This query covers short example - who are struggling with improvisation assignments. You must know the basics of improvisation which is the art or act of composing, uttering, executing, or arranging anything without previous preparation: Musical improvisation involves imagination and creativity. To come to such stage “of improvisation” you must have enough material in your bag so that you can think beyond what’s already existing. For example (mentioned previously) if you have some idea of permutation & combination then it will be easy for you to understand “how to improvise”. In mathematics, combination and permutation are two different ways of grouping elements of a set into subsets. In a combination, the elements of the subset can be listed in any order. In a permutation, the elements of the subset are listed in a specific order. So you can apply the same principle in improvisation too to come with various “unique solutions” (i,e Compositions)

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Here’s an easy way to remember: permutation sounds complicated, doesn’t it? And it is. With permutations, every little detail matters. Alice, Bob and Charlie is different from Charlie, Bob and Alice.

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Combinations, on the other hand, are pretty easy going. The details don’t matter. Alice, Bob and Charlie is the same as Charlie, Bob and Alice

Example 1: 

Find the number of permutations and combinations if n = 12 and r = 2.

Solution: 

Given,

n = 12
r = 2

Permutation:

nPr = (n!) / (n-r)! =(12!) / (12-2)! = 12! / 10! = (12 x 11 x 10! )/ 10! = 132

Combination:

nCr=n!r!(n−r)!

 

12!2!(12−2)!=12!2!(10)!=12×11×10!2!(10)!=66

 

It’s not a mathematics class going on here so to keep your life simple - here below are daily life examples. (Though we will be highly happy to teach / explain you -if wish to get into details of mathematics behind improvisation – if your Maths Teacher is not good enough on P&C)

Combination Lock - A combination lock is a useful item that helps safeguard our belongings when we are out and about. Now, we all know that one can open a combination lock only when the perfect code, in the correct sequential order, is entered. If the code is not in the right order, it won’t open. To give you an example, if the lock code is 321, you will have to enter the code in the same sequence to open it. Entering 231 or 123 will not help. 

Passwords - Every day we find ourselves typing passwords on our laptops or mobile phones. Passwords also help in keeping our digital information safe. Similar to a combination lock, passwords are also an arrangement of alphabets, digits, and characters in a particular order. These work only when we enter all the characters of the password in the correct sequence. A tiny misplacement here in there, and you cannot access your device.

 

Phone Numbers - Phone numbers typically consist of different parts. For instance, in the phone number +1- 603-452-5521, +1 is the country code, 603 is the area code, 452 is the exchange code, and 5521 is the subscriber code. The first three sets of numbers are fixed depending on which area the phone number belongs. The last four numbers are permutations of digits to form a unique subscriber number. In its entirety, a complete phone number is also a permutation, as one must follow the same order to dial and connect to the right person.

 

Car Plate Numbers - Car license plates are another real-life example of permutation. The number of characters on a license plate varies across states as each state has its own way of numbering license plates. While some have 6-character plates with varying numbers of letters and digits, others have 7-character plates with similar variations. The department of motor vehicles issues license plate numbers to each car by applying different permutations to obtain unique numbers.

 

Playing the Guitar - When Guitarist play a song or any composition on the Guitar, they play series of notes that produce specific sound that together form a musical piece. If the sequence of notes are not followed, they won’t be able to play the intended song or composition. Therefore, the notes of a song are a permutation of Guitar notes, which, when played together in a predetermined sequence, produce beautiful music. Even a slight deviation in the sequence can cause a misplaced note that hampers the song’s/composition’s melody. 

 

Word Formation - The English alphabet has only 26 letters. But the number of words we make out of these 26 letters is uncountable! This is possible because we use permutation to form smaller subsets of the large set of 26 letters. By arranging different letters in a set order, we have managed to create hundreds of words. Only when we write letters in the correct order, we make words that make sense. 

 

Clothes Combination - When you head out on vacation, you select only a few pieces of clothing to take along. If you carry three pairs of jeans and four t-shirts for your trip, you can combine them differently for various occasions to get a new look every single time. The order of pairing the clothes won’t matter, but the look of the outfit will. So, you can see how we unknowingly apply the concept of combination for a simple activity like clothes selection. 

List goes on & on!

It's absolutely fine in you fail in Music if Improvisation is not possible for you – but at least make sure you do no fail in your maths exam as you can’t “improvise – permutation & combination ”

 

Level 2 skip 1 minute of the video and jump straight to business!

 

Well done! Now you are expert – how to improvise – which is PLAY ANYTHING WHICH COMES TO YOUR MIND & IT SHOULD BE SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN YOUR PREVIOUS VERSION! 

 

Please use our GUITAR PEDALS (FOR SURE YOU WILL HAVE FUN ON LEARNING IMPROVISATION).  Other than that try out Flange Factory (tweak some parameters shown in Pic)