Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Improvising music'

This thesis presents improvised practice with accompanying contextualisation alongside a discussion of the broader issues involved in improvising music in contemporary Western culture. The first chapter explores aesthetic and philosophical issues relating to improvisation in general while also establishing a context for the practice that follows. Starting by examining the role of a musical instrument in an improvising situation, this chapter goes on to discuss how improvisation challenges distinctions such as art and craft or subject and object. The issues of risk, vulnerability, dialogue and collaboration are then considered leading to an exploration of the role that memory, the familiar and habit play in improvisation. The chapter finishes with an investigation into the relationship between ethics and improvisation. The second chapter consists of improvised practice presented as four separate projects: The Quartet, Spock, CCCU Scratch Orchestra and a duo with Matthew Wright. Each of these projects consists of a commentary discussing particular issues raised through this research followed by the presentation of the relevant improvised practice. This practice is documented through and presented in the form of audio recordings. A concluding section reprises and identifies the overall themes of the thesis and provides contextualisation for the final live performance that forms an important practical component of this research.

The purpose of this study was to build upon the growing body of knowledge relating to music improvisation by investigating the processes used by high school music instrumentalists when improvising music and the factors that influence those processes. Many factors contribute to music improvisation skill and they must all be taken into account when investigating the music improvisation processes of high school music students. The theoretical framework of this study was based on the complex interactions that take place simultaneously between three identified ensembles of factors. The three ensembles of factors were: I . The student profile which included general information and detailed aspects of prior music experience. 2. Enabling skills which included audiation ability, the ability to play music by ear and kinaesthetic abilities. 3. Improvisation processes including, creative processes, cognitive strategies and group or solo contexts for music improvisation. Taking into account the exploratory nature of this study, the single embedded case study design, involving 12 high school music instrumentalists aged between 13 and 15 years, offered the necessary potential to cope with the wide variety of evidence. The formal survey was used to gather information that would establish a detailed profile of each student. The Test of Ability to Audiate and Ability to Play by Ear (TAAAPE) was used to measure students' ability to audiate and play music by ear. Similarly, in order to explore the relationships between improvisation processes, enabling skills and the profile of each student, the Improvisation Ability Test (IAT) was used. This test provided authentic music improvisation experiences in both group and solo contexts. Both tests were scored by two independent judges and the researcher. Finally, the focused interview was used to establish the cognitive strategies used by the students when undertaking the various music improvisation tasks. The ability of the case study design to handle both qualitative and quantitative data proved to be useful in this study. Two major findings emerged from the analysis of the data: 1. The first was that the processes used by this small group of students when engaged in music improvisation were unpredictable. 2. The second major finding relates to evidence that supports the theory of an interaction between the three ensembles of factors as presented in the theoretical framework of this study. However, contrary to what might have been expected, the study further indicated that the interaction of these factors, in the context of the music improvisation processes used by these individual students, did not follow or produce any specific patterns. It was not within the scope of this study to seek the emergence of a model for teaching music improvisation to high school music instrumentalists. However, it has opened the path for further research which could result in the development of such a model.

The jazz avant-garde of the 60s and 70s has often been depicted as a movement that signalled the end of jazz as we had come to know it, a movement of unbridled musical energy and passion without the essential restraining influences of formal guidelines and reverence for - traditions. With the benefit of hindsight, from observing the almost neoclassical stance of jazz in the 80s, the notion that this music signified the genre's Armaggedon was patently a misconception. This thesis argues that free jazz was as much a style, concerned with finding its own voice and technical vocabulary, as any other period of jazz history. As an analytical and critical study of pianists and their use of the piano in free jazz and improvised music, this survey is designed to fill a gap in musicological research of this important artistic movement, which hitherto has been primarily concerned with biography and with related sociological issues. The study traces the piano through the turbulent years of radical experirnentalism in jazz and the subsequent refinement in free improvisation in Europe and the U.S. through the work of pianists central to the movement. Rather than adopting the chronological approach, this study considers the music under broad headings specifically related to technique; the instrument's position within the group, and the generation of form, motivic structure and 'language'. Chapter 1, by way of introduction, outlines the argument of what constitutes the 'freedom' in free jazz and looks at the early development of the avant garde as it arose in opposition to the prevailing traditions of bebop and contemporary notated music with special reference to three influential pianists: Herbie Nichols, Lennie Tristano and Thelonius Monk. Chapter 2 is concerned with new concepts in overall form, while Chapter 3 takes a closer look at the smaller components, or motifs, of modular improvisatory structure. Chapter 4 examines the physical nature of piano tones, their unique qualities of sustain and resonance and their changing patterns of distribution in this music; looking at 'space' firstly in the sense of the piano's natural resonance and the pianists whose work has explored this particular characteristic, and secondly, the physical space involved in the act of playing, the sense of movement or kinaesthesis. Chapter 5 will concentrate on the dynamic and percussive approach to free jazz piano. Chapter 6 turns from the physiological to the psychological processes of improvisation; how the opposing forces of habit and originality assert themselves in the improviser's art. Chapter 7 will form a brief conclusion.

One of the primary focuses in the works presented and discussed herein is the juxtaposition of many disparate musical styles, recordings, and sound worlds within each individual piece. This juxtaposition extends to combining live improvisation meticulously created non-realtime elements, and elements of generative processes in the creation of individual works. A secondary theme is my attitude to accessibility and how this informs my work with audiovisual elements.

Magistro darbe analizuojamas V – VI klasių mokinių kūrybiškumo ugdymas muzikos pamokoje improvizuojant, siekiama atskleisti šio proceso kryptis ir metodiką, tobulinimo galimybes. Tyrimo objektas – mokytojų ir mokinių nuomonė apie muzikinį kūrybiškumo ugdymą improvizuojant. Darbo uždaviniai: atskleisti kūrybiškumo proceso teorinį aspektą, įvertinant improvizavimą kaip kūrybiškumą įtakojančią muzikinę veiklą. Empirinio tyrimo uždaviniai: išaiškinti svarbiausius kūrybišką asmenybę lemiančius veiksnius, pateikti rekomendacijas, kokiomis kryptimis galima vystyti muzikinio ugdymo improvizuojant strategiją. Tyrimas atliktas taikant pokalbio, anketinės apklausos metodus. Darbe iškeliama pedagoginė problema – mokinių nenoras giliau domėtis muzika. Improvizuojant ši problema pasireiškia mokinių iniciatyvos stoka, susikaustymu, nemokėjimu ir nenoru išreikšti save. Tai ypač būdinga paaugliams. Tyrimas parodė, kad mokytojai kūrybiškumą nelaiko prioritetine muzikinės veiklos sritimi. Jie kūrybiškai asmenybei priskiria šias savybes: mokėjimą fantazuoti, atkaklumą įgyvendinant savo idėjas, laisvumą, pasitikėjimą, emocingumą, jautrumą, originalumą, nepriklausomumą. Ištirta, kad svarbiausi veiksniai, lemiantys improvizavimo sėkmę, yra muzikinės klausos ir muzikinės atminties lavinimas, saviraiškos ir pažinimo poreikių tenkinimas, sugebėjimas operuoti muzikos išraiškos priemonėmis. Vienodas skaičius mokytojų mano, kad muzikai gabūs mokiniai visada kūrybiški ir muzikai gabūs mokiniai nevisada... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]
This Master‘s thesis contains the analysis of the 5-6th grade pupils education of creativity through improvization at music lessons, directions, methods of the process, as well as possibilities of the development. Research subject - teachers and pupils’ opinion of musical creativity education through improvization. Research objectives: to review the theoretical aspect of creative process, assessing improvization as creativity which influence musical activity. Empiric research objectives: to analyse the most important activities of a creative personality; to present recommendation on the ways of music education through improvization strategy. The research is based on oral and written questions. Pedagogical problem of the research – pupils’ unwillingness to understand music deeper. This especially concerns teenagers. The research has demonstrated that teachers do not consider creativity to be the priority ir music education. According to them a creative personality possesses the following qualities; ability to imagine and realise ideas, freedom, self - confidence, emotions, sensitivity, originality, independence. It has been defined that the most important actions, leading to successful improvization, are the development of musical hearing and memory, self-expression and learning needs, ability to use means of music expression. The number of teachers, thinking that musically gifted pupils are always creative, is the same as the number of those who believe that they are not... [to full text]

The purpose of my research was to develop and strengthen my personality in music as a vocalist, so I would be able to freely let it out during any musical encounter. My base for the research was a duet with guitarist Mikael Máni Ásmundsson, but it was during a rehearsal with him that I realised for the first time I even had a musical personality – that I liked. Before, I had often felt uncomfortable and tense when playing music and not sure who I was as an artist. I limited myself to working with West Coast jazz, jazz standards, and lyrical improvisation, and I used various methods such as transcribing, ear-training in multiple forms, and improvisation exercises, to develop my musical personality. The research resulted in a nine-song album that Mikael Máni and I created in 2020 under the artist-name Tendra. That album is my examination project. I learned a great deal from the experience. I gained self-confidence, independence trust and calmness during this journey, and at last I feel comfortable with who I am as an artist – my musical personality has finally moved in.

This thesis is an interdisciplinary analysis of jazz music and poetry produced by African-American artists, primarily in New York, over the course of the 1960s, set within the broad context of the civil-rights and black-nationalist movements of the same period. Its principal contention is that the two forms afford each other symbiotic illumination. Close reading of jazz musicology in particular illuminates the directions taken by the literature of the period in a manner that has rarely been fully explored. By giving equal critical attention to the two artistic forms in relation to each other, the epistemological and social radicalism latent and explicit within them can more fully be understood. Through this understanding comes also a greater appreciation of the effects that the art of this period had upon the politics of civil rights and black nationalism in America - effects which permeated wider culture during a decade in which significant change was made to the legal position of African-Americans within the United States, change forced by a newly, and multiply, vocalized African-American consciousness. The thesis examines the methods by which jazz and literature contributed to the construction of new historically-constituted black subjectivities represented aurally, orally and visually. It looks at how the different techniques of each form converse with each other, and how they prompt consequential re-presentations and re cognizations of established forms from within and without their own continua. That examination is conducted primarily through forensic close readings of records made between 1960 and 1967, which though of widely differing styles nevertheless can be said to fall under the broad umbrella term of 'post-bop' jazz, alongside equally close readings of poetry written primarily by members of the New York wing of the equally broadly-termed Black Arts Movement [BAM] between 1964 and 1969.

The band The Escalators together with the music uniquely composed for it and a subsequent CD and DVDs was the work that emerged from my period of research. The areas of interest that were investigated were sampling, minimalism, stasis, the work of David Lynch, as well as a desire to produce new and innovative music. The above concepts defined the bands composition and makeup. While each may be regarded as a discreet concept with its own boundaries in my work they seamlessly intermingle resulting in that which is unique to The Escalators sound. The research methodology used for this work was practice led research.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Ethnomusicology and Musicology.
Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 338-347). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ99155

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Music.
Typescript. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss &rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR11820

碩士
國立臺中教育大學
音樂學系碩士班
96
This study was to investigate the effects of using Gordon music syntax instruction on music improvising of the fifth graders. This study is an experimental research. The instruments included Lesson plan, Music Improvising Ability Test, Record of Experimental Observation and a Self-evaluation Questionnaire. These instruments were developed by the researcher. Participants(n=59) were from 2 classes in an elementary school in Changhua County. One was assigned to be the experimental group (n=30) and the other was the control group (n=29). The experimental group received a ten-week Gordon music syntax instruction. Data analysis approaches included Descriptive Statistics, Independent Samples T-test, Single Factor ANCOVA, Paired Samples T-test, and Pearson Product-moment Correlation. It can be concluded: 1. There was significant difference between and among the rhythm, melody, musical closure, intensity, steady tempo and holistic performance of music improvising for the experimental group. 2. Most of the fifth graders revealed positive feedback on the Gordon music syntax instruction. 3. Through the Gordon musical syntax instruction, there was a low correlation between the fifth graders’ music improvising and their opinions on the instruction. It can be recommended : 1. Music teachers need to enhance concepts and exercises of musical chords in the general music classrooms. 2. The teachers need to provide students with diverse musical repertoires to develop students’audiation. 3. The educational institutes and authorities need to emphasize the importance of music improvising instruction in general music classrooms. In addition, music teachers are encouraged to attend workshops about music improvising to improve their teaching skills of music improvising. 4. The educational authorities need to develop and publish the teaching material of music improvising for music teachers. 5. Based on the learning situations of the students, the music improvising curriculum should be adapted appropriately to obtain learning effectiveness.

Master of Music
Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance
Karen M. Large
This report covers a history of the flute in jazz music as well as the advancement of the flute in jazz, starting from the late 1920s. The lives of jazz flute pioneers Alberto Socarrás, Wayman Carver, Herbie Mann, Hubert Laws, and Ali Ryerson are discussed, as well as their contributions to the history of jazz flute. Basic jazz techniques such as improvisation are broken down and explained for classically trained flutists and others who have an interest in playing jazz music but do not know where to begin. This report also discusses how practicing these techniques can further aid in preparing a classical performance. Examples included in this report are excerpts from Mozart’s Concerto in D Major for flute and Mike Mower’s Sonata Latino.