Grooving and Improvising on Strings presented by Tracy Silverman

The world is filled with all kinds of wonderful music and not all of it is classical. Most of the music that is streamed, broadcast and listened to by millions of people has a groove of some kind. To play it authentically on strings, we have to groove as string players. Classical string playing has a long and rich tradition, but grooving and playing as a rhythmic instrument in contemporary non-classical styles is new because the music itself is new, and so it is not yet a part of classical string pedagogy.

This workshop will focus on how to groove on strings, and in the process, how to micro-improvise as a rhythm player. We can then easily extend rhythmic improvisation into more traditional improvisation. 

In this hands-on workshop, we will learn how to:

• Chop

• Play ghost notes

• Find the right bowing for any groove using Strum Bowing

• Improvise on the blues and the blues scale

Questions will be welcome throughout. Recording is not only permitted, it is encouraged. I hope to work with not only students but also string instructors, because they hold the keys to the future of string playing.

Tracy Silverman is one of the world’s foremost electric violin soloists, bringing concert hall legitimacy to this next-generation instrument.

As part of Silverman’s vision for the “future of strings”, he has premiered and recorded several major new electric violin concertos written specifically for him by composers John Adams (The Dharma at Big Sur), Terry Riley (The Palmian Chord Ryddle), Nico Muhly (Seeing is Believing), Roberto Sierra (Ficciones), Kenji Bunch (Embrace), and 3 concertos of his own; appearing with the LA Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and many others at Carnegie Hall, Disney Hall, Royal Albert Hall, and stages all over the world.

Formerly first violinist with the innovative Turtle Island String Quartet, Silverman made his professional debut at the age of 13 as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and was named one of 100 distinguished alumni by The Juilliard School. Silverman is notable not only for his development and use of the electric 6-string violin, but also for what he terms “progressive string playing”, an evolution of classical string playing that embraces contemporary popular idioms such as rock, jazz and hip hop.

TV/internet and radio includes a solo Tiny Desk Concert on NPR, A Prairie Home Companion, Performance Today, St. Paul Sunday, and a profile on CBS News Sunday Morning. A longtime proponent of string education, Silverman is a leader in the progressive string community and the host of The Greater Groove: The Future of Strings podcast. His Strum Bowing method has been adopted by players and teachers all over the world. Silverman is the author of The Strum Bowing Method: How to Groove on Strings, and The Rhythm String Player: Strum Bowing in Action, as well as several etude books and online courses on his Strum Bowing Groove Academy. Silverman is on the faculty of Belmont University in Nashville, TN.