse Chorus Structure, you need to pick a Chorus at the start to be the engine which will power your song. This Chorus has to be simple, memorable, and universal, but it also has to in some way represent what you are about to sing. So, where I once found myself trying to create and find games in scenes, now I chose the entire game from the beginning.

Wax On, Wax Off teaching

Interestingly, at the end of the class all my scenic improv skills, which I was using in practice and performance, had improved. The stuff that seemed unrelated were in fact improving by the lessons I was learning in musical improv. I was making bold choices up top. I was defining my characters wants and making those wants important. I was supporting everything strongly. I was listening to myself up top to find game. I was keeping it simple. I was having fun.

This made me think, maybe this idea of classes, much like the raw harold class focussed on support, that look at a particular facet of improv are actually just as important as Harold workshops. These classes show us something universal about the skills of improv. They strengthen in the way that lifting weights strengthen, by targeting distinct improv muscles that you can use in your everyday work. Sure you can still jump into the ring and train by throwing punches, but sometimes jumping rope can be just as useful.

Lessons Learned from Musical Improv:

• Make strong, want based, choices up top
• Be specific about what you’re talking about
• Have important, meaningful, wants for your characters
• Game is like a song — Keep your view consistent, Expand your views (if this is true what else is true), explore patterns, get out before it gets repetitive
• Explore your environment as if it were a stocked stage
• Use the stage, remember stage picture, and keep action active
• Keep your songs, wants, and initiations simple and memorable — Think about the universality of your themes
• Backline should support the ideas on stage and not pull focus with extraneous moves
• Support everything unconditionally — Enough support can make all the difference
• Look like you know what’s going on, give em’ your pokerface
• Remember that tragedy can be just as powerful as comedy
• Give your audience a musical worthy of the stage. If they paid $45 would it be worth it?
• Follow the fun — Play