Introduction to Improvisation book & CD by Deborah Henson-Conant: Music Theory

This book by Deborah Henson-Conant came out of her workshop held at the Sylvia Woods Harp Center. It includes how to vary melody, tempo, meter and rhythm, harmony, form and sound quality; what to do when you get stuck; and some vamps to improvise on. It also includes a Vamps for Improvisation CD which includes “background” music for 8 vamps, each between 4 and 6.5 minutes long. They will allow you to free yourself from playing “the whole thing” so you can concentrate on improvising. 30 page book with CD.

Deborah Henson-Conant is also known as the "wild woman of the harp." She's changing the way the world sees this ancient instrument. Deborah describes her music as "cross-genre": jazz-pop-comedy-folk-blues-flamenco-Celtic. She is as much of an entertainer as a musician. She performs in symphony halls with major orchestras and plays intimate shows in jazz clubs and theaters internationally. She sings, plays electric harp, "tells tall tales with the ease of a stand-up comic," (Plain Dealer, Cleveland).

Deborah has toured with the Boston Pops, opened for Ray Charles at Tanglewood, performed her one-woman show from Budapest to Boston, starred in the PBS special "Celtic Harpestry," and has been featured on NBC, CBS, CNN, NPR, and hosted television shows for BET and BBC Affiliates. Charlies Rose, Lou Rawls, Joan Rivers, Studs Terkel, Scott Simon, Billy Taylor and Susan Stamberg have interviewed her.