Improvisation – a word I barely understood before studying at Leeds Conservatoire. For a long time, I was taught to sing the “right” way, to refine vocal techniques, but never to create something of my own, not even the thought of improvisation had ever occurred to me. Walking into a class full of unfamiliar faces, I found myself in an environment that was both exciting and intimidating. It was in this setting that I challenged myself to go beyond what was familiar and comfortable. I learned how to listen, to make changes, and most importantly, to create. As we grew to know and trust one another, I discovered that I was developing in unexpected ways. One memorable result from our second group composition project is Alien Cats, a piece that defied my own preconceptions about my abilities. In this blog, I want to reflect on how improvisation has become more than just a technique, it is a turning point in my artistic development.

In the first week of the project, I came into the room feeling anxious. In the presence of excellent friends, I felt scared and hesitant to express myself or speak up. I was surprised, though, that everyone else appeared to be experiencing the same quiet nervousness. In awkward silence, we sat there looking at each other and wondering the same thing: “What are we composing now?“ Similar to drawing on a blank canvas, writing on a blank paper, the hardest step to do something is to start doing it. As the saying goes, “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” (Zig Ziglar), I learnt that ideas come from taking that first imperfect step rather than from over-thinking. James, our professor, encouraged us to draw inspiration from the unexpected, such as the alphabet, our names’ initials, or even just playing whatever was on our instruments. What we initially created was complete chaos. I struggled with finding a vocal line that would fit into the noisy mess, the sounds clashed annoyingly, and no melodies fit. Yet looking back, those “weird sounds” gave us the catalyst we needed, they provoked important conversations that led to new breakthroughs (First week recording in Appendix A). Jena – our pianist suggested that we needed space for each instrument, and also silence. Isabell – our guitarist commented that the randomness reminded her of “groovy, whimsical sci-fi vibes.“ Those observations broke the awkwardness, and suddenly, ideas began to flow. That was when I found the courage to share my own idea:

“What if we compose something jazzy, something that feels like relaxing in a cute cat café, sipping hot cocoa, chilling with a nonchalant vibe?“

“It gives us room to work with many different instruments and the capabilities of many different musicians in our groups. They are helping with being able to think on your feet and not worry if something goes wrong. It is helping with continuing and working through your mistakes.”
(Charlie Gibson, 22 January 2025)

Reading Charlie’s words helped me realise that we both learned from working through mistakes, rather than avoiding them. Seeing everyone improvised so fearlessly made me think of Brian Eno’s ideas in his book Oblique Strategies (2001), where he encourages musicians to “honour thy error as a hidden intention.” Errors are not only acceptable, they are frequently the starting point for great things. This thought really speaks to my experience.

The music we created had a quirky, cinematic sci-fi atmosphere, it was not dark and heavy, but colorful, strange, and full of wonder. It felt like gliding through zero gravity, playful and light, yet oddly cozy. That was when another lyric floated into my mind: “Realize we’ve been in space.”. Suddenly, the story became clear – a dreamy scene where drinking cocoa in a cute cat café transforms into drifting through the universe, surrounded by alien cats (Full lyrics in Appendix D). I trusted whatever words and melodies came out of my mouth without passing judgement, allowing myself to be carefree, playful, and spontaneous. Sometimes, I repeated phrases or slightly changed the melody, sometimes extended a note longer than intended or fell into an odd tune that seemed too risky, yet it worked somehow. Through this, I started to understand that improvisation is not about being “perfect”, it is about trusting the music and trusting yourself enough to take little risks. And with every risk we took as a group, the song Alien Cats grew richer, more alive (Final Week Recording in Appendix E). I also noticed how improvisation enhances creativity in ways that composed works may not always be able to. As my friend Xingyi Chen beautifully put it (Full comment in Appendix F):

“…improvisation is an excellent creative opportunity, giving the imagination room to play and sparking new inspiration under different conditions.”
(Xingyi Chen, 3 November 2024)

Conclusively, Alien Cats project was filled with both challenges and breakthroughs. By working through the chaos and discovering together, our group built something truly interesting and unique. Improvising helped me discover my own voice, built my bravery and opened a door to a world I never thought I belonged to. It taught me that music is not just about precision, it is about daring to be weird, daring to sound “wrong,” and finding something real inside the risks. As I go forward, I plan to explore improvisation further and experiment with my instrument practice, build my own artistic identity by the discovery of personal vocal colours and emotional delivery. As Jojo Mayer used to say in his TED Talk – A Plea For Improvisation:

“the ability that allows us to encounter the unknown, no longer as an enemy, but as an accomplice to our creativity, our growth, and our authentic lives”

Jojo Mayer

Bibliography:

(No date) Zig Ziglar – you don’t have to be great to start, but you… Available at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/zig_ziglar_617778 (Accessed: 28 April 2025). 

Eno, B. and Schmidt, P. (2001) Oblique strategies: Over one hundred worthwhile dilemmas. 

Mayer, J. (no date) A plea for improvisation, TED. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/jojo_mayer_a_plea_for_improvisation (Accessed: 28 April 2025). 

Appendix A: First Week Recording 8th November

Appendix B: 8th November Session Note

Appendix C: Connections

by Charlie Gibson – Wednesday, 22 January 2025, 4:51 PM

“The creative workshops offer a space to play around with music, with improvisation and song structure. It gives us room to work with many different instruments and the capabilities of many different musicians in our groups. They are helping with being able to think on your feet and not worry if something goes wrong. It is helping with continuing and working through your mistakes. Its connected to music theory a lot because working with many different instruments means working through all types of theory, clefs, notes, transposition, which allows us to practically apply what we learn on paper into physical practice.”

Appendix D: Alien Cats Lyrics

Appendix E: Final Week Recording 29th November

Appendix F: A Plea for Improvisation

by Xingyi Chen – Sunday, 3 November 2024, 11:58 AM

“Many people misunderstand improvisation, believing it to be less valuable than a prepared performance and less challenging. In reality, improvisation is an excellent creative opportunity, giving the imagination room to play and sparking new inspiration under different conditions. Musicians base their compositions on their own techniques and frameworks, and short bursts of inspiration often produce unexpected and surprising results. The ability to improvise should be valued and encouraged as a powerful aid to creativity.”