Improvisation with music

How do you improvise in music?

Musical improvisation is creating music in the moment. Have you ever let your fingers wander freely over the keys of a piano? Maybe it even turned into a nice melody. Then you have improvised.

Improvisation is more important in some genres than others. If you listen to typical chart pop on the radio, it is rarely improvised music. During the recordings, the artists have rehearsed the lyrics and melody in advance, so that the music turns out as they have planned.

The improviser has a spontaneous approach to how musical elements, such as melody and rhythm, can be put together. This can be compared to the way we adapt words and sentences when we speak. Improvisation in music, like language, also has different degrees of freedom. How free the improvisation is is governed by the context in which it takes place. Genre, musical theme and form are examples of frameworks that can delimit improvisation.

It's about letting go, having fun and trying new things. This elective gives you an introduction to musical improvisation.