View source for Musical improvisation

{{Short description|Spontaneous musical composition or performance}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
'''Musical improvisation''' (also known as '''musical extemporization''') is the creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") [[musical composition]], which combines performance with communication of [[Emotion|emotions]] and [[Musical technique|instrumental technique]] as well as spontaneous response to other [[musician]]s.<ref name="Gorow">{{harvnb|Gorow|2002|p=212}}</ref> Sometimes [[music]]al ideas in improvisation are spontaneous, but may be based on [[Chord (music)|chord]] changes in [[classical music]]<ref name="Gorow" /> and many other kinds of music. One definition is a "performance given extempore without planning or preparation".<ref name=FD /> Another definition is to "play or sing (music) extemporaneously, by inventing [[Variation (music)|variation]]s on a melody or creating new melodies, rhythms and harmonies".<ref name=FD>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/improvise |title=Improvise|work=[[The Free Dictionary]]|access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref> ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' defines it as "the extemporaneous composition or free performance of a musical passage, usually in a manner conforming to certain stylistic norms but unfettered by the prescriptive features of a specific musical text."<ref name=BritannicaImprovisation /> Improvisation is often done within (or based on) a pre-existing harmonic framework or [[chord progression]]. Improvisation is a major part of some types of 20th-century music, such as [[blues]], [[rock music]], [[jazz]], and [[jazz fusion]], in which instrumental performers improvise solos, melody lines and accompaniment parts.

Throughout the eras of the [[Western art music]] tradition, including the [[Medieval music|Medieval]], [[Renaissance music|Renaissance]], [[Baroque music|Baroque]], [[Classical period (music)|Classical]], and [[Romantic music|Romantic]] periods, improvisation was a valued skill. [[J. S. Bach]], [[Handel]], [[Mozart]], [[Beethoven]], [[Chopin]], [[Liszt]], and many other famous composers and musicians were known especially for their improvisational skills. Improvisation might have played an important role in the monophonic period. The earliest treatises on [[polyphony]], such as the [[Musica enchiriadis]] (ninth century), indicate that added parts were improvised for centuries before the first notated examples. However, it was only in the fifteenth century that theorists began making a hard distinction between improvised and written music.<ref name="Horsley 2001">{{harvnb|Horsley|2001}}</ref>

Some classical music forms contained sections for improvisation, such as the [[cadenza]] in solo [[concerto]]s, or the [[Prelude (music)|preludes]] to some keyboard suites by Bach and Handel, which consist of elaborations of a progression of chords, which performers are to use as the basis for their improvisation. Handel and Bach frequently improvised on the [[harpsichord]] or [[pipe organ]]. In the Baroque era, performers improvised [[Ornament (music)|ornaments]], and [[basso continuo]] keyboard players improvised [[chord voicing]]s based on [[figured bass]] notation. However, in the 20th and early 21st century, as [[Common practice period|common practice]] Western [[art music]] performance became institutionalized in symphony orchestras, opera houses and ballets, improvisation has played a smaller role. At the same time, some contemporary [[composers]] from the 20th and 21st century have increasingly included improvisation in their creative work.

In [[Indian classical music]], improvisation is a core component and an essential criterion of performances. In [[Music of India|Indian]], [[Music of Afghanistan|Afghan]], [[Music of Pakistan|Pakistani]], and [[Music of Bangladesh|Bangladeshi]] classical music, ''[[raga]]'' is the "tonal framework for composition and improvisation".<ref name="Bor">{{cite book|last1=Rao|first1=Suvarnalata|last2=Van der Meer|first2=Wim|last3=Harvey|first3=Jane|editor1-last=Bor|editor1-first=Joep|title=The raga guide : a survey of 74 Hindustani ragas|url=https://archive.org/details/ragaguidesurveyh00raos|url-access=limited|date=2002|publisher=Wystone Estate|location=Monmouth|isbn=0-9543976-0-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/ragaguidesurveyh00raos/page/n225 181]}}</ref> The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' defines a raga as "a melodic framework for improvisation and composition".<ref name=BritannicaRaga>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Nettl|first=Bruno|author-link=Bruno Nettl|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/489518/raga|title=Raga – Indian musical genre |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref>

==In Western music==
===Medieval period===
Although melodic improvisation was an important factor in European music from the earliest times, the first detailed information on improvisation technique appears in ninth-century treatises instructing singers on how to add another melody to a pre-existent liturgical chant, in a style called [[organum]].<ref name="Horsley 2001"/> Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance, improvised [[counterpoint]] over a [[cantus firmus]] (a practice found both in church music and in popular dance music) constituted a part of every musician's education, and is regarded as the most important kind of unwritten music before the Baroque period.{{sfn|Brown|1976|p=viii}}{{sfn|Fuller|2002}}

===Renaissance period===
Following the invention of music printing at the beginning of the sixteenth century, there is more detailed documentation of improvisational practice, in the form of published instruction manuals, mainly in Italy.<ref>E.g., {{harvnb|Ganassi|1535}}; {{harvnb|Ortiz|1553}}; {{harvnb|Dalla Casa|1584}}</ref> In addition to improvising counterpoint over a cantus firmus, singers and instrumentalists improvised melodies over [[ostinato]] chord patterns, made elaborate embellishments of melodic lines, and invented music extemporaneously without any predetermined schemata.{{sfn|Brown|1976|pp=viii–x}} Keyboard players likewise performed extempore, freely formed pieces.{{sfn|Santa Maria|1565}}

===Baroque period===
The kinds of improvisation practised during the Renaissance—principally either the embellishing of an existing part or the creation of an entirely new part or parts—continued into the early Baroque, though important modifications were introduced. Ornamentation began to be brought more under the control of composers, in some cases by writing out embellishments, and more broadly by introducing symbols or abbreviations for certain ornamental patterns. Two of the earliest important sources for vocal ornamentation of this sort are Giovanni Battista Bovicelli's ''Regole, passaggi di musica'' (1594), and the preface to [[Giulio Caccini]]'s collection, ''Le nuove musiche'' (1601/2){{sfn|Collins|Carter|Garden|Seletsky|2001|loc=(i)}}{{sfn|Foreman|2001}}

====Melodic instruments====
Eighteenth-century manuals make it clear that performers on the flute, oboe, violin, and other melodic instruments were expected not only to ornament previously composed pieces, but also spontaneously to improvise preludes.{{sfn|Hotteterre|1719}}

====Basso continuo====
The [[basso continuo]] (accompaniment) was mainly improvised, the composer usually providing no more than a harmonic sketch called the [[figured bass]]. The process of improvisation was called ''realization''.
{{main|Realization (figured bass)}}

====Organ improvisation and church music====
: ''see [[:Category:Organ improvisers|Category:Organ improvisers]]''
According to ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', the "monodic textures that originated about 1600&nbsp;... were ready-made, indeed in large measure intended, for improvisational enhancement, not only of the treble parts but also, almost by definition, of the bass, which was figured to suggest no more than a minimal chordal outline."<ref name=BritannicaImprovisation>{{cite encyclopedia|author= |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/284230/improvisation|title=Improvisation – music|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref> Improvised accompaniment over a [[figured bass]] was a common practice during the Baroque era, and to some extent the following periods. Improvisation remains a feature of organ playing in some church services and are regularly also performed at concerts.

[[Dieterich Buxtehude]] and [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] were regarded in the Baroque period as highly skilled organ improvisers. During the 20th century, some musicians known as great improvisers such as [[Marcel Dupré]], [[Pierre Cochereau]] and [[Pierre Pincemaille]] continued this form of music, in the tradition of the [[French organ school]]. [[Maurice Duruflé]], a great improviser himself, transcribed improvisations by [[Louis Vierne]] and [[Charles Tournemire]]. [[Olivier Latry]] later wrote his improvisations as compositions, for example ''[[Salve Regina (Latry)|Salve Regina]]''.

===Classical period===
{{See also|Partimento}}

====Keyboard improvisation====
[[Classical period (music)|Classical music]] departs from baroque style in that sometimes several voices may move together as [[chord (music)|chord]]s involving both hands, to form brief phrases without any passing tones. Though such motifs were used sparingly by Mozart, they were taken up much more liberally by Beethoven and Schubert. Such chords also appeared to some extent in baroque keyboard music, such as the 3rd movement theme in Bach's ''[[Italian Concerto (Bach)|Italian Concerto]]''. But at that time such a chord often appeared only in one clef at a time, (or one hand on the keyboard) and did not form the independent phrases found more in later music. Adorno mentions this movement of the ''Italian Concerto'' as a more flexible, improvisatory form, in comparison to Mozart, suggesting the gradual diminishment of improvisation well before its decline became obvious.{{sfn|Adorno|1997|p=221}}

The introductory gesture of [[I–IV–V–I|tonic, subdominant, dominant, tonic]], however, much like its baroque form, continues to appear at the beginning of high-classical and romantic piano pieces (and much other music) as in Haydn's [[Piano Sonata Hob. XVI/52]] and Beethoven's [[Piano Sonata No. 24 (Beethoven)|Sonata No. 24, Op. 78]].

Beethoven and Mozart cultivated mood markings such as ''con amore'', ''appassionato'', ''cantabile'', and ''expressivo''. In fact, it is perhaps because improvisation is spontaneous that it is akin to the communication of love.<ref>It has been suggested that the opening chords of Beethoven's Sonata Op. 78, "à Thérèse", communicate feelings for a young lady then in Beethoven's life, possibly [[Therese Brunsvik]]. (In [[Heinrich Schenker]]'s remarks in his edition of Beethoven's Sonatas, vol. 2, Dover Publications.)</ref>

=====Mozart and Beethoven=====
Beethoven and Mozart left excellent examples of what their improvisations were like, in the sets of variations and the sonatas which they published, and in their written out cadenzas (which illustrate what their improvisations would have sounded like). As a keyboard player, Mozart competed at least once in improvisation, with [[Muzio Clementi]].{{sfn|Abert|2007|pp=624–625}} Beethoven won many tough improvisatory battles over such rivals as [[Johann Nepomuk Hummel]], [[Daniel Steibelt]], and [[Joseph Woelfl]].{{sfn|Solomon|1998|pp=78–79}}

===Romantic period===
====Instrumental====
Extemporization, both in the form of introductions to pieces, and links between pieces, continued to be a feature of keyboard concertising until the early 20th-century. Amongst those who practised such improvisation were [[Franz Liszt]], [[Felix Mendelssohn]], [[Anton Rubinstein]], [[Ignacy Jan Paderewski|Paderewski]], [[Percy Grainger]] and [[Vladimir de Pachmann|Pachmann]]. Improvisation in the area of art music seems to have declined with the growth of recording.{{sfn|Hamilton|2008|pp=101–138}}

====Opera====
After studying over 1,200 early [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]] recordings, [[Will Crutchfield]] concludes that "The solo [[cavatina]] was the most obvious and enduring locus of soloistic discretion in nineteenth-century opera."{{sfn|Crutchfield|1983|p=7}} He goes on to identify seven main types of vocal improvisation used by opera singers in this repertory:{{sfn|Crutchfield|1983|pp=5–13}}
# The Verdian "full-stop" [[cadenza]]
# [[Aria]]s without "full-stop": ''ballate'', ''canzoni'', and ''[[romanza|romanze]]''
# [[Ornament (music)|Ornamentation]] of internal cadences
# Melodic variants (interpolated high notes, ''[[acciaccatura|acciaccature]]'', rising two-note "slide")
# [[Strophic form|Strophic]] variation and the problem of the [[cabaletta]]
# Facilitations (''puntature'', simplification of ''fioratura'', etc.)
# [[Recitative]]

==Contemporary==
=== Jazz ===
{{main|Jazz improvisation}}
Improvisation is one of the basic elements that sets jazz apart from other types of music. The unifying moments in improvisation that take place in live performance are understood to encompass the performer, the listener, and the physical space that the performance takes place in.{{sfn|Savage|2011|p=116}} Even if improvisation is also found outside of jazz, it may be that no other music relies so much on the art of "composing in the moment", demanding that every musician rise to a certain level of creativity that may put the performer in touch with his or her unconscious as well as conscious states.{{sfn|Szwed|2000|p=43}} The educational use of improvised jazz recordings is widely acknowledged. They offer a clear value as documentation of performances despite their perceived limitations. With these available, generations of jazz musicians are able to implicate styles and influences in their performed new improvisations.{{sfn|Savage|2011|p=118}} Many varied scales and their [[musical mode|modes]] can be used in improvisation. They are often not written down in the process, but they help musicians practice the jazz idiom.

<blockquote>A common view of what a jazz [[Solo (music)|soloist]] does could be expressed thus: as the [[harmony|harmonies]] go by, he selects [[Musical note|note]]s from each [[chord (music)|chord]], out of which he fashions a [[melody]]. He is free to embellish by means of [[nonchord tone|passing]] and neighbor tones, and he may add [[extended chord|extensions]] to the chords, but at all times a good improviser must follow the [[chord progression|changes]]. ... [However], a jazz musician really has several options: he may reflect the chord progression exactly, he may "skim over" the progression and simply decorate with notes from the key of the piece (parent [[musical scale]]), or he may fashion his own [[voice leading|voice-leading]], using his intuition and listening experience, which may clash at some points with the chords the [[rhythm section]] is playing.{{sfn|Winkler|1978|pp=16–18}}</blockquote>

===Folk Music===
Certain folk music traditions, including [[Irish fiddle|Irish Fiddle Music]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Johansson |first1=Mats |title=Improvisation in traditional music: learning practices and principles |journal=Music Education Research |date=22 Nov 2021 |volume=24 |issue=2022 Issue 1 |pages=56–69 |doi=10.1080/14613808.2021.2007229 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14613808.2021.2007229 |access-date=29 April 2025|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Old-time music|Old-time]], [[Blues|Traditional Blues]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Head |first1=Howard |title=What is Improvisation in Blues Music? |url=https://www.thomasheppell.com/what-is-improvisation-in-blues-music |website=Thomas Heppell |date=21 March 2024 |access-date=29 April 2025}}</ref> and [[Bluegrass music|Bluegrass Music]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bitz |first1=Michael |title=Teaching Improvisation outside of Jazz Settings: Musical genres that lend themselves to improvisations by beginning student musicians include bluegrass, blues, ska, reggae, rap, klezmer, and rock |journal=Music Educators Journal |volume=84 |issue=4 |pages=21–41 |doi=10.2307/3399111 |jstor=3399111 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2307/3399111 |access-date=29 April 2025|url-access=subscription }}</ref> commonly include improvised sections. In Bluegrass, short improvised solos are called "breaks" and they are performed during specific sections of a tune. As an example, in a song, a break might be performed at the end of each chorus, and each break within that song would be performed by a different musician. Certain Bluegrass tunes are known as "breakdowns"; those are pieces that are entirely composed of instrumental breaks from start to end, where different musicians take turns improvising.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Meaning Behind "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" by Earl Scruggs |url=https://americansongwriter.com/the-meaning-behind-foggy-mountain-breakdown-by-earl-scruggs/ |website=American Songwriter |date=6 September 2023 |access-date=29 April 2025}}</ref>

===Contemporary classical music===
With the notable exception of liturgical improvisation on the organ, the first half of the twentieth century is marked by an almost total absence of actual improvisation in contemporary classical music.{{sfn|Griffiths|2001}} Since the 1950s, some contemporary composers have placed fewer restrictions on the improvising performer, using techniques such as vague notation (for example, indicating only that a certain number of notes must sound within a defined period of time). New Music ensembles formed around improvisation were founded, such as the [[Scratch Orchestra]] in England; [[Musica Elettronica Viva]] in Italy; [[Lukas Foss]] Improvisation Chamber Ensemble at the University of California, Los Angeles; [[Larry Austin]]'s New Music Ensemble at the University of California, Davis; the [[ONCE Group]] at Ann Arbor; the Sonic Arts Group; and [[San Francisco Tape Music Center|Sonics]], the latter three funding themselves through concerts, tours, and grants. Significant pieces include Foss ''Time Cycles'' (1960) and ''Echoi'' (1963).{{sfn|Von Gunden|1983|p=32}}

Other composers working with improvisation include [[Richard Barrett (composer)|Richard Barrett]], [[Benjamin Boretz]], [[Pierre Boulez]], [[Joseph Brent]], [[Sylvano Bussotti]], [[Cornelius Cardew]], [[Jani Christou]], [[Douglas J. Cuomo]], [[Alvin Curran]], [[Stuart Dempster]], [[Hugh Davies (composer)|Hugh Davies]], [[Karlheinz Essl]], [[Mohammed Fairouz]], [[Rolf Gehlhaar]], [[Vinko Globokar]], [[Richard Grayson (composer)|Richard Grayson]], [[Hans-Joachim Hespos]], [[Barton McLean]], [[Priscilla McLean]], [[Stephen Nachmanovitch]], [[Pauline Oliveros]], [[Henri Pousseur]], [[Todd Reynolds (musician)|Todd Reynolds]], [[Terry Riley]], [[Frederic Rzewski]], [[Saman Samadi]], [[Bill Smith (jazz musician)|William O. Smith]], [[Manfred Stahnke]], [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]], [[Tōru Takemitsu]], [[Richard Teitelbaum]], [[Vangelis]], [[Michael Vetter]], [[Christian Wolff (composer)|Christian Wolff]], [[Iannis Xenakis]], [[Yitzhak Yedid]], [[La Monte Young]], [[Frank Zappa]], [[Hans Zender]], and [[John Zorn]].

===Contemporary popular music===

====Psychedelic- and progressive-rock music====
British and American [[psychedelic rock]] acts of the 1960s and 1970s used improvisations to express themselves in a musical language.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=O'Brien |first=Lucy M. |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/481546/psychedelic-rock |title=Psychedelic rock – music |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref> The American Rock band [[Grateful Dead]] based their career around improvised live performances, meaning that no two shows ever sounded the same.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.csustan.edu/sites/default/files/Philosophy/Tuedio/GratefulDeadPapers/GDImprovisationPaper.pdf|title="It All Rolls into One:" The Allure of Chaotic Synergy in Grateful Dead Improvisation and Musical Dialogue|work=
California State University Stanislaus|accessdate=22 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Grateful Dead and the Art of Rock Improvisation|first=David|last=Malvinni|publisher=Scarecrow Press|page=3|year=2013|isbn=978-0-810-88348-2}}</ref> Improvisation was a key part of [[Pink Floyd]]'s music from 1967 to 1972.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Routledge Handbook of Pink Floyd|publisher=Taylor & Francis|page=109|year=2022|isbn=978-1-000-64956-7}}</ref> Another progressive rock band that implemented improvisation was [[King Crimson]], whose live performances consisted of many improvisational pieces.<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Bohling |first1=Christopher |title=Freedom and Construction: New Concepts of Form in the Improvisations and Compositions of King Crimson |url=https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/entities/publication/9f84e4bb-b637-4622-8e69-56ae8002d62d |website=kuscholarworks.ku.edu |date=31 December 2012 |access-date=October 15, 2024}}</ref> The improvisation died down in the 1980s, but saw a resurgence in the 1990s.

Rock bands that perform largely improvised music are also known as [[Jam band|Jam Bands]].

===Silent-film music===
In the realm of [[silent film]]-music performance, there were musicians ([[theatre organ]] players and [[piano]] players) whose improvised performances accompanying these film has been recognized as exceptional by critics, scholars, and audiences alike.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishsilentcinema.com/music_and_musicians.php |title=British Silent Cinema – Broadway Cinema Nottingham UK – silent music and musicians |access-date=16 June 2008 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217144539/http://www.britishsilentcinema.com/music_and_musicians.php |archive-date=17 December 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Altman|first=Rick|author-link=Rick Altman|title=Silent Film Sound|year=2004|isbn=9780231534000}}</ref> [[Neil Brand]] was a composer who also performed improvisationally.<ref name=kobel>{{cite book|last1=Kobel|first1=Peter|title=Silent Movies: The Birth of Film and the Triumph of Movie Culture}}</ref> Brand, along with Guenter A. Buchwald, Philip Carli, Stephen Horne, Donald Sosin, John Sweeney, and Gabriel Thibaudeau, all performed at the annual conference on silent film in [[Pordenone]], [[Italy]], [[Pordenone Silent Film Festival|Le Giornate del Cinema Muto]]. In improvising for silent film, performers have to play music that matches the mood, style and pacing of the films they accompany. In some cases, musicians had to accompany films [[sight-reading|at first sight]], without preparation. Improvisers needed to know a wide range of musical styles and have the stamina to play for sequences of films which occasionally ran over three hours. In addition to the performances, some pianists also taught master classes for those who wanted to develop their skill in improvising for films. When [[talkies]]–[[motion picture]]s with sound–were introduced, these talented improvising musicians had to find other jobs. In the 2010s, there are a small number of [[film society|film societies]] which present vintage [[Silent film|silent films]], using live improvising musicians to accompany the film.

===Venues===
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2021}}
Worldwide there are many venues dedicated to supporting live improvisation. In [[Melbourne]] since 1998, the Make It Up Club (held every Tuesday evening at Bar Open on [[Brunswick Street, Melbourne]]) has been presenting a weekly concert series dedicated to promoting [[avant-garde]] improvised music and sound performance of the highest conceptual and performative standards (regardless of idiom, genre, or instrumentation). The Make It Up Club has become an institution in Australian improvised music and consistently features artists from all over the world.

=== Music education ===
A number of approaches to teaching improvisation have emerged in [[jazz]] pedagogy, [[popular music pedagogy]], [[Dalcroze|the Dalcroze method]], [[Orff Schulwerk|Orff-Schulwerk]], and [[Satis N. Coleman|Satis Coleman's]] creative music. Current research in music education includes investigating how often improvisation is taught,<ref>"Composition and Improvisation in Instrumental Methods Courses: Instrumental Music Teacher Educators' Perspectives", ''[[Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education]]'', 205, 2015.{{full citation needed|date=December 2021}}</ref> how confident music majors and teachers are at teaching improvisation,<ref>"A national survey of music education majors' confidence in teaching improvisation", ''[[International Journal of Music Education]]'' 34, no. 4, 2015.{{full citation needed|date=December 2021}}</ref> neuroscience and psychological aspects of improvisation,<ref>"The Neuroscience of Improvisation", ''[[Music Educators Journal]]'' 103, no. 3, 2017.{{full citation needed|date=December 2021}}</ref> and free-improvisation as a pedagogical approach.<ref>"The effects of group free improvisation instruction on improvisation achievement and improvisation confidence", ''Music Education Research'' 18, no. 2, 2016.{{full citation needed|date=December 2021}}</ref>

==In Indian classical music==
A [[raga]] is one of the [[musical mode|melodic modes]] used in [[Indian classical music]]. Joep Bor of the [[Codarts|Rotterdam Conservatory of Music]] has defined ''Raga'' as "tonal framework for composition and improvisation".<ref name="Bor"/> [[Nazir Jairazbhoy]], chairman of UCLA's department of [[ethnomusicology]], characterized ragas as separated by scale, line of ascent and descent, [[wiktionary:en:transilience|transilience]], emphasized notes and register, and intonation and ornaments.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Rāgs of North Indian music |last=Jairazbhoy |first=Nazir Ali |author-link=Nazir Jairazbhoy |year=1995 |publisher=Popular Prakashan |isbn=81-7154-395-2 |page=45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hGLRqLscf78C&pg=PA45}}</ref> A raga uses a series of five or more [[musical note]]s upon which a [[melody]] is constructed. However, the way the notes are approached and rendered in [[Phrase (music)|musical phrases]] and the mood they convey are more important in defining a raga than the notes themselves. In the Indian musical tradition, rāgas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons. Indian classical music is always set in a rāga. Non-classical music such as popular [[Filmi|Indian film songs]] and [[ghazal]]s sometimes use rāgas in their compositions.

According to ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', a raga, also spelled rag (in northern India) or ragam (in southern India), (from Sanskrit, meaning "colour" or "passion"), in the classical music of India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, is "a melodic framework for improvisation and composition. A raga is based on a scale with a given set of notes, a typical order in which they appear in melodies, and characteristic musical motifs. The basic components of a raga can be written down in the form of a scale (in some cases differing in ascent and descent). By using only these notes, by emphasizing certain degrees of the scale, and by going from note to note in ways characteristic to the raga, the performer sets out to create a mood or atmosphere (rasa) that is unique to the raga in question. There are several hundred ragas in present use, and thousands are possible in theory."<ref name=BritannicaRaga />

[[Alapa]] (Sanskrit: "conversation") are "improvised melody structures that reveal the musical characteristics of a raga".<ref name=BritannicaRaga /> "Alapa ordinarily constitutes the first section of the performance of a raga. Vocal or instrumental, it is accompanied by a drone (sustained-tone) instrument and often also by a melodic instrument that repeats the soloist's phrases after a lag of a few seconds. The principal portion of alapa is not metric but rhythmically free; in Hindustani music it moves gradually to a section known as jor, which uses a rhythmic pulse though no tala (metric cycle). The performer of the alapa gradually introduces the essential notes and melodic turns of the raga to be performed. Only when the soloist is satisfied that he has set forth the full range of melodic possibilities of the raga and has established its unique mood and personality will he proceed, without interruption, to the metrically organized section of the piece. If a drummer is present, as is usual in formal concert, his first beats serve as a signal to the listener that the alapa is concluded."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author= |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/12195/alapa|title=Alapa – Indian music|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref>

==Artificial intelligence==
{{main|Machine improvisation}}

{{See also|Machine learning|Machine listening|Artificial intelligence|Computer models of musical creativity}}
Machine improvisation uses computer algorithms to create [[improvisation]] on existing music materials. This is usually done by sophisticated recombination of musical phrases extracted from existing music, either live or pre-recorded. In order to achieve credible improvisation in particular style, machine improvisation uses [[machine learning]] and [[pattern matching]] algorithms to analyze existing musical examples. The resulting patterns are then used to create new variations "in the style" of the original music, developing a notion of stylistic reinjection. This is different from other improvisation methods with computers that use [[algorithmic composition]] to generate new music without performing analysis of existing music examples.<ref>Mauricio Toro, Carlos Agon, Camilo Rueda, Gerard Assayag. "[http://www.jatit.org/volumes/Vol86No2/17Vol86No2.pdf GELISP: A Framework to Represent Musical Constraint Satisfaction Problems and Search Strategies]", ''Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology'' 86, no. 2 (2016): 327–331.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Jazz}}
{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}
*[[Bar-line shift]]
*[[Bluegrass music]]
*[[Free improvisation]]
*[[Improvisation in music therapy]]
*[[Impro-Visor]] (software)
*[[Jam session]]
*[[Jam band]]
*[[List of free improvising musicians and groups]]
*[[Modular synthesis]]
*[[Music for People (organization)|Music for People]]
*[[Musical collective]]
*[[Musics (magazine)|''Musics'' (magazine)]]
*[[Non-lexical vocables in music]]
*[[Prepared guitar]]
*[[Prepared piano]]
*[[Side-slipping]]
*[[S.P.I.T. (music)|S.P.I.T]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
{{div col|colwidth=45em}}
* {{cite book |last=Abert |first=Hermann |author-link=Hermann Abert |year=2007 |title=W. A. Mozart |translator=Stewart Spencer |editor=[[Cliff Eisen]] |location=New Haven |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-07223-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Adorno |first=Theodor W. |author-link=Theodor W. Adorno |year=1973 |title=The Jargon of Authenticity |translator1=Knut Tarnowski |translator2=Frederic Will |location=Evanston, Illinois |publisher=Northwestern University Press |isbn=0-8101-0407-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Adorno |first=Theodor W. |year=1981 |title=Prisms |translator1=[[Samuel Weber]] |translator2=Shierry Weber |series=Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=0-262-51025-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Adorno |first=Theodor W. |year=1997 |title=Aesthetic Theory |translator=Robert Hullot-Kentor |publisher=Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press |isbn=0-8166-1799-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Brown |first=Howard Mayer |author-link=Howard Mayer Brown |year=1976 |title=Embellishing Sixteenth-Century Music |series=Early Music Series 1 |location=London |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-323175-1}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last1=Collins |first1=Michael |last2=Carter |first2=Stewart A. |last3=Garden |first3=Greer |last4=Seletsky |first4=Robert E. |year=2001 |title=Improvisation II: Western Art Music 3: The Baroque Period |encyclopedia=[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]] |edition=2nd |editor1=[[Stanley Sadie]] |editor2=[[John Tyrrell (musicologist)|John Tyrrell]] |location=London |publisher=Macmillan}}
* {{cite journal |last=Crutchfield |first=Will |author-link=Will Crutchfield |year=1983 |title=Vocal Ornamentation in Verdi: The Phonographic Evidence |journal=[[19th-Century Music]] |volume=7 |number=1 |pages=3–54 |doi=10.2307/746545 |jstor=746545}} {{Subscription required}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Dalla Casa|1584}}|reference=[[Girolamo Dalla Casa|Dalla Casa, Girolamo]]. 1584. ''Il vero modo di diminuir, con tutte le sorti di stromenti di fiato, & corda, & di voce humana''. 2 vols. Venice: Angelo Gardano. Facsimile reprint, in one volume, Bibliotheca musica Bononiensis, sezione 2, no. 23 (Bologna: Arnoldi Forni Editore).}}
* {{cite book |last=Foreman |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Foreman |year=2001 |title=Late Renaissance Singing |publisher=Pro Music Press |isbn=9781887117159}}
* {{cite book |last=Fuller |first=Sarah |year=2002 |chapter=Organum, Discantus, Contrapunctus in the Middle Ages |title=The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory |editor=Thomas Christensen |pages=477–502 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-62371-5}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Ganassi|1535}}|reference=[[Silvestro Ganassi dal Fontego|Ganassi, Silvestro]]. 1535. ''Opera Intitulata Fontegara: Laquale insegna a sonare di flauto ch'o tutta l'arte opportuna a esso instrumento massime il diminuire ilquale sara utile ad ogni istrumeno di fiato et chorde: et anchora a chi si dileta di canto''. Venice: per Syluestro di Ganassi dal Fontego, Sonator dalla illustrissima signoria di Venetia hautor pprio. Facsimile reprints, Collezione di trattati e musiche antiche edite in fac-simile (Milan: Bollettino bibliografico musicale, 1934) and Bibliotheca musica Bononiensis, Sezione II, no. 18 (Bologna: Forni, 1969). German edition, translated and edited by Hildemarie Peter (Berlin-Lichterfeld: [[Robert Lienau]], 1956). English edition with translation by Dorothy Swainson of Peter's German text (Berlin-Lichterfeld: Robert Lienau, 1959).}}
* {{cite book |last=Gorow |first=Ron |year=2002 |title=Hearing and Writing Music: Professional Training for Today's Musician |edition=2nd |location=Gardena, California |publisher=September Publishing |isbn=0-9629496-7-1}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Griffiths |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Griffiths (writer) |year=2001 |title=Improvisation §II: Western Art Music 6: The 20th Century |encyclopedia=[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]] |editor1=[[Stanley Sadie]] |editor2=[[John Tyrrell (musicologist)|John Tyrrell]] |location=London |publisher=Macmillan}}
* {{cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Kenneth |author-link=Kenneth Hamilton |year=2008 |title=After the Golden Age: Romantic Pianism and Modern Performance |location=Oxford and New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-195-17826-5}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Horsley |first=Imogene |year=2001 |title=Improvisation II: Western Art Music 2: History to 1600 |encyclopedia=[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]] |edition=2nd |editor1=[[Stanley Sadie]] |editor2=[[John Tyrrell (musicologist)|John Tyrrell]] |location=London |publisher=Macmillan}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Hotteterre|1719}}|reference=[[Jacques-Martin Hotteterre|Hotteterre, Jacques-Martin]]. 1719. ''L'art de préluder: sur la flûte traversière, sur la flûte à bec, sur le hautbois et autres instruments de dessus, op. 7''. Paris: Boivin. Facsimile reprints: recueillie par Michel Sanvoisin (Paris: A. Zurfluh, 1966), (Geneva: Minkoff, 1978) {{ISBN|2-8266-0672-7}}, and Archivum musicum: L'art de la flûte traversière 55 (Florence: SPES, 1999). {{ISBN|88-7242-779-7}} Musical pieces edited by {{ill|Erich Doflein|de}} and {{ill|Nikolaus Delius|de|Nikolaus Delius (Flötist)}} as ''48 Préludes in 24 Tonarten aus op. VII, 1719, für Altblockflöte (Querflöte, Oboe)''. Mainz: B. Schott's Söhne; New York: Schott Music, 1972.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Ortiz|1553}}|reference=[[Diego Ortiz|Ortiz, Diego]]. 1553. ''Trattado de glosas sobre clausulas y otros generos depuntos en la musica de violones. Nuevamente puestos en Luz'' (also in Italian, as ''El primo libro nel quale si tratta delle glose sopra le cadenze et altre sorte de punti in la musica del violone''). 2 vols. Rome: Dorico. Facsimile reprint of the Italian edition, Archivum musicum 57 (Florence: Studio per edizioni scelte, 1984). Transcription, edition, and German translation by [[Max Schneider (music historian)|Max Schneider]] (Kassel: [[Bärenreiter]], 1936).}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Santa Maria|1565}}|reference=[[Tomás de Santa María|Santa Maria, Tomás de]]. 1565. ''Libro llamado Arte de tañer fantasia: assi para tecla como para vihuela, y todo instrumento, en que se pudiere tañer a tres, y a quatro vozes, y a mas ... Elqual por mandado del muy alto Consejo real fue examinado, y aprouado por el eminente musico de Su Magestad Antonio de Cabeçon, y por Iuan de Cabeçon, su hermano''. Valladolid: F. Fernandez de Cordova. Facsimile editions: with an introduction in English by [[Denis Stevens]] (Farnborough, UK: Gregg International Publishers, 1972) {{ISBN|0-576-28229-4}}; Monumentos de la música española 75, edited by Luis Antonio González Marín, with the collaboration of Antonio Ezquerro Estaban, et al. (Barcelona: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Institución "Milà i Fontanals", Departamento de Musicología, 2007). }}{{ISBN|978-84-00-08541-4}} English translation by Warren E. Hultberg and Almonte C. Howell Jr, as ''The Art of Playing the Fantasia'' (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.: Latin American Literary Review Press, 1991) {{ISBN|0-935480-52-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Savage |first=Steve |year=2011 |title=Bytes and Backbeats – Repurposing Music in the Digital Age |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=9780472027736}}
* {{cite book |last=Solomon |first=Maynard |author-link=Maynard Solomon |year=1998 |title=Beethoven |edition=2nd, revised |location=New York; London |publisher=Schirmer Books; Prentice Hall International |isbn=0-02-864717-3 |type=Second printing, 2001, ISBN 0-8256-7268-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Szwed |first=John F. |author-link=John Szwed |year=2000 |title=Jazz 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Jazz |location=New York |publisher=Hyperion |isbn=0-7868-8496-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Von Gunden |first=Heidi |author-link=Heidi Von Gunden |year=1983 |title=The Music of [[Pauline Oliveros]] |location=Metuchen, New Jersey |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=0-8108-1600-8}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Winkler |first1=Peter |year=1978 |title=Toward a Theory of Pop Harmony |journal=[[In Theory Only]] |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=3–26}}
{{div col end}}

==Further reading==
{{div col|colwidth=45em}}
* Alperson, Philip. 1984. "On Musical Improvisation". ''[[The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism]]'' 43, no. 1 (Fall): 17–29.
* [[Derek Bailey (guitarist)|Bailey, Derek]]. 1992. ''Improvisation: Its Nature and Practice in Music'', revised edition. London: British Library National Sound Archive. {{ISBN|0-7123-0506-8}}.
* [[Paul Berliner (ethnomusicologist)|Berliner, Paul]]. 1994. ''Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|0-226-04380-0}} (cloth); {{ISBN|0-226-04381-9}} (pbk).
* [[Will Crutchfield|Crutchfield, Will]]. 2001. "Improvisation: II. Western Art Music: 5. The Nineteenth Century: (ii) Vocal music". ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'', second edition, edited by [[Stanley Sadie]] and [[John Tyrrell (musicologist)|John Tyrrell]]. London: Macmillan.
* [[Carl Czerny|Czerny, Carl]]. 1833. ''L'art de préluder: mis en pratique pour le piano par 120 examples de préludes, modulations, cadenses et fantaisien de tous genres''. Paris: M. Schlesinger.
* {{cite journal|last=Duckles|first=Vincent|year=1957|title=Florid Embellishment in English Song of the Late 16th and Early 17th Centuries|journal=Annales musicologiques|volume=5|pages=329–345|ref=none}}
* [[Ernst Ferand|Ferand, Ernest T.]] 1938. ''Die Improvisation in der Musik; eine Entwicklungsgeschichtliche und Psychologische Untersuchung''. Zürich: Rhein-Verlag.
* {{cite journal|last=Ferand|first=Ernest T.|year=1956|title=Improvised Vocal Counterpoint in the Late Renaissance and Early Baroque|journal=Annales musicologiques|volume=4|pages=129–174|ref=none}}
* [[Otto Friedrich|Friedrich, Otto]]. 1989. ''Glenn Gould: A Life and Variations''. New York: Random House. {{ISBN|0-394-57771-X}}.
* [[Guido d'Arezzo]]. 1978. "Micrologus" [ca. 1027], translated by Warren Babb. In ''Hucbald, Guido, and John on Music: Three Medieval Treatises'', edited, with introductions, by [[Claude V. Palisca]]; index of chants by [[Alejandro Planchart|Alejandro Enrique Planchart]], 57–83. Music Theory Translation Series 3. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. {{ISBN|0-300-02040-6}}.
* Hall, Lucy. 2002. "[https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2002/feb/22/artsfeatures1  They're Just Making It Up—Whatever Happened to Improvisation in Classical Music?]" ''[[The Guardian]]'' (12 June).
* [[Daniel Heartz|Heartz, Daniel]]. 1958–63. "The ''Basse Dance'', Its Evolution Circa 1450 to 1550". ''Annales musicologiques'' 6:287–340.
* [[Alexandra Kertz-Welzel|Kertz-Welzel, Alexandra]]. 2004. "Piano Improvisation Develops Musicianship". ''Orff-Echo'' 37, no. 1:11–14.
* [[Wolf Koenig|Koenig, Wolf]], and [[Roman Kroitor]] (prod./dir.). 1959a. ''Glenn Gould: Off the Record.'' Film, 30 mins. [Canada]: National Film Board of Canada.
* Koenig, Wolf, and Roman Kroitor (prod./dir.). 1959b. ''Glenn Gould: On the Record.'' Film, 30 mins. [Canada]: National Film Board of Canada.
* {{cite journal|last=Kutschke|first=B.|jstor=833513|pages=147–162|title=Improvisation: An Always-Accessible Instrument of Innovation|volume=37|issue=2|journal=[[Perspectives of New Music]]|year=1999|doi=10.2307/833513|ref=none}}
* [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus]]. 1953. ''[[Piano Concerto No. 24 (Mozart)|Concerto No. 24 in C Minor for Piano]]'', edited by [[Franz Kullak]]. New York: G. Schirmer.
* [[Stephen Nachmanovitch|Nachmanovitch, Stephen]]. 1990. ''[[Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art]].'' Los Angeles: J. P. Tarcher; New York: Distributed by St. Martin's Press. {{ISBN|0-87477-578-7}} (cloth); {{ISBN|0-87477-631-7}} (pbk); New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. {{ISBN|0-87477-631-7}}.
* Paras, Jason. 1986. ''The Music for Viola Bastarda'', edited by George Houle and Glenna Houle. Music—Scholarship and Performance. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.  {{ISBN|0-253-38824-4}}
* Polk, Keith. 1966. ''Flemish Wind Bands in the Late Middle Ages: A Study of Improvisatory Instrumental Practices"''. PhD dissertation. Berkeley: University of California.
* R., Ken (2012). ''Dog Ear: Tritone Substitution for Jazz Guitar''. Amazon Digital Services, {{ASIN|B008FRWNIW}}
* [[Arthur Schopenhauer|Schopenhauer, Arthur]]. 1958. ''[[The World as Will and Representation]]''. Translated from the German by E. F. J. Payne, 2 vols. [Indian Hills, Colorado]: Falcon's Wing Press.
* Sancho-Velazquez, Angeles. 2005. ''The Legacy of Genius: Improvisation, Romantic Imagination, and the Western Musical Canon'', PhD dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.
* Solis, Gabriel, and [[Bruno Nettl]] (eds.). 2009. ''Musical Improvisation: Art, Education, and Society''. Champaign: University of Illinois Press. {{ISBN|978-0-252-03462-6}} (cloth) {{ISBN|978-0-252-07654-1}} (pbk)
* [[Jean-Pierre Thiollet|Thiollet, Jean-Pierre]]. 2017. ''Improvisation so piano''. Paris: Neva Editions. {{ISBN|978-2-35055-228-6}}
{{div col end}}

==External links==
* [https://www.npr.org/programs/specials/milestones/991124.motm.improv.html Robert Levin on Improvisation in Classical Music]
* [http://www.newmusicbox.org/page.nmbx?id=35tp00 Losing Control: Indeterminacy and Improvisation in Music Since 1950] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604005938/http://www.newmusicbox.org/page.nmbx?id=35tp00 |date=4 June 2011 }} by Sabine Feisst
* [http://www.essl.at/bibliogr/improvisation-e.html Improvisation on ''Improvisation'']: Karlheinz Essl and Jack Hauser talking about musical improvisation with computers
* [http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~keller/jazz/improvisor/HowToImproviseJazz.pdf How to Improvise Jazz Melodies, by Bob Keller]
* [http://www.outsideshore.com/primer/primer/ A Jazz Improvisation Primer by Marc Sabatella] Information about jazz improvisation
* [http://www.pointofdeparture.org/PoD30/PoD30FickleSonance.html A Fickle Sonance] A column about improvisation by Art Lange
* [http://www.furious.com/perfect/improvtechniques.html Approaches to Improvisation] Tutorial on music improvisation techniques

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{{Jazz}}
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