Improvisation and Jazz: Implications for International Practice

Abstract

Improvising is common across many musical times and practices. Improvising was central to early Greek musical performances; it was a highly valued aspect of Baroque and Classical practices; it has an important place in many avant-garde works; and it figures prominently in many African, Indian, Persian and Asian musical traditions. Additionally, of course, improvisation is synonymous with the essence of jazz. Despite its frequency in world music cultures, many questions about the artistic, cognitive, cultural and educational aspects of musical improvisation remain problematic. For example, what can we say in general about the artistic nature of musical improvisation? Some sources suggest that improvising is simply a matter of performing without musical notation. Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians endorses this view. It defines improvisation as &dquo;the art of thinking and performing music simultaneously ’ and, therefore, ’the primitive act of music-making ’ (Blom, 1973, p. 991). Other sources use the term ’improvisation’ to mean a kind of composing-on-the-spot.

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