Roland Hanna discusses written music and improvisation

Listen Now Add to Play List Read Transcript (File Size: 0.41MB)

Roland Hanna discusses the influence of classical music on improvisation

Listen Now Add to Play List Read Transcript (File Size: 0.15MB)

Roland Hanna discusses his early musical influences

Listen Now Add to Play List Read Transcript (File Size: 0.15MB)

If you are experiencing problems playing audio on this site,
please update to the latest version of Flash.

Transcription

Q: “You find no dichotomy between the strict written music and improvisation – the one helps the other?”

A: “Yes, the one helps the other in that you have to have some discipline. You must have some form no matter what you're trying to do if something is going to be of value. If you improvise in an aleatory fashion and you have no way of pinpointing the direction one is going in, it's almost useless. One has to be able to ... and I don't like to use this word, but one has to be able to categorize specific situations in music. Just as one has to be able to identify a plot in a story or a development section, you know. If you don't have these things, then what has happened is of little value. There maybe talent in what someone plays, but if you can't see that there is a direction and that there is a meaning for this and there is a relationship from one thing to the other, then it's of little value, little concrete value, lasting value, you see.”