Musical Improv 3: Earning Songs
Have you ever found yourself in an improv scene, the music starts, and you have no idea what to sing? It’s time to stop stumbling backwards into songs, and start earning them.
Musical Improv 3 is focused on one of the most important skills in a musical improviser’s tool belt: Earning songs within scenes.
In Musical Improv 1 and 2, we learned skills to help us improvise compelling, structured and musically interesting songs in a wide range of styles and genres. But how do we find those songs within an improv show?
Earning songs is about putting intentionality into our scene work and making choices within the scene that will get us to songs we WANT to sing. Songs should flow naturally from the scenes that generate them and if we have the right mindset and strategies, we’ll earn songs that feel organic and honest—with lyrics that come to us effortlessly.
Throughout this class, we’ll analyze the progression of any musical improv scene, from the very first initiation to the final note of the song. Each week, we’ll learn a new tool or approach for identifying the song within a scene, driving toward it, titling it and delivering on it.
Students will leave this class with several new skills including:
How to identify your song organically from within the scene;
How to use the vocabulary of the scene to earn your song;
How to identify and sharpen your POV to earn songs;
How to invest the choices you’ve already made to get to song more easily;
How to title your song in a satisfying way;
How to deliver on the precise song you’ve earned.
This class culminates with a performance of a montage of improvised scenes and songs, where students show off their new skills by earning songs rooted in emotions, wants and points of view.
Details
Requirements:
Completion of at least two levels of musical improv classes and at least four levels of regular improv classes (or equivalent performance experience). This class will be mostly scene work; please do not register unless you have an understanding of the fundamentals of improv scene work.
If you haven’t completed Musical Improv 2 at All Out Comedy and are interested in this course, you’ll need to send us an email to be considered—Do not register for this class unless you’ve received approval.
Dates: Thursdays, 7:00pm-9:30pm, May 8-July 3(No class May 22) 8 Weeks
Location: All Out Comedy Theater, 2550 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA 94610
Registration: $364
Wellness: If you have symptoms of feeling sick the day of class, please stay home and contact your teacher.
All students will receive a student ID card during their session. This gives students access to watch as many shows for free while taking classes.
The Instructor: Jed Levine
Jed is an All Out Comedy mainstage cast member with nearly a decade of experience as a musical improviser, coach and teacher. He is a graduate of the Second City Musical Improv Conservatory in Chicago and is an alumni of the critically-acclaimed musical improv company Baby Wants Candy. Jed is currently a guest player for improvised musicals at BATS Improv and teaches musical improv at Leela in San Francisco where he also coaches the musical improv team Noteworthy.
The Musical Director: Jared Hauser
Jared has spent the past 10 years in Seattle, fronting several local rock bands as singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Blending his love of late-60s psychedelia with mid-70s jangle-rock, Jared has graced stages around the Northwest and beyond. Recently, Jared relocated to California, setting up his homebase in the east bay. Jared’s instruments include: guitar, piano, mandolin, lap steel, sitar, melodica, autoharp, and many more. As a rule of thumb, if it has strings and frets Jared can probably jam on it.