The inspiration in improvisation : identifying and classifying the approaches to emotion-based musical improvisation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the naturally occurring approaches that musicians use to improvise and to analyse the relationships between the approach used, the improviser’s musical experience, and the quality of the resulting improvisation. 16 participants took part in three group improvisation and discussion sessions, and the improvisations of the final session (80 in total) were recorded and rated by experts on emotions- and quality-related aspects. The approaches mentioned by participants in the final session were organised into five distinct categories: technical, musical inspiration, nuanced emotion, visualized scene, and personal experience. Significant negative correlations were found between the technical approach and two distinct ratings for the quality of the resulting improvisation. No significant correlations were found between musical experience and the tendency to use a particular approach. Finally, two methods of organizing the approaches were proposed: (1) a scale of that places all five approaches to improvisation on a single continuum with cognitive and intuitive extremes and (2) a multi-layer categorization to use with multiple complementary approaches.