"What good is melody, what good is
music If it ain't possessin' something sweet?
Nah, it ain't the melody and it ain't the music,
There's something else that makes this tune complete,
Yes, it don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing"
--Duke Ellington/ Irving Mills

How can improvising, an action that isn't planned and emerges from a hidden place in our psyche, be a skill that explores new possibilities? Mary Catherine Bateson described it as a ". . . high order of skill,” one that should be practiced by the hour.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as a verb: "To invent or make something, such as a speech or a device, at the time when it is needed without already having planned it."

Stephen Nachmanovitch author of The Art of Is, believes improvisation is "a language for working out the dynamics of being alive, being within, and comprehending a world of intricate pattern and relationship, a world in constant flux, responsive to subtle chance variations of the environment." Unlike succumbing to our cultural dependency on static nouns that encourage isolated labels, we can turn to our innate desire to actively share our insights.

So how do possibilities manifest from improvising? First, improvising is interactive and consists of a win-win volley of listening and paraphrasing. This supports a profound opportunity to mutually learn with one another. If we recognize the benefits of sharing our interconnections, then we can........

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