Module 3: Improvisation

Improvisation is the act of creating music in the moment. While we tend to think of improvisation as “making up” music as we perform it, most skilled improvisers employ well-defined guidelines and a toolbox of techniques that allow them to express themselves musically and creatively. Effective improvisation requires a thorough knowledge of the musical style as well as the ability to recreate what one hears in the musical ear into one’s voice or instrument. Improvisation happens frequently in some styles of music (jazz and popular), but can be needed at any time, such as when an instrument malfunctions, the wind blows a page of music off the stand, or your memory leaves you under the stress of live performance. The value of improvisation cannot be overlooked; it is a means of employing your musical imagination and, perhaps most importantly, allows you confidently express yourself and demonstrate your command and fluency of the musical language.

• a. Introduction to Improvisation
• b. Methods for Improvisation and Improvising Tonic Function
• c. Improvising Dominant Function
• d. Improvising Predominant Function
• e. Improvising Through Arpeggiation