The Quarter Tone Improvisor

in-progress method book for quarter-tone improvisation. exercises, ear training, etudes, more...

The full book is in the works and will probably be a little while…but in the meantime, some drones for practice below. And then there are the double drones - my idea is that these two-note drones so that both pitches can serve as axes for tuning. I thought it would be helpful to learn new resonances by tuning to a note a fourth or fifth away, and then comparing your note to the root in question (i.e. to learn the resonance of a a major third, you tune only to the major sixth and then check in on the root/third relationship. The double drone in this case would be root + major 6). Using a 145 structure, every interval within the 24-tet system is accessible with one of the below drones (for shorthand here I’m using “qs” as quarter-sharp and “qf” as quarter-flat)

I realize a 2-note drones a little counterintuitive for shedding to maybe, so I came up with a few little exercises that might illustrate why I think this is effective. Imagine that one exercise is playing and tuning a 145 structure from each note. In the key of C playing over the 1/qf2 drone (C + Dqf), you’d play 145’s as C/F/G and Dqf/Gqf/Aqf. Another fun exercise might be to play symmetrical intervals on either side of the drone - starting by tuning perfect ones. So - over the same 1/qf2 drone in C, you could play G-C, Dqf-Gqf (both are a fourth away) or G-D, Dqf-Aqf (both a fifth away). let me know if you find anything. happy practice!

(save for later: www.quartertoneimprovisor.com)