Art of Improvisation

In last class, there was an interesting discussion on the value of improvisation. It made me think about the importance of improvisation as a musician, as it is certainly not my forte at this point.

John Crawford from UCI explained that a lot of preparation is required for an improvisation work. The aesthetic experience of an improvised work is to hear or see the unplanned and spontaneous things. But there is a structure to it, and improvisation happens within that structure.

Dr. Ghezzo from NYU commented that the art of improvisation has been lost in musical training nowadays and argued that it is a very important tradition that must be continued. He reminded us that great composers and performers of the past in Western music, such as Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, among others were excellent improvisers as well.

What is the importance of improvisation? I looked it up in "The Art of Teaching" edited by Denes Agay and found an essay on the subject. Sylvisa Rabinof in her essay says "Improvisation is the embodiment of rhythm, melody, harmony, and form---the basic elements of music. It synthesizes the human factors that enter into the creative function: experience, imagination, intuition." She also explains, "One may ask whether this can produce great work; the answer is to be found in the achievements of the past. Equally significant is the fact that improvisation was not only used but taught."

Why is it that teaching students to improvise has been neglected? Rabinof says, "about a hundred years ago the art went into decline. Extemporization in the world of so-called serious music became neglected, it not lost." It is no surprise then, that I have never been taught to improvise. Although I feel that I am advanced enough to do some spontaneous playing at the piano, I am still hesitant to play by ear except very simple melodies and harmonies. The discussion on improvisation made me realize that there is something to be done, and every soon, I will find a way to teach myself how to improvise using more advanced melody, rhythm, harmony and form.