String Improvisation – Rethinking string instruments and their possibilities
From 84.69 $ /h
String instruments are often associated with written classical music and, because of their technical complexity, many players rarely dare to move beyond the safety of the score. But improvisation is not a mysterious talent we are born with. It requires as much discipline as freedom and develops through a specific set of skills that can be understood, practiced, and ultimately transformed into performance.
After more than ten years of teaching improvisation to professional string players at conservatory level, I have developed an approach that rethinks fingerboard visualization and the relationship between the ear, the hand, and the instrument, making improvisation more accessible to string players from all backgrounds.
In these lessons, I will help you understand the logic of the fingerboard, transpose effortlessly in any key, and visualize the shapes of any chord, expanding its harmonic possibilities for accompaniment. I will also show you how to create effective grooves through chops and percussive techniques, while developing a melodic language that goes beyond scales and patterns. We will explore styles including Jazz, Blues, Fusion, Pop, Rock, Brazilian, and World Music. (According to the style, we can also work with loops and effects.)
This class is intended for musicians with a solid technical command of their instrument who want to develop their improvisation skills, whether they are taking their first steps in improvised music or already have previous experience.
The lessons will be tailored to each student. I will adapt to your learning rhythm while keeping you challenged at the same time. You will receive regular feedback, advice, guidance, and learning materials.
After more than ten years of teaching improvisation to professional string players at conservatory level, I have developed an approach that rethinks fingerboard visualization and the relationship between the ear, the hand, and the instrument, making improvisation more accessible to string players from all backgrounds.
In these lessons, I will help you understand the logic of the fingerboard, transpose effortlessly in any key, and visualize the shapes of any chord, expanding its harmonic possibilities for accompaniment. I will also show you how to create effective grooves through chops and percussive techniques, while developing a melodic language that goes beyond scales and patterns. We will explore styles including Jazz, Blues, Fusion, Pop, Rock, Brazilian, and World Music. (According to the style, we can also work with loops and effects.)
This class is intended for musicians with a solid technical command of their instrument who want to develop their improvisation skills, whether they are taking their first steps in improvised music or already have previous experience.
The lessons will be tailored to each student. I will adapt to your learning rhythm while keeping you challenged at the same time. You will receive regular feedback, advice, guidance, and learning materials.
Extra information
Contact me before the first lesson for all practical details. If you play an electric string instrument, I can provide an amplifier and cables at my place. Both classical acoustic and electric string instruments are suitable for this class.
Location
At teacher's location :
- Smiley's Barbershop, Stille Veerkade, The Hague, Netherlands
Online from Netherlands
About Me
Hello! My name is Cristiano, and I am an Italian multi-instrumentalist, composer, music theorist, and educator based in The Hague.
I specialize in jazz and improvised music, but throughout my musical journey I have embraced and performed many different styles including Blues, Folk, Classical, Contemporary, Fusion, Prog, Rock, Pop, and World Music. Over the years, I have studied violin, guitar, singing, composition, and improvisation with internationally renowned musicians across Europe and abroad. After several years of artistic development, I specialized in Music Education at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, where I later taught for ten years.
Since 2009, I have worked with students of different ages, levels, and musical backgrounds, helping them develop their creativity, musical awareness, skills, and confidence.
My teaching approach combines technical development with aural training, embodiment, musical sensitivity, interaction, and ear–instrument connection. Rather than focusing only on mechanical repetition, I aim to help students understand music deeply while developing their own artistic voice in a creative and supportive environment.
Whether you are a beginner, an advanced musician, or simply curious about improvisation and creativity in music, I look forward to sharing my passion with you in one of my classes!
I specialize in jazz and improvised music, but throughout my musical journey I have embraced and performed many different styles including Blues, Folk, Classical, Contemporary, Fusion, Prog, Rock, Pop, and World Music. Over the years, I have studied violin, guitar, singing, composition, and improvisation with internationally renowned musicians across Europe and abroad. After several years of artistic development, I specialized in Music Education at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, where I later taught for ten years.
Since 2009, I have worked with students of different ages, levels, and musical backgrounds, helping them develop their creativity, musical awareness, skills, and confidence.
My teaching approach combines technical development with aural training, embodiment, musical sensitivity, interaction, and ear–instrument connection. Rather than focusing only on mechanical repetition, I aim to help students understand music deeply while developing their own artistic voice in a creative and supportive environment.
Whether you are a beginner, an advanced musician, or simply curious about improvisation and creativity in music, I look forward to sharing my passion with you in one of my classes!
Education
- Master Degree in Music Education – Royal Conservatoire of The Hague
(specialization in Jazz Guitar and ensemble-leading)
- Master Degree in Jazz Violin & Improvised Music – C.M.D.L. Paris
- Bachelor Degree in Philosophy – La Sapienza University of Rome
(specialization in Jazz Guitar and ensemble-leading)
- Master Degree in Jazz Violin & Improvised Music – C.M.D.L. Paris
- Bachelor Degree in Philosophy – La Sapienza University of Rome
Experience / Qualifications
I have been teaching since 2009 through private lessons, workshops, ensemble coaching, and masterclasses for both instrumentalists and singers.
From 2015 to 2025, I taught in several departments at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague as a primary instrument teacher, ensemble coach, researcher, and lecturer. I have also collaborated with institutions including CODARTS Rotterdam, and the Academy of the Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam.
My teaching experience ranges from beginners to professional musicians, with a particular focus on improvisation, ensemble interaction, ear training, composition, and creative music-making.
As a performer, I have been active since 2007, leading and collaborating on a wide range of musical projects in different genres and settings, from intimate violin-guitar duos to large ensemble productions across Italy, France, Spain, Poland, and the Netherlands.
Currently, I am mostly engaged in interdisciplinary collaborations that merge music and dance, as I am focusing my artistic development on the interplay between sound and movement in improvised performances.
From 2015 to 2025, I taught in several departments at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague as a primary instrument teacher, ensemble coach, researcher, and lecturer. I have also collaborated with institutions including CODARTS Rotterdam, and the Academy of the Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam.
My teaching experience ranges from beginners to professional musicians, with a particular focus on improvisation, ensemble interaction, ear training, composition, and creative music-making.
As a performer, I have been active since 2007, leading and collaborating on a wide range of musical projects in different genres and settings, from intimate violin-guitar duos to large ensemble productions across Italy, France, Spain, Poland, and the Netherlands.
Currently, I am mostly engaged in interdisciplinary collaborations that merge music and dance, as I am focusing my artistic development on the interplay between sound and movement in improvised performances.
Age
Adults (18-64 years old)
Student level
Intermediate
Advanced
Duration
45 minutes
60 minutes
90 minutes
The class is taught in
English
Italian
French
Reviews
Availability of a typical week
(GMT -04:00)
New York
At teacher's location and via webcam
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
00-04
04-08
08-12
12-16
16-20
20-24
While rhythm is a core element of strong musicianship, developing a solid rhythmic foundation through voice and body is sometimes completely overlooked. In particular, the use of voice and body — key to embodiment — is neither automatic nor self-evident as a way to internalize rhythm, and too often reading rhythmic solfège is the only path explored.
In these lessons, we will practice rhythm through the understanding and application of Konnakol (South Indian Carnatic rhythmic solfège) alongside other techniques and approaches, in order to conceive of rhythm in different ways and integrate it into performance.
We will work on rhythmic freedom and embodiment, internal pulse and timing, subdivisions and grouping, phrasing and patterns displacement, cross-rhythms, odd meters, and different feels. You will come away with new ideas, improve your timing, greater independence in your playing, and obtain a set of tools to practice self-sufficiently.
Be(at) the Rhythm is designed for both singers and instrumentalists who want to better embody rhythm, enlarge their vocabulary of rhythmic concepts, and improve overall rhythmic awareness.
The lessons will be tailored to each student.
I will adapt to your learning pace while keeping you challenged at the same time. You will receive regular feedback, advice, and guidance.
[For instrumentalists: I will support you in translating and applying these techniques to your instrument.]
In these lessons, we will practice rhythm through the understanding and application of Konnakol (South Indian Carnatic rhythmic solfège) alongside other techniques and approaches, in order to conceive of rhythm in different ways and integrate it into performance.
We will work on rhythmic freedom and embodiment, internal pulse and timing, subdivisions and grouping, phrasing and patterns displacement, cross-rhythms, odd meters, and different feels. You will come away with new ideas, improve your timing, greater independence in your playing, and obtain a set of tools to practice self-sufficiently.
Be(at) the Rhythm is designed for both singers and instrumentalists who want to better embody rhythm, enlarge their vocabulary of rhythmic concepts, and improve overall rhythmic awareness.
The lessons will be tailored to each student.
I will adapt to your learning pace while keeping you challenged at the same time. You will receive regular feedback, advice, and guidance.
[For instrumentalists: I will support you in translating and applying these techniques to your instrument.]
What is music theory? Is it just one theory? What do we do with it? How come so many of the greatest musicians didn't even know the name of the notes?
Let's dispel the myth. They may, in fact, have lacked the names, but "knowing" in music means something else than a dusty stockpile of information and labels. Their ears, their voice, and their hands "know" very well.
We can conceive music theory as a way to bring order into the endless realm of sound possibilities. Naming and conceptualizing these possibilities is useful in many ways. I like to think of it in two directions: on the one hand, theory provides us with an overarching understanding of what we have done with music, allowing us to generalize and repeat certain principles in other contexts (reflective element); on the other hand, it can also open us up to new sound combinations as we theorize and create concepts we haven't yet heard in music (generative element). One point remains crucial: music theories come from musical practice and return to musical practice. Theories are most useful when they serve music-making, but remain empty speculation without it.
In these lessons, I will help you navigate music theories and what to do with them. I will show you a plurality of approaches to systematizing sound relationships that will best serve the music you love to play or want to compose.
The lessons will be custom made for each student. Whether you are a beginner who simply wants a little help getting the basics right, or a cultivated musician fond of music theory who wants to explore advanced and complex concepts out of the box, I will provide you with ideas, materials, and exercises. I will adapt to your learning rhythm while keeping you challenged. You will receive regular feedback, advice, and guidance.
Let's dispel the myth. They may, in fact, have lacked the names, but "knowing" in music means something else than a dusty stockpile of information and labels. Their ears, their voice, and their hands "know" very well.
We can conceive music theory as a way to bring order into the endless realm of sound possibilities. Naming and conceptualizing these possibilities is useful in many ways. I like to think of it in two directions: on the one hand, theory provides us with an overarching understanding of what we have done with music, allowing us to generalize and repeat certain principles in other contexts (reflective element); on the other hand, it can also open us up to new sound combinations as we theorize and create concepts we haven't yet heard in music (generative element). One point remains crucial: music theories come from musical practice and return to musical practice. Theories are most useful when they serve music-making, but remain empty speculation without it.
In these lessons, I will help you navigate music theories and what to do with them. I will show you a plurality of approaches to systematizing sound relationships that will best serve the music you love to play or want to compose.
The lessons will be custom made for each student. Whether you are a beginner who simply wants a little help getting the basics right, or a cultivated musician fond of music theory who wants to explore advanced and complex concepts out of the box, I will provide you with ideas, materials, and exercises. I will adapt to your learning rhythm while keeping you challenged. You will receive regular feedback, advice, and guidance.
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