"An Improviser's OS" (2005)
Wayne Krantz

What is this book?

It could be:

"A discipline; a long-term method of mastering the guitar"

However:

'a discipline' implies something ritualistic; uncreative

'long-term' implies that nothing can be accomplished in the short-term. For something to inspire it needs to give some degree of consistent gratification from the start

'method' implies a closed system: dead, sterile

'mastering' implies finality. There is no end to the development of a musician with an active imagination

'the guitar' glorifies an object. The instrument itself is of passing importance. What we do with it is the thing of meaning

music is a thing of meaning

This book is an improviser's Operating System

Its basic premise is that pattern playing can ultimately limit the growth of one's skills as a creative improviser

Since most of us rely heavily on patterns to find notes, alternative means of finding notes must be used to overcome our pattern dependency...


"An Improviser's OS" is now available, only on waynekrantz.com, for $25 including shipping worldwide.