Graphic Score

 

At certain points during my journey into Improvised Music, I really craved the stability of having some kind of plan to work from. I guess that may have something to do with my Capricorn sun? Anyway, the above piece was painted onto a thick board, in hopes to be used by an improvising ensemble of some sort. I can't recall it ever having been, though. It's sat in my garage for a while......

As I've pondered this post, there's been a lot of reflection about a time in my early 20's, when I lived in San Francisco, and had aspirations of being some kind of musical composer. I didn't really "go that route" in the traditional sense, but I have been involved in musical composition in one form or another from the late 1980's until 2020. 

This piece is clearly just a simple chord, E, A, B flat, F flat, which is supposed to lead to a "cloud" of improvisation. I really do like the way that that chord sounds as an arpeggio, so it seems valid to me, despite the admitted simplicity of its conception. 

Maybe someday it will be played, who knows? 

Image Copyright 2021, Mark Pino