LAST CALL
THE RULES OF IMPROVISATION BY JOHN BOHLINGER
In her book Bossy Pants, Tina Fey discusses how her time
with Second City—Chicago’s
legendary sketch comedy theater
group—made her the incred-
ibly successful, confident, sexy
ruler of modern media she has
become. In her words: “Studying
improv literally changed my life.”
Fey dedicates a large section
of her book to “the Rules of
Improvisation,” which became
her personal precept and influ-
enced her destiny by guiding
most of her decisions. As I read
the Rules of Improvisation, I
kept thinking, This is how the
best musicians approach their
art. Long direct quotes remain
the lazy writer’s best friend, so
here are some italicized good-
ies extracted from Fey’s book,
served up with light commen-
tary by your humble scribe.
The first rule of improvisation is AGREE. Always agree
and SAY YES. When you are
improvising, this means you
are required to agree with
whatever your partner has created. If I say, “Freeze, I have
a gun,” and you say, “That’s
not a gun, that’s your finger,”
our scene has ground to a
halt. Start with a YES and see
where that will take you.
Have you ever tried to make
music with a naysayer? It’s about
as much fun as a root canal.
Start a slow blues groove and
Donnie Downer says something like, “Can we please play
something with some changes?”
Negative statements like that are
the verbal equivalent of a turd
in the punch bowl—they kill
the party. You can’t really create
music when someone makes you
doubt your ability or direction.
The best music starts with a
“yes,” because this gives license
to the creators to chase their
muse. Bands usually break up
over “direction,” which is a nice
way of saying there is a lot of
“no” going around the rehearsal
hall. Yoko was probably not a
“yes” kind of girl when she was
destroying the Beatles. Just look
at those candid Let It Be video
clips, as she sits nearly on top of
John, glaring with disapproval
at Paul, George, and loveable
Ringo. Check out the Beatles’
earlier candid videos or audio
outtakes, and you hear four best
friends encouraging each other.
The second rule of improvisation is not only to say yes, but
to say YES, AND. You are
supposed to agree and then
add something of your own.
If I start a scene with, “I can’t
believe it’s so hot in here,” and
you just say “Yeah,” we’re kind
of at a stand still. [But if] you
say, “What did you expect?
We’re in hell.” Or “I told you
we shouldn’t have crawled
into this dog’s mouth,” now
we’re getting somewhere.
“Yes, and” means you are contributing. Getting back to our
jam scenario, if I start a slow
blues and the other players leave
the stage to get a drink, begin
texting on their phones, or just
ignore the jam, we are done. But
if the drummer comes in with
a funky, Chitlin’ Circuit-type
groove, and the bass player starts
going all Billy Cox, then we have
at least 10 minutes of good times
with those three simple chords.
The Next Rule is MAKE
STATEMENTS. Whatever
the problem, be part of
the solution. Don’t just sit
around raising questions and
pointing out obstacles. We’ve
all worked with that person.
That person is a drag.
Most of us had bands when
we were teenagers, but rarely
keep bands going as we age.
That’s because naive teens with
ridiculous haircuts, limited abil-
ity, and crap gear make state-
ments and go with them rather
than weigh the costs and point
out obstacles. Teens say things
like, “Let’s combine bluegrass
with classic Zep bass lines and
Brazilian drums.” The rest of
the band responds, “Great idea,
let’s make a record.” Will it
succeed? If success means hav-
ing a good time while creating
something, then yes, this will be
a wildly successful project.
THERE ARE NO
MISTAKES, only opportunities. Many of the world’s greatest discoveries have been by
accident. I mean, look at Reese’s
Peanut Butter Cups or Botox.
Some of the most creative and
satisfying work stems from
what may at first sound like a
terrible idea or a full-on mistake. I recently did a track with
hick-hop star Cowboy Troy.
My cowriter, Dave Goodwin,
wanted to add harmonica to
the song, but he did not have a
harp in the right key for straight
or cross harp. I concealed my
skepticism, stayed true to Fey’s
agree rule, and let the man do
his thing. Goodwin ended up
playing the coolest, weirdest
part that far surpassed any trite
blues-harp solo I could have
played. It brought the song to
a much more exciting place,
because we took Fey’s advice to
Tina Fey’s Bossy Pants
offers invaluable tips for
improvising guitarists.
“Start with a YES and see where
that takes you.”
Fey explains that, if you’re
performing with somebody, it
is your responsibility to make
your partner look good—and
that’ll make you look good in
the process. Naysayers take a
perverse glee in pointing out
what they perceive as other’s
mistakes. This accomplishes
nothing. “Yes” people merrily
take over the world, while the
naysayers cynically watch from
a distance and bitterly mutter,
“That band sucks. I know this
for a fact, because I use to play
with them. I’m sooo much bet-
ter than those idiots.”
Fey doesn’t exaggerate when
she says these rules changed her
life. People who say “yes,” agree,
make others look good, contrib-
ute, and find opportunities in
mistakes just seem to be happier
and more fulfilled. Life’s a stage—
now get out there and play.
JOHN BOHLINGER
is a Nashville multi-instrumentalist best known for
his work in television. He
has been the bandleader
for the 2009, 2010, and
2011 CMT Music Awards,
all six seasons of NBC’s hit program
Nashville Star, and on many specials for
GAC, PBS, CMT, USA, and HDTV. His
compositions and playing can be heard on
major-label albums, motion pictures, over
100 television spots, and even Muzak. Visit
him at youtube.com/user/johnbohlinger or
facebook.com/johnbohlinger.
