CALIFORN IA STATE UN IVERSITY,
N ORTHRIDGE
A B RIEF HISTORY O F IMPRO VISATION IN WESTERN MUSIC
WITH AN EMPHASIS ON GU ITAR IMPRO VISATION
A t hesis s ubmit t ed in part ial s at i s fact ion of t he
req uirement s for t he degree of Mas t er of Music
by
ROB ERT E. N AVRIDES
May 1986
The Thes is of Robert E. N avrides is approved:
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J oel r - rch
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Mary Shamr ck
·-
Ro�ald Pur�ell-Chair
California S t a t e Universit y ,
ii
N ort hridge
TABLE OF CON TEN TS
Page
v
Abs t ract
Chapt er
1
l.
Improv i s at i onal Begi nni ngs
2.
The Early Rena i s s ance
3.
The H i gh Renai s s ance
7
4.
The Lat e Renai s s ance
12
5.
The Baroque
17
6.
The Lat e Baroque
7.
Clas s i cal Improv i s at i ons
8.
Improv i s at i on i n t he Romant i c Era
33
9.
Improv i s at i on i n t he Twent i e t h Cent ury
35
1 0.
J azz Improvi s at i on
42
ll.
The Tools of t he Improv i s i ng Gui t ar i s t
.
.
.
.
.
4
.
.
.
27
.
.
46
.
•
52
•
•
•
54
.
.
.
.
.
N o t es
B i bli ography
23
Appendi xes
A.
The Tri llo and Groppo .
B.
Improv i s at i on on a Cant us F i rmus
c.
Invert i ble count erpoi nt
D.
Rhy t hm i c alt erat i on
E.
The M i ddle "C" L i ne
iii
.
.
.
.
59
59
60
.
60
.
.
60
B ach Suite no.
2 for Lute in A minor 6 1
F.
J . S.
G.
A flourish
63
H.
Embellishments
63
I.
Improvised O rnaments Vivaldi's Concerto
in G Major
64
65
J.
The "A minor Pentatonic Scale"
.
.
.
K.
The "A Dorian Mode"
.
.
.
L.
"Impressions" .
66
M.
"So What"
67
N.
The "A Aeolian Mode "
68
0.
The "G Mixolydian Mode" .
69
P.
The "G Major Scale"
69
Q.
The "A minor",
"A7",
and "A Major"
70
Arpeggios .
R.
65
71
"Tune Up" .
iv
AB STRAC T
A B RIEF HISTORY O F IMPRO VISATIO N IN WESTERN MUSIC
WITH AN EMPHASIS O N GUITAR IMPRO VISATION
by
Robe rt E.
Navride s
Maste r of Music
Improvisation plays an important role in the
history of music,
a role often overlooke d by both
The use of improvisation
students and e ducators.
se e ms to emerge and subme rge itself through out
history .
It is a vital are a for the musician of the
1 8 90s and the subject of my abstract.
The the sis will consist of four areas :
history of improvisation,
improvise r,
te chnique ,
( 1 ) the
( 2 ) the tools of the
( 3 ) improvisation as a le arning
( 4) improvisation as a teaching te chnique.
This the sis will by use d as a foundation for my
work in the are a of Guitar Pe dagogy.
My e xpe rience
with te aching has e mphasized the ne e d for
improvisatory skills.
I plan to te ach guitar at the
college level with an e mphasis on contemporary music.
The e le ctric guitar is gene rally ove rlooked by
e ducators but is a very important instrument in
v
mus ic.
Improvisation plays an even more important
role here.
This thesis will provide the necessary
information on this relevant topic.
vi
Improvisat ional B eginnings
The art of creat ing a musical work as it is
being performed is called improvisat ion.
The
t radit ional folk music of most West ern cult ures
survives and evolves t hrough an aural t radit ion.
It
is passed on by rot e imit at ion from one generat ion t o
t he next .
The fact t hat it is t ransmit t ed aurally
meant t hat it is subject t o modificat ion,
great er or lesser ext ent ,
group.
of a
by each individual or
This simple modificat ion exist s in t he form
of changes by t he individual musicians during t h e
t ransmission of music on bot h a volunt ary and
involunt ary basis.
Aurally t ransmit t ed music is
subject t o accident al and int ent ional changes.
Int ent ional changes in music may result in
improvisat ion.
This t hesis will rest rict it s scope
t o t hat of improvisat ion in t he West ern world.
Folk music appears in many musical forms :
songs,
love songs,
mourning songs,
drinking songs,
narrat ive songs,
dance
pat riot ic songs,
e t c.
The earliest
t rue folk songs t raceable in writ t en form are
Icelandic songs and t he Polish war song
"B ogurodzica. "
We can assume t hat music before t he
t h irt eent h cent ury was at least part ially
l
improvisatory in nature,
based on the fact that it
was generally transmitted aurally.
The singing of chants in the first Christian
churches was improvised.
( 3 40?-3 97 )
The hymns of St.
Ambrose
The "jubilus, " a
were syllabic in nature .
melismatic flourish found on the last syllable of
certain "alleluias",
appears in the writing of St.
August ine ( 3 5 4-43 0 ) .
The first attempts to enlarge
the Gregorian repertory were made circa 800 A. D.
This led to the monophonic seq uences,
tropes,
liturgical dramas and polyphonic tropes ( c. 900).
the nint h century two anonymous works,
In
Musica
enchiriadis and Scholia enchiriadis reveal how to
double a chant at perfect intervals and to use
oblique motion at the beginning and the end of the
chant .
This organum is the earliest type of
polyphonic music.
B y c. lOOO A. D.
composition slowly replaced
improvisation as a way of creating musical works.
Writ ten evidence of improvisation or extemporization
can be found in Guido de Arezzo's ( c. llOO) Micrologus.
He used contrary motion and rudimentary cadence
formulas.
The compositions found in the twelfth
century manuscripts of St.
Martial,
Limoges and
Santiago de Compostela have the appearance of notated
improvisations .
The descant,
organum and motet forms
3
of the thirteenth century were created by adding one
line at a time to a previously worked out melody.
These lines were often improvised against a cantus
firmus.
In the fourteenth century precise music notation
was established.
to preserve music.
From this point on it was possible
This marks the beginning of what
became a gradu al decline of extemporization,
as
throu ghout time composers of art music became
progressively more detailed in their manner of
composition.
When composers scripted their compositions they
accou nted for the inclusion of extemporized passages.
Performers in the Renaissance and B aroque times were
expected to add ornaments and subtle rhythmic
alterations.
Gifted vocalists sometimes invented
cadenzas to display their skills.
These flourishes
were used by singers against a bass note ( mostly on
the fifth of the key) immediately preceding a close
of some finality.
The cadenzas acted as a sort of
fermata enabling the singer to dramatically draw out
endings.
A "gloria " by Estinne Grossin ( Grossim)
contains an elaborate ending showing the sort of
coloratura passage a singer might have extemporized.
This is preserved in the Trent Manuscript MS 87.
The Early Renaissance
Singers of the early fifteenth century were
extemporizing parts ( in the higher voices) against
the plainsong melodies of English composers.
The
French "basse dance" of the same time period had a
melody which was played against the tenor and above
it the higher parts were usually improvised.
The
Italian B assadanza were meant to serve as a cantus
firmus
underlying an improvisation in the upper
parts.
While these dances differed from each other
rhythmically they both contained improvisation in the
upper voices.
Improvised instrumental accompaniment was also
widespread in northern Italy.
The frottolists
recited poetry against an improvised accompaniment.
O ften times the frottolists would accompany
themselves rather than use an accompanist.
Giustiniani ( d.
B randolini,
lutenist),
1446),
B accio U golini,
Leonardo
Rafaelle
Aurelio B randolini ( d.l491),
Atalante ( a
and Charteo ( B enedetto Gareth) were among
the frottolists of the mid-fifteenth century.
Italian,
Francesco Corteccia ( d.l5 71) in his Io dico
e dissi e diro described the terms "res facta"
4
5
( writ t en music) and "super librum cant are"
( improvised music) .
He also used t he term
"cont rapunct a " ( count erpoint ) as a synonym for
Corteccia also
improvisat ion t hroughout the book .
st a t ed t hat "In It aly t he developement of t he lira da
braccio ( a st ringed inst rumen t ) was a response t o t he
demand for improvisat ional accompaniment t o vocal
recit at ions . "l
The lira da braccio was held in t he
arm and had a sligh t ly arched bridge which enabled
t h e performer t o play single lines rat her t han
rest rict ing it t o chords as on a flat bridged
inst rument .
The vihuela de arco,
was very popular in It aly.
a bowed inst rument ,
It originally had a flat
bridge and was used for drone forms of playing .
When
t h e inst rument was modified t o include an arched
bridge it became much more popular .
Spanish sources
illust rat e only flat bridged vihuelas de arco while
It alian sources show t he arched model .
The arched
viol was also a successful inst rument .
Adam Ileborgh ( d .
1 448) scripted examples of his
preludes in k eyboard t ablat ure .
improvised pieces were meant
These freely
t o est ablish t he mode
for the vocal or inst rument al piece t hat followed it .
Conrad Paumann ( 1 45 2 ) in his Fundament um Organisandi
gave pract ical inst ruct ions for adding k eyboard-style
count ermelodies t o fit t he int ervals commonly found
6
in pre- exist ing melodies.
These added melodies
creat ed a count erpoint t ype of composit ion.
The High Renaissance
As t he High Renaissance approach ed,
it is
evident t hat improvisat ion was a prominent art form.
It ranged from singers ext emporizing melodies above a
cant us firmus t o improvised accompaniment s for
st ringed inst rument s.
"It alians sang t o t h eir own
accompaniment on a lut e or viola lat e in t he cent ury.
Thes e accompaniment s were largely improvised. "2
By
1 45 0 Johann Gut enberg had perfect ed t h e art of
print ing book s from movable t ype.
This gradually
changed t he st at e of improvisat ion.
This development of t h e art of print ing meant
t h at a considerable part of t he inst rument al music of
t he sixt eent h cent ury was no longer improvised,
was in t he Middle Ages.
as it
It was writ t en out in
t ablat ures and appeared in t he writ t en collect ions
issued by O t t avio de Pet rucci,
music publishers.
At t aingnant and ot her
The previously unwrit t en
improvisat ions were now writ t en down as composers
became more precise about t heir composit ional
demands.
"It would be a mist ak e of course t o equat e
an unwrit t en pract ice wit h improvisat ion.
There is a
wide range of possibilit ies which lie bet ween t h e
7
8
ext remit ies of a soloist 's ad hoc performance,
based
on some specific st ylist ic convent ions ( as well as on
his inst rument al sk ill),
and t he performance of a
group of musicians whose int eract ion over a long t ime
has led t o t he cryst alizat ion of a k ind of a piece.
It is just as clear t hat t here is a st riking
different iat ion bet ween a musical pract ice connect ed
wit h not at ion and an unwrit t en pract ice:
t his
difference may be described as t he difference bet ween
t wo kinds of ment alit y". 3
The development of t he print ing press of Ot t avio
de' Pet rucci enabled t he amat eur musician t o learn
t he work s of t he professionals.
The first collect ion
of polyphonic music prin t ed from moveable t ype,
Harmonice musice Odhecat on,
was published in 1 5 0 1 .
By 1 5 2 3 Pet rucci had published fift y- nine volumes of
inst rument al music.
Many k eyboard and lut e
collect ions were print ed,
bringing t he music from t he
repert ory of t he professional t o t hat of t he amat eur.
Work s which were previously memorized and played by
professionals were now writ t en down.
The result s
were changes in composit ional as well as
improvisat ional t echniques.
Pet rucci's Int abolat ura
de Laut o was a four volume set .
"More t han one-t hird
of t he con t en t s of Book I consist s of t ranscript ions
of pieces from Harmonice musices Odhecat on,
which
9
consist ed of a select ion of chansons writt en between
1 470 and 1 5 0 0 .
It included pieces ranging from late
Burgundian composers t o the then "modern" generat ion.
Transcript ions of t wo anonymous pieces,
having the
early bassadanza melody "la spagna" as the ground,
were included .
"La spagna" reappears in several
sixt eent h century composit ions from various count ries
(appearing in the highest voice only rarely) .
Book
IV by Joan Ambrosio Dalza includes frot tola
t ranscript ions,
but the original composit ions for the
lut e are of more hist oric import ance .
short ,
Among t hem are
quasi-improvisat ional pieces called
"ricercari" t hat consist of chords and running
passages and are t herefore quit e different from what
t he t erm ricercare came to signify only a few years
lat er .
They were evident ly designed t o be played as
"preludes or postludes or bot h in connection wit h
vocal work s or transcript ions of them from voice and
lut e or from lut e alone. "4
The lut e ricercari or
fant asia were imitat ive in nature and contained rapid
scale passages,
t rills,
t urns and cont rapuntal
sect ions .
In accordance wit h the oral tradition of folk
music,
ornament s were not writ t en out because of a
"living tradition which considered them unnecessary
to ment ion t o notat e"5•
Mersenne said,
"Printers
10
lacked t he req u i si t e s i gns i n t he i r equi pment
not at e t hem] . "
est abli shed.
[t o
A st andardi zed nomenclat ure was never
Popular fi gures of t he t i me were t he
"t r i llo" ( rap i d alt ernat i on bet ween t he mai n not e and
t he i nt ervals of a second or t h i rd above or below i t )
and t he "groppo" ( a t r i ll bet ween t he t oni c and a
half st ep below i t ).
The groppo was played at
cadences ( see Appendi x A),
oft en st art i ng on t he
t on i c and end i ng by passi ng t o t he t h i rd below t he
D i m i nut i ons were used
t on i c and ret urn i ng st epwi se.
mos t ly at cadences.
The "composers ori gi nal not es on
t he st rong beat s were k ept
i nt act whi le elaborat e
melodi c mat eri al was i nserted i n bet ween . "6
"Passaggi os" consi st ed of i mprov i sed ornament s ot her
t han scale passages or t r i ll-li k e fi gurat i ons.
Int i t ulat a Font egara ( 1 5 3 5 ),
Opera
by Sylves t ro Ganassi ,
was t he f i rst publi shed t reat i se on t he subject of
embell i shmen t s and ornament s.
book ( c.
The capi rola lut e
1 5 1 7) cont a i ns i nst ruct i ons on play i ng
ornament s .
Two s i gns were gi ven:
"t remolos" ( fi gures
i n red dot s) and "mordant s" ( fi gures wi t h t wo red
dot s placed over t hem).
Also,
t he lut e book provi des
"t he earli est occurrence of legat o and non-legat o,
t wo k i nds of t ri lls,
and of dynami c i ndi cat i ons."7
1 5 46 Borrono wro t e fant asi as for t he lut e.
t he f i rst t o use pr i nt ed ornament si gns.
He was
In 1 5 5 3 ,
In
11
Diego Orit z,
in his t rat ado de Glos as,
Spanis h t erm "glos as " as
des cribed t he
"embellis hment s in general".
He als o gave examples of ens emble improvis at ion for
violin and harp and devot ed t he s econd part of t he
book t o playing s olo violin and k eyboard
accompaniment .
He s t at es t hat t here are t hree ways a
viol can play wit h a k eyboard:
( 1 ) free improvis at ion
( fant as ia),
( 3 ) us ing a polyphonic
( 2) cant us firmus ,
compos it ion t o "perform a free improvisat ion. "
goes on t o s ay t hat
He
"t he k eyboard player s hould begin
wit h well ordered harmonies and t he violin player
s hould ent er wit h graceful pas s age work.
viol plays an unornament ed line,
When t he
t he k eyboard player
s hould res pond ( and in t his way improvis ed
count erpoint can be performed),
wait ing for t he ot her . "B
t he one ins t rument
He des cribed t he us e of
ornament s as "being left up t o t he player",
performing t hem in his own s t yle.
each
The Lat e Renaissance
As t he lat e Renaissance approached,
inst ruct ions
on vocal t echniques of t he t ime were included in many
books .
An innovat ion of t he early six t eent h cent ury
was t he composit ional t echnique of writ ing part s in
score form .
Previously,
part s were writ t en out
individually on separat e pages .
It alian church music
used improvisat ion over chant s of t he "int roits" in
t he Proper of t he Mass .
V incent e Luist ano,
Int rodut ione facilissima ( 1 5 5 3 ),
in his
gave a number of
mechanical pat t erns in long not es t hat fit over t he
different int ervals found in plainchant .
He also
showed a met hodical procedure for learning t o
improvise on a cant us firmus (see Appendix B).
Zarlino,
in his Inst it ut ioni harmoniche (l5 73 ),
described improvisat ion of st rict t wo voice canon on
a cantus firmus and t wo and t hree part canons wit hout
a cant us firmus .
He also lis t ed rules for variat ion
in t empo and for creat ing invert ible count erpoint
(see Appendix C).
"When singing alone,
lut e or t he gravicembalo,
inst rument ),
whet her t o t he
(or t o some ot her
t he singer may cont ract or expand t he
12
13
t ime at will,
seeing t hat it is his privilege t o
regulat e t he t ime as he sees fit ."9
Inst rument al forms were becoming widely used.
The fant asia was t he most popular.
Francesco Canova
da Milano ( 1 497- 1 5 43 ) was called "Il divino" for his
famous improvisat ions.
His Int abolat ura di
liut o ( l5 3 6) and Int avolat ura de vida o vero
laut o ( l5 3 6) included t he quasi-improvisat ory
ricercare or fant asia.
He was such a prominent
improviser t hat ot hers at t empt ed t o writ e out his
improvisat ions.
"Early composit ions for t he lut e,
for t he most part called ricercare,
inst rument al- idiomat ic st yle,
showed a specific
t he origin of which has
been sough t in t he improvisat ional pract ice of t he
preceding period."lO
Francesco Canova de Milano
not ed t hat t he "ricercari" was an older t erm for
improvisat ion and t he "fant asia" was a lat er one.
He
called at t ent ion t o t he fact t hat t he forms were
int erchangeable and t hat imi t a t ion was t he impor t ant
feat ure of bot h.
In 1 5 3 8,
Francisco Salinas
( 1 5 1 3 - 1 5 90 ) heard da Milano improvise on a
"gagliarda."
He at t est ed t o t he fact t hat da
Milano's lut e lit erat ure marked t he highest point for
t he inst rument .
Theorist Juan Bermudo's Declaracion de
Inst rument os Musicales ( l5 49,
1 5 5 5 ) is a book for
14
st udent s who wish t o play a pluck e d st ring
It st resse s t he import ance of st rong
inst rume nt .
rudimen t s,
e valuat e s t e chnical problems and cit e s
cont emporary musicians ( Alonso Mudarra,
Fue nllana,
Miguel de
Enrique s de V alde rrabano and others) who
are good e xamples t o follow.
He also de scribe d t he
use of a ' 'st rummed" chordal st yle of accompaniment
and called improvisat ion t he "highest art form".
Luys de Narvaez's "Guardame las V acas" ( c. 1 5 3 8)
is considered t o be a se t of "chord changes."
It is
probably t he first k nown e xample of t he t heme and
variat ion form.
V,
vi,
#iii,
I,
( primero modo).
The t he me consist e d of t he chords I,
V,
vi,
#iii,
vi in root posit ion
The t heme was very popular and
variat ions upon it were writ t e n by compose rs such as
Ant onio de Cabe zon ( 1 5 78),
V e negas de He ne st rosa.
V alde rrabano and L.
The basso cont inuo consist e d
of a firm bass line wit h improvise d chords.
This
e mphasize d t he vert ical aspe c t s and e nabled
e mbe llishment s to be come harmonic in nat ure rat her
t han st rict ly me lodic.
Madrigalist Se bast ian Raval ( c. lat e 1 5 0 0 s) was
skilled at e xt e mporizing count e rpoint s.
He compose d
t wo collect ions of Madrigals and one Canzone t t e.
In
Francesco Cort e ccia's ( c. e arly 1 5 0 0 - 1 5 71 ) Io dico e
dissi he wrot e "improvisat ions t o inst rument al
15
accompaniment . "
Epics and elegies in Cort eccia's
ot t ava rima were recit ed t o part ially improvised
music based on pre-exist ent pat t erns.
Luzzaschi's ( c.
1 5 5 0 - d.
Luzzasco
1 60 7) seven madrigal book s
from 1 60 1 cont ained elaborat e ornament at ion.
This
elaborat e ornament a t ion was not evident in ot her
t ypes of music.
Th e not at ion of polyphonic music at
t h e t ime apparent ly did not cont ain such
embellish ment s and ornament at ions.
Alt hough t h is
simplist ic st yle of not at ion was popular in
polyphonic music,
t he improvisat ions were cont ained
in t he act ual performances.
A large number of
cinq uecent o manuals dealing wit h improvisat ion and
writ t en down embellishment s were writ t en from 1 5 5 6 t o
1 5 93 .
G . B.
Bivicelli's Regole,
passaggi di
musica ( l5 94) cont ained a new st yle of embellishment .
Smoo t h lines were alt ernat ely dot t ed t o form t rochaic
or iambic figures.
This rhyt hmic figure emphasized
"sobbing" ( see Appendix D) .
The chief form of k eyboard music in t he
improvised st yle in t h e lat er half of t he sixt eent h
cent ury was t he "t occa t a. "
The word comes from t he
It alian word "t occare" ( t o t ouch) and carries t he
suggest ion of an organist 's improvisat ion at t h e
k eyboard.
Toccat as also appeared in t he lut e,
vihuela and o t h er plucked st ring inst rument books of
16
sixt eent h cent ury.
These were in one movement in
st raight improvised st yle .
Various ot her names were
used for t his form of music,
"diferencias",
"int onazione",
including "fant asia",
"prelude" and ot hers.
The variat ion form flourished in t he lat e sixteent h
cent ury due t o vihuelist as and English virginalist s
such as William Byrd and O rlando Gibbons.
Alt hough evidence of improvisat ion in t he
Renaissance has been just ified,
remain unanswered .
changes,
Pit ch level,
many quest ions st ill
t empo,
dynamic
art iculat ion and inst rument at ion were not
indicat ed in t he writ t en music.
charact er of t he piece,
t o ornament ,
The overall
highlight ing of voices,
how long t o hold not es,
where
vibrat o
t echniques and t he occasion for t he musical
performance remain in question.
The answers t o t hese
quest ions hopefully will be found in t he coming
years .
The Barogue
The Baroque period brought about major changes in
improvisat ion wit h t he cont inuing development of
not at ion.
Composers began t o specify t heir musical
desires in great er det ail.
Inst rument al inst ruct ion
Composers were having
met hods had become popular.
t heir composit ions played as a result of t hese book s.
Juan Carlos Amat ' s t reat ise on t he five-course
( st ring) guit ar,
( Barcelona,
Guit arra Espanola de cinco ordenes
1 5 96),
described t uning,
rasqueado,
all
t he '' nat ural " chords and t he use of t hese chords in
accompanying a song.
From 1 60 6 t o 1 63 7 many of t hese
self-ins t ruct ion met hods for t he guit ar were
published in It aly and Spain.
accompaniment
t imes.
They dealt mainly wit h
t o popular songs and dances of t he
The aspect s of learning t o read t ablat ure,
underst anding t he alfabet t o ( chords) and how t o play
"full st rok es" were covered in t hese met hods.
The
previously improvised accompaniment s were now being
writ t en down by t he composers and int roduced t o t he
English organ book s of
non-professional musicians.
t he early sevent eent h cent ury cont ained ad libit um
organ accompaniment s t o polyphonic choral music in
17
18
English churches.
These chorales were often written
on as many as eleven lines,
as a result of the
central reference point located between the two sets
of bar lines ( see Appendix E).
sk etches,
without detail.
They were basically
The organ books condensed
these choral scores so that they were playable on the
organ.
O nly slight ornaments were included.
From
about 1660 to 173 0 there were more than twelve
treatises on accompaniment for the guitar and the
theorbo.
By this time the lute was declining in
popularity and the guitar was taking over in its
place.
Instrumental forms in the early Baroque were
becoming increasingly popular.
The "Ricercare" were
pieces of continuously imitative counterpoint.
Compositions of this type were often called
"ricercari",
"fantasia",
"fancy",
"capriccio",
"fuga"
and "verset".
The term fantasia was more commonly
used for lute,
guitar and vihuela music.
The
"canzona" were sectionally constructed pieces of
discontinually imitative counterpoint which often
contained improvisatory interludes.
"passacaglia" ( or chaconne),
prelude,
The
choral partita,
choral
and the theme and variation forms were
pieces on a given melody or bass.
The theme and
variation form in particular was improvisatory in
19
nat ure.
The "passacaglia" and "chaccone" followed
a
pre-est ablished chord progression or ground bass line
on which t he inst rument alist s improvised.
Solo
inst rument al pieces for t he lut e and k eyboard which
were based on improvisat ion were t he t occat a,
fant asia and prelude forms.
Christ opher Simpson's
division violinist ( l65 9) showed an original ground
bass which was repeat ed while ot her inst rument s
improvised on it .
In England,
a school of inst rument al
improvisat ion on t he variat ion principle was being
developed.
Popular songs of t he t imes ( such as
''Greensleeves") were subject ed t o ornament al
t echniques.
Lut e t udors began t he pract ice of t he
t horough or figured bass.
The figured bass cont ained
a bass part which proceeded from t he beginning t o t he
end of t he piece,
wit hout a break ,
composit ion was const ruct ed.
on which the
A complet e st yle was
built on t his t ype of accompaniment and is part ially
improvisat ory.
O nly t he bass not es or inversions
were given and the k eyboardist was responsible for
improvising t he accompaniment part based on t ha t .
Juan Carlos Amat 's Guit arra Espanola de cinco ordenes
cont ained examples of t he figured bass.
The Baroque period also brought about t he
development of t he virt uoso musician,
many of whom
20
used improvisat ion in t heir performances.
Jean
Tit eluoze (1563-1633) was a French organist
dist inguished for his organ improvisat ions.
Agazarra,
in his writ ings from 1607,
said:
He who plays t he lut e. . . must play it
nobly,
wit h much invent ion and variet y,
not as is done by t hose who,
have a ready hand,
because t hey
do not hing but play
runs and mak e divisions from t he beginning
t o t he end,
especially when playing wit h
ot her inst rument s which do t he same,
in
all of which not hing is heard but babel
and confusion, displeasing and
disagreeable t o t he list ener.
t herefore,
Somet imes,
he must use rapid st rokes and
repercussions,
somet imes slow passages,
somet imes rapid and repeat ed ones,
somt imes somet hing played on t he bass
st rings,
somet imes beaut iful vyings and
conceit s,
repeat ing and bringing out t hese
pit ches at different pit ches and at
different places;
he must ,
in short ,
so
weave t he voices t oget her wit h long
groups,
t urn,
t rills,
and accent s,
each in it s
t hat he gives grace t o t he consort
and enjoyment and delight to t he
21
list eners,
judiciously prevent ing t hese
embellishment s from conflict ing wit h one
anot her and allowing t ime t o each,
especially when t here are ot her similar
inst rument s,
a t hing t o be avoided,
in my
opinion, unless t hey play at great
dist ance or at different ly t uned or along
wit h playful figures and lit t le echoes and
imitat ions repeat ed in several places,
passionat e accent s,
bow,
groups,
t rills,
t he lowest part ,
mut e st rokes of t he
et c.
The violone has
proceeds wit h gravit y,
support ing t he harmony of t he ot her part s
wit h soft resonance,
dwelling as much as
possible on t he heavier st rings,
frequent ly t ouching t he lowest t ones.
t heorbo,
wit h i t s full and gent le
consonances,
great ly,
reinforces t he melody
rest riking and light ly passing
over t he bass st rings,
excellence,
it 's special
wit h t rills and mut e accent s
played wit h t he left hand.
doppia,
The
The arpa
which is everywhere useful,
as
much so in t he soprano as in t he bass,
explores i t s ent ire range wit h gent ly
plucked not es, echoes of t wo hands,
22
trills,
etc. ;
counterpoint.
in short,
it aims at good
The cithern,
whether the
common either or the ceterone,
is used
with the other instruments in a playful
way,
mak ing counterpoints upon the part.
But all of this may be done prudently;
if
the instruments are alone in the consort,
they must lead it and do everything;
they play in company,
other,
if
each must regard the
giving it room and not conflicting
with it;
if there are many,
wait their turn and not,
once lik e sparrows,
they must each
chirping all at
try to shout one
another down. ll
Also noteworthy were the organ improvisations of
Sweelinck ,
Frescobaldi and Buxtehude.
improvised preludes,
parts,
fugues,
and a choral prelude.
"double",
an
J. S.
Bach
organ trio in three
Bach's use of the
a simple type of variation consisting
mainly of the addition of embellishments,
certain dance movements.
(sarabande with double),
occurs in
Bach's English Suite no.
English Suite no.
(sarabande with double) and Suite no.
6
2 for lute in A
minor (gigue and double) contain examples of the
double (see Appendix F).
1
The Late Bar oque
Musicians of the Baroque considered the art of
or namentation to be their chief asset.
Ever y member
of an or chestr a was expected to be able to invent,
the spur of the moment,
the given figur ed bass .
on
a free contrapuntal part over
The Bar oque composer
indicated only outlines of his work and left the
perfor ming ar tist to "embroider" it with or naments.
Many scores contain only the solo par t and the
thor ough bass.
unanswered.
This pr actice leaves many questions
The exact instr umentation used,
tempo
and articulations wer e left up to the performer.
"The or ganist should accompany quite simply,
especially in the bass;
if he wishes occasionally to
or nament a cadence or introduce r uns in the r ight
hand,
he should do so in such a way that the singer
will not be covered or confused by too much
movement. "l2
Caccina's Le nuove musiche ( l601-1602) contained
a d iscussion of embellishment and used d ynamics as
well as dotted r hythmic figur es.
his A Musical Banguet ( l610),
Rober t Dowland, in
based his written out
lute r ealizations on Caccina's two 1610 work s:
23
24
Amarilli mia bella and Dovro dungue ( see Appendix G).
Wr itten notes wer e to be followed except for
occasional flourishes.
This mark s a major departure
fr om the improvisational style to a more pr escribed
style .
The basic structur e of the music consists of
thr ee or four note chor d s with passing tones.
These
k eep the treble moving while the vocals are either
sustaining or r esting .
Michael P raetorus' Syntagma
musicum (l616-1618) and J. A .
Herbst's Moderna
P r actica (l65 3 ) use the following embellishments:
accento,
anticipatione della nota,
della sillaba,
anticipatione
cercar d ella nota ( see Appendix H).
Remargues cur ieuses sur l'arte de bien chanter ( l668)
by Benigne de Bacilly was the most important tr eatise
on the art of singing in the later seventeenth
centur y.
It is concer ned mainly with improvisational
or naments ( and their proper placing) and with
d iminution.
Two tr eatises dealing with
improvisational or naments for the viol are Jean
Rousseau a r e Methode clair e ,
certaine et facile pour
apprendr e a chanter l a musigue (l678) and Traite de la
viole (l687) .
The wor k s condemn a "profusion" of
o r namental passages.
This mar k s a move away from the
improvised ideals of the times by r estricting
improvisation.
It advocates r estraint in the use of
25
ornamentation,
saying that ornaments only confuse the
melody and obscure its beauty.
As the century came to a close, a gradual change
in ornamental and embellishing practices occured.
The tradition of ornamentation in the seventeenth
century was primarily English and Italian in origin.
In Corelli's Arcate sostenute e come Sta he forbade
adding ornaments at the phrase 'come sta'.
By
forbidding ornaments in that particular place,
this
statement implied that they were used freely in the
other parts.
Jacopo Peri,
Gulio Caccini and Emilio
del Cavalieri were among the leading composers in the
Florentine Camerata.
such as the groppo,
They felt that quick ornaments,
were acceptable and even
introduced a ornament:
the trillo (a gradual
accelerated repetition of a single notated pitch).
The technique of sliding up to a pitch from a third
below was also introduced.
Excessive use of
passaggios and diminutions interfered with
communicating specific emotions and this excessive
use was to be avioded.
The restrictions put on the
use of ornaments and embellishments by these
composers were carried on throughout the Classic
period.
J.S. Bach (1685 -175 0) might have been the first
to provide a cadenza,
in his Concerto in E major.
In
26
the first movement of this work he included a short
notated cadenza.
J. S.
The extraordinary musical output of
Bach could possibly be attributed to his
phenomenal ability to improvise spontaneously.
Evidence of Bach's use of improvised ornaments may be
found in his transcriptions of works by other
composers,
as well as in his own works.
The Adagio
movement from the Oboe Concerto of Alessandro
Marcello (BWV 974 Concerto in D minor),
Concerto in G
major (BWV 973 for Harpsichord) of Vivaldi (see
Appendex I),
and the Sarabande from the C minor
Partita (BWV 826) all contain the use of improvised
ornaments.
Suite No.
ornaments.
His transcriptions of Handel's Air from
3 in D minor (1720) also includes
The Chromatic Fantasia (BWV 903 ) and the
k eyboard Fugue in A minor (BWV 895) contained small
sections of improvisations.
Bach's Musik alisches
Opfer (Musical Offering) is based on a theme proposed
by Fredrick the Great of Prussia on which Bach
improvised upon his visit to the monarch at Potsdam
in 1747.
He later scripted and revised these
improvisations.
Classical Improvisations
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788),
one of
the most influential composers of his generation,
been called the founder of the Classical style.
his book
a chapter is devoted completely to
the improvisation of fantasias.
He demonstrates a
formal explanation of improvisation.
In this book he
"Probably no one has ever doubted the
necessity for embellishments... those who,
pieces,
In
Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard
Instruments (l753 ),
states,
has
in their
clearly indicate the embellishments that
belong to them,
have always followed a safer
procedure than if they had left their things to the
discretion of the unskilled performers.
Also,
in
this respect, we must justify the French for being
unusually careful
Germany,
for marking their pieces.
the greatest masters of our instrument have
done the same.
From this we see that we must learn
to distinguish good embellishments from bad,
perform the good ones correctly,
to
and to apply them in
their proper place and in due number.
time,
In
At the same
the over lavish treatment is to be avoided in
27
28
all things."l3
improvisation.
Bach stated formal procedures for
"When the continuo is not doubled by
other instruments,
permits it,
and the nature of the piece
the accompanist may make improvised
modifications to the bass line."
In his work Sechs
Sonaten fur Clavier mit veranderten Represen (1760),
he says:
Variation upon repetition is indispensable
today.
It is expected of every performer.
The public demands that practically every
idea be repeatedly altered,
sometimes
without investigating whether the structure
of the piece or the sk ill of the performer
permits such alterations.
embellishing alone,
It is this
especially if it is
coupled with a long and sometimes bizarrely
ornamented cadenza,
that often squeezes the
bravos out of most listeners.
How
lamentably are these two adornments of
performance misused.
One no longer has the
patience to play the written notes for the
first time;
the too long absence of bravos
is unbearable.
variations,
Often,
these untimely
contrary to the setting,
contrary to the affect,
and contrary to the
relationship between the ideas,
are a
29
disagreeable matter for many composers.
Granted,
however,
that a performer has all
the qualities necessary to vary a piece in
the proper way;
so?
is he always ready to do
Are the new difficulties raised
thereby in unfamiliar pieces?
However,
aside from these difficulties and from
misuse,
good variations always retain their
value. . . in writing these sonatas I have had
mainly in mind beginners and such amateurs
as. . . no longer have enough time and
patience to practice especially
assiduously.
I have wanted to give
them...the satisfaction of being heard
playing variations without having either to
invent them themselves or to have others
write them down and then themselves learn
them by heart with much effort.
to be the first,
I am happy
as far as I know,
to work
in this manner for the use and pleasure of
his patrons and friends.l4
Thus,
we see that the Classic simplicity restricted
the tradition of improvisation.
The Classic Era generally had restricted freedom
of performance but there were still embellishments
present in compositions.
The Classical cadenza was
30
developed spontaneously from harmonic and melodic
material heard earlier in a given movement of a
concerto.
Baroque.
Its use was much less strict than in the
Soloists tended towards increased display
of virtuosity and improvisational sk ills.
The burden
was placed on the interpreter of the music.
He was
responsible not only for the execution of the
composition but for the final elaboration of the
score.
Composers wrote outlines and expected the
musicians to fill in the ornaments and orchestrations
to fit the particular occasion.
The keyboard prowess of Handel,
Haydn,
Mozart
and Beethoven contributed to the decline of
improvisation.
These composers were writing out
their cadenzas in full.
The freedom of performance
was limited by the abandonment of the figured bass.
Haydn's string quartets of the late 1700's do not
contain the figured bass.
The middle voices were
specified in a more "precise" detail.
Beethoven's E
flat major Concerto and Schumann's A minor Concerto
contained examples of these cadenzas.
Some of
Handel's organ concertos contained bars marked "Ad
libitum".
Handel was known for his often improvised
slow movements which were born out of bare harmonic
and melodic sketches.
Leopold Mozart,
in his very
influential violin method Violin Schule believed it
31
was the duty of the composer to write out
embellishments.
In this 1787 method there is no
mention of improvisations except for the following
quote from page 214;
"All these decorations (tremelo,
mordent and other improvised embellishments) are used
only when playing a solo,
the right time,
and then very sparingly,
at
and only for variety in
often-repeated and similar passages."
of reading music correctly (page
On the subject
26) he states,
"for
the player has not only to attend closely to every
annotation
and decoration and to play the work as it
is set down and not otherwise;
he also has to enter
into the passion that it is to be expressed and to
apply and execute all the runs,
staccatos,
legatos,
and the fortes and pianos,
and
in a word,
everything that bears in any way on the tasteful
delivery of a piece,
observing in this a certain
style that can be learned only by sound judgement
through long experience."
This statement is evidence
that written out music obscured improvisational
techniques.
J.J.
In his Easy and
writes about the
Quantz supported this viewpoint.
Fundamental
Instructions(l790),
he
varying of a reprise with improvised
embellishments and calls it a "Baroque principle."
He states,
"those variations that consist of a
continual series of swift notes or quick passages,
32
though ever so admired by some,
in gener al are not so
pleasing as those of a mor e simple k ind . "
The wr itten art of music had evolved
consider ably in the Classic per iod.
The ability of
the master s to extemporize in fugue and sonata forms
had impressed many a listener.
O ther examples of
extemporization wer e Handel's playing between the
par ts of his or atorios ,
Bach's accepting themes from
Fred rick the Great at Potsdam (1747),
C lementi competing in Vienna (1781) ,
Mozart and
and Czerny's
explicit account of Beethoven's extemporization in
three ways (the fir st-movement sonata for m ,
var iations and free fantasia).
The Classic Period had restr icted the
impr ovisator y pr actices which had r eached their
height d u r ing the Renaissance and Baroque eras .
The
music of the Romantics would r estr ain it even more in
the coming years.
The Classical composer s were mor e
par ticular about the perfor mance of their music.
Attempts to differ entiate good from bad or naments
also restr icted impr ovisatory pr actices .
Improvisation In The Romantic Era
Notated
The Romantic age brought about changes.
details had reached their peak.
fingering,
sound colors,
Such intricacies as
string preference,
orchestration and seating were now specified in great
detail.
The great school of composers included the
likes of Wagner and Berlioz,
who were scarcely able to
play their own works on the pianoforte,
improvise in any manner.
much less
They were the great
orchestrators and not the great individual musicians.
The age of the virtuoso had brought about such
great instrumentalists as Paganini ( 1782-1840 ) .
He is
considered to be the first performer since the advent
of notation to play his music from memory.
Typical
performers of his time read the music from the stand.
"Paganini brought the orchestral parts with him to
rehearsal,
and took them away afterwards;
solo part,
no one had a chance to look at them,
Paganini played everything from memory. "1S
as to the
as
His
performances were said to have a improvisatory
'devil-may-care' quality.
Franz Liszt ( 1811-1886)
performed his own fantasies and rhapsodies in a manner
similar to Paganini's freely improvised style.
33
Anton
34
Br uckner
(182 4- 1896) was skilled at or gan
extemporizations.
The gr eat virtuosos of the Romantic era had
revitalized the art of extempor ization,
but the
composers of this period wer e specifying more and more
in their compositions.
The use of notated music by
the composers of the Romantic Era had overshadowed the
impr ovisatory practices of the vir tuoso musician .
Johann Nepomuk Maelzel (1772 -1883 ) settled the
question of tempo with the invention of his metr onome.
Tr adition now consisted of two d istinct gr oups;
the
non- extempor izing composers and the impr ovising
instr umentalists .
In Amer ica,
a new trend was developing .
A
renaissance back to the folk forms was seeding itself.
The turn of the centur y was about to r eveal a new life
for impr ovisation,
after it had been d iscar ded by the
composer s of the C lassic and Romantic eras .
Impr ovisation In The Twentieth Century
The spontaneous give and take between
Afro-Amer ican d rummers and melody player s is
Its formal structure is
demonstrated in jazz music.
similar to the pr actices of the Bar oque.
It's given
fr amework was very much like the theme and var iations
of the Baroque .
Early jazz musicians combined these
folk elements and Bar oque- like structures in their
music.
Louis Ar mstrong ( 1 90 0 - 1 97 1 ) was credited with
Duke Ellington's
expand ing the r ole of the soloist .
( 1 899-1 974) elabor ation of the ensemble,
contained many impr ovising soloists,
which
advanced
impr ovisator y pr actices a step further.
A return to the folk traditions,
Eur opean classical traditions,
mixed with
was planted by slaves
and immigr ants in the for m of Ragtime music .
music r eached its peak c. l91 0 - 1 5 .
Ragtime
It r elied on
wr itten notes and for mal str uctur es (A B C D and A B A
C D) .
Ragtime was often impr ovisatory in nature and
rich in folk elements.
Ben Har vey,
It was popularized by pianist
who published Ragtime Instr uctor in 1 897 .
Scott Joplin ( 1 868- 1 9 1 7) was one of the leading
composer of r agtime music .
35
36
Evidence of impr ovisator y str ength is
illustr ated in a quote from Kenny Clar k e .
He was the
dr ummer at the famous bebop jam sessions,
in the late
1940 s,
which r esulted in the formation of the bebop
style.
Char lie Par k er ( 1920 -195 5 ) and Charlie
Chr istian ( 1919- 1942) were also playing at those jam
sessions.
"We would play 'Epistrophy' or ' I've got my
love to k eep me war m'
just to k eep the other guys off
the stand because we k new they couldn't make those
chord changes. . . [the r esults were]
a flat out r eaction
against the k ind of swing music that Char lie
( C hr istian) played with Benny Goodman;
an effor t to
r ealize jazz as a chamber art r ather than a dance
music. "l6
The k ey to bebop was the increased fr eedom
for the combo and the individual.
It enabled
musicians to improvise on a given set of chord changes
for a seemingly endless amount of time.
The use of impr ovisation is evident in Blues
music.
Blues uses strict twelve-bar and sixteen- bar
for ms.
The harmonic changes pr imar ily occur in fixed
places.
Vocalists and instr umentalists impr ovise
above these chor d changes .
Robert Johnson,
"the K ing
of the Delta blues, " was a ver y big influence among
contempor ary blues and r ock musicians.
The music of
electric blues guitar ists Albert
Fr eddie K ing
and B. B .
K ing,
K ing ( Blues Boy K ing) was gr eatly influenced
37
by Robert Johnson' s music.
O f particular value are
Johnson' s "slide" guitar accompaniments to his vocals.
The techniq ue uses a slide made out of glass or metal
on the fretting hand.
tunings ,
It is usually played in "open"
enabling the guitarist to play a chord
without the use of the fingers of his fretting hand.
This is a very nationalistic form of music,
the United S tates.
C lapton ,
Jeff B eck ,
unique to
The music of Rock guitarists Eric
Duane Allman ,
Jimmy Page and Jimi
Hendrix demonstrates Johnson' s influence.
The use of improvisation is evident in the
accompaniment to C ountry and Western music.
This
nationalistic form of music relies mainly on the use
of stringed instruments.
It possesses fixed forms and
utilizes the abilities of the soloist as well as the
accompanist ,
who improvises within the formal
structure of the song.
A recent evaluation of the state of jazz music
today stated "jazz represents the most highly
developed form of musical improvisation currently
practiced in the Western Hemisphere.
It is the only
Western art form in our century that has evolved
legitimately from folk traditions.
Four integral
concepts to the evolution of jazz to America that
justify this high esteem are:
(1) instrumental sound
as a expressive extension of the musician' s
38
per sonality ,
( 2 ) r eliance on au r al tr ansmission of
musical infor mation ,
(3 ) tendency towards to inclusion
and assimilation r ather than exclusivity and elitism,
(4) rhythm as a physical r ather than an abstract
element . "17
Many twentieth centu r y composer s found
inspiration in jazz music .
(1 8 74-1 95 1 ) ,
Str avinsky
Bela Bar tok ( 1 8 8 1 - 1 945 ) and Igor
(b .
inspir ation.
Ar nold Schoenberg
1 8 8 2 ) found jazz music to be an
Mau rice Ravel ( 1 8 75 - 1 93 7) sought
inspir ation in the music of George Ger shwin
( 1 8 98-1 93 7).
(1 90 8 ) ,
Claud e Debussy' s "Golliwog' s Cake Walk"
Str avinsky' s "Ragtime" ( 1 92 2 ) and Paul
Hind emith' s "Suite fu r Klavier " ( 1 92 2 ) incor porated
jazz forms or styles through dir ect imitation or
subtle allusions .
The idea of indeter minacy in music is
exemplarized in aleatoric music.
The composer invites
the performer to collaborate in the final product by
exploiting elements of chance and unpredictability.
Elements such as the or der of entrances by the
performers may be left up to the individuals.
Examples are found in the music of Pier r e Boulez (B .
1 92 5 ) and K arlheinz Stockhausen (b .
1 92 8).
In
Stockhausen' s "Klavierstuck X I" ( 1 95 6) nineteen
sections of music may be played in any or der .
The
39
pianist may choose from six different d ynamics and
tempos.
In Mau r icio K agel' s "Sonant" for guitar,
and percussion he states,
harp
"the player may mimic his
part or r ebel against it entir ely . "
Jazz music today covers many differ ent types and
styles of music,
from the different historical periods
down through an extension into the area of rock .
ar eas contain much impr ovisation.
Both
"Jazz also has
developed the u se of chr omatic har mony to the point
where it encompasses an expr essive and color istic
r ange beyond that of most twentieth centu r y music .
Pianist-composers from Duk e Ellington and Art Tatum to
B ill Evans and K eith Jar rett have applied the ver tical
sounds of impressionism,
neo-C lassicism,
polytonality,
and free atonality to fu nctional har monic movement. "l8
Avant-garde jazz ar tists use free form impr ovisation,
similar to that of graphically notated wor k s of
avant- gar de classical composers,
but this pr actice
does not continu e into most other present day
classical for ms.
The classical guitar r epertoire in gener al does
not contain the use of improvisation in any aspect .
Such prominent classical guitarists as And r es Segovia,
John Williams and Julian Br eam do not incor porate
impr ovisation into their r ecor dings or live
performances.
It seems as though only the jazz
40
or iented classical guitar ists attempt to incor porate
impr ovisation into their music .
The Assad Duo said;
"Sometimes we change things r ight in the middle of the
song . . .
a
few notes extra,
r idiculous to plan,
or improvisation .
for example,
It's
your dynamics
beforehand because they will never go the way you want
them .
All these things are evident in the music
itself ,
and this way it's a lot mor e alive and
spark 1 ing .
'' 1 9
[The Assad Duo were speak ing of
impr ovisation in terms of or naments and not in terms
of impr ovising whole sections or pieces] .
The fact that the classical musician is not
taught to impr ovise is well k nown .
C lassical
guitar ists are not put in the position of needing to
be able to improvise.
The music that they learn is
completely scr ipted and they learn to play the notes
in a ver y meticulous manner .
Improvisation had become
a lost art for today's classically trained musician .
The jazz player must pr actice and polish his sk ills
just as long and hard as the classical musician .
He
simply concentr ates more on impr ovisational sk ills
than the classical player does .
War r en ask s;
Guitarist George
"how many classical guitar ists can
improvise 'difer encias sobre las Vacas' on their own?
And consider ing a vihuelist of Naravaez' s time
wouldn't have been thought of as competent if he
41
couldn't impr ovise freely on this,
k nown chor dal seq uence .
or any other well
Where does this lead us? "2 0
Jazz Improvisation
Very few colleges or universities offer degree
programs in jazz music.
In 1973 ,
the National
Association for Jazz Educators sent out a
questionnaire to one hundred and sixty one selected
music educators in thirty one states.
More than
ninety percent of the performance related teachers in
the survey reported that they taught improvisation.
Two years previous to this,
a survey from the Jazz
Band Committee of the College Band Directors National
Association questioned nine hundred colleges.
Ninety
eight percent of the colleges and universities
responding had at least one large Jazz Band.
percent gave academic credit for the class.
Eighty
Less than
half had combos and of those only twenty one gave
credit.
Over half had no other jazz courses.
The
startling fact is that of the nine hundred colleges
and universities polled,
only three percent offered a
jazz degree.
Community colleges consider their primary goal to
"respond to the specific needs of the community."
Responsiveness to specific educational needs of the
community results in "innovative and flexible
42
43
programs. "
Community colleges are unencumbered by
rigid degree requirements.
Many community colleges
have professional jazz musicians as part of their
adjunct faculty.
According to the Guitar and Accessory
Manufacturers Association,
of middle,
junior,
guitar classes.
about twenty five percent
and senior high schools offer
Relatively few classroom oriented
materials are available for intermediate and advanced
levels.
Most guitar improvisational materials are
used for private instruction rather than the class
setting.
These facts support the assumption that
improvisation is not being taught at lower levels to
guitar students except in private lessons.
The classical guitarist receives almost no
improvisational instruction whatsoever.
The guitarist
trained in the popular fields receives his
improvisational instruction mainly from the private
teacher.
When the classical guitarist enters the
musical world and is called upon to play some type of
commercial,
pop or jazz music,
he will be not be
prepared.
One of the most important reasons for using
improvisation as a method of musical learning is the
"total involvement" necessary on the part of both
teacher and student.
Most jazz educators feel that
44
improvisation should be introduced in the earliest
stages of education in order for the process to become
natural and a fully functioning part of the
performer's creative sk ills.
Jazz educator Bill
Dobbins of the Eastman School of Music,
believes that
improvisation should be taught through an approach
that integrates ear training,
sight reading,
instrumental and vocal techniques,
and theory.
Most
jazz educators agree with this approach.
Another area in which improvisation is currently
taught is in instrumental organ music.
states,
Peter Huford
"Improvisation seems to be one of the finest
methods of musical teaching available."
competitions,
category,
Organ
which include improvisation as one
are held in different locations throughout
the world.
In 1950,
Concourse International
d'Execution Musicale held an organ competition in
Geneva.
The International Organ Festival was held in
1963 at St. Albans,
with improvisation being one of
its areas of attention.
In order to play music in the styles of jazz,
gospel,
blues,
pop,
rock ,
or bluegrass,
the musician
must have an understanding of improvisation.
The
contemporary student's musical language and realm of
experience is along the lines of these musical forms.
Television,
radio,
recordings,
and concerts all
45
conta i n these styles of mus i c whi ch requi re the
abi li ty to i mprovi se.
The work i ng mus i c i an of the
1980 s must have a command of i mprovi sati on i f he or
she i s to surv i ve monetari ly as a performi ng mus i c i an.
It i s only the classi cal mus i c i an who can escape thi s
need by learni ng exactly what i s on the pri nted page.
As i n the Renai ssance and Baroque,
jazz shares a
s i m i lar strong rhythmi cal dri ve and creati ve
freshness.
Improvi sati on i s an i ntegral part of both
styles of mus i c .
The fact that a player must be able
to call forth and play on command a w i de vari ety of
materi als w ithout wri tten a i d demands a "k i nd of
physi cal and mental alertness" not always evi dent i n
reali z i ng a wri tten score.
The Tools of the Imp r ovising Guitarist
The r e is a d e finite ne e d for improvisation .
The
intr oduction of impr ovisation into the guitarist' s
It will
musical backgrou nd is a ve r y important one .
ope n up an e nti r e cr e ative pr ocess .
O r ganis t C or K e e state s that five elements ar e
r e quir e d of the impr ovising musician:
compos itional talent,
(1)
(2 ) poe tic se nsitivity,
( 3)
te chnical knowle dge of all phas e s of the instrume nt,
( 4 ) knowle dge of harmony and counte rpoint,
(5 )
knowle dge of s tr uctur e . . . the improvisor is r e quir e d to
r e act,
to combine ,
and to or ganize . "2 1
The following ar e this author ' s id e as on the
possible se q u e nce for pr e se nting improvisation to
stud e nts of the guitar .
guitarist are many .
The tools of the impr ovising
He must be able to play all of
the scale s and arpeggios and to e ncorporate the m into
music on the spu r of the mome nt .
Ste p 1:
Many jazz pedagogue s agr e e that the
e asiest way to introduce impr ovisation is through the
use of the pe ntatonic or blues scale .
O nce the
pr imary position for the pe ntatonic scale has be e n
lear ned b y the student and some facility has be e n
46
47
achieved,
he should experiment with it in a practical
This primary position is at the fifth
situation.
position in the k ey of A minor (see Appendix J).
While the teacher provides accompaniment,
will attempt a "free form" improvisation.
the student
The
pentatonic scale sounds pleasing from any scale
degree,
enabling the improvisor to place stress on any
note without u nsatisfactory results.
The main element
to be eliminated from the student's mind at this point
is fear.
O nce the student feels comfortable with the
situation,
he will be able to perform with greater
succcess.
A typical I,
IV,
V Blues progression serves
as an excellent background for this type of musical
experimentation.
At this point,
form can be
introduced with the use of the twelve bar blues.
training,
singing,
must be introduced.
meter,
rhythm,
Ear
and phrase structure
Playing the exact same material
at a different fret is an excellent way to introduce
k eys.
The student should be urged to listen to blues
music so that he may acquire a "taste" for it.
Step 2:
modality.
The next most logical topic is that of
The very same pentatonic scale that was
introduced previously may be filled in to form the
Dorian mode.
The addition of the notes B and F# may
be made to the previously learned A Pentatonic scale
in the fifth position (see Appendix K).
This
48
fin gerin g is e asy t o me morize an d should be applied
again st an A minor chord.
"Imp ression s''
Modal jazz t un e s such as
(se e Appe n dix L ) ,
"S o What " (se e Appen dix M ) ,
by John Colt ran e an d
by Miles Davis are
Bot h
e x celle n t vehicles for t eachin g t he Dorian mode .
t un e s modulat e up a half st e p an d t he n re t urn back t o
t h e original ke y .
S t ep 3 :
in t roduced,
Bot h t un es are in A-B-A form .
Aft e r t he Dorian mode has be e n
t he Ae olian mode
(se e Appen dix N) may be
t augh t an d compare d t o t he Dorian mode .
The
differe n ce be t we e n t he t wo modes is t he pre sen ce of F
n at ural in t he
"A" Ae olian mode as oppose d t o t he F
sharp in t h e Dorian mode .
A chord progre ssion may be
used ( t o illus t rat e t he diffe re n ce s be t we e n t he t wo ) .
This '' A" Ae olian progre ssion is an e xcelle n t on e:
minor,
G,
F (i,
S t ep 4 :
bVII,
A
bV I-se e Appen dix 0 ) .
The remain in g mode t o be t aught at t his
t ime is t h e Mixolydian mode
(se e Appe n dix P).
It can
be in t roduce d by showin g it s re lat ion t o t he secon d
posit ion G major scale
(se e App e n dix Q ).
The F
nat ural n ot e pre se n t in t he Mixolydian mode should be
e mp hasize d while t he s t ude n t is improvisin g again st
t he G7 chord.
At t his t ime,
re lat ion ship can be t aught .
t he domin an t - t on ic
The st uden t will t he n
be come aware of chord re solut ions.
The in clusion of
t h e re main in g modes should be re served for a lat e r
49
t ime so t hat t he st udent is not over loaded wit h
informat ion.
S t ep 5 :
The st udent will now be aware of t hr ee
basic chord st r uct ures-Major,
Tonic- Dominant .
Minor ,
and
He should be fami liar wit h t he sounds
as well as t he finger ings of t hese chords.
The
int r oduct ion of ar peggios may be present ed at t his
These arpeggios may be applied t o t he t hr ee
t ime .
It
pr eviously ment ioned chord forms (see Appendix Q ).
is necessar y to int roduce arpeggios lat e in t he
pr ocess because of t heir difficult y in fingering.
S t ep 6:
t augh t .
The ii ,
V,
I pr ogr ession should now be
There are many jazz improvisat ion books
available on t he mar k et t o supplement t his t eaching.
As of 1 98 0 ,
t here wer e over four hundr ed and fift y
impr ovisat ional publicat ions available.
Miles Davis'
"Tune Up" (see Appendix R) may be t aught in or der t o
emphasize t he nat ur e of modulat ions.
By now t he
st udent should have a fairly good back gr ound in basic
impr ovisat ional t echniques and must apply t hem t o
different songs and chor d pr ogressions.
Fak e book s
are useful collect ions of music t o which all of t he
previous t echniques may be applied.
It is not t he pur pose of t his t hesis t o out line
in det ail pedagogical met hods for impr ovisat ion.
emphasis her e is on a fir m backgr ound in t he
The
50
rudimentar y aspects of music and their r elationship to
impr ovisation.
O nce the student has become familiar
with the pr eviously described mater ial,
musical ideas may be introduced:
alternate finger ing,
tr anscr iption,
mor e advanced
chord substitution,
additional positions,
r e-harmonizations,
etc.
With a fir m
fou ndation on which to base later studies,
the student
will be well pr epared for mor e advanced subjects.
In conclusion,
I believe that the fir mly r ooted
art of impr ovisation,
which began to fade away,
an excellent chance of r evival in the 1 980 s.
stands
Most
evidence points to the fact that educators are
becoming mor e and more aware of its value.
twenty year s ago,
O nly
there were few colleges and
univer sities teaching the guitar as a serious
instrument.
The popularity of the instrument,
combined with its newly discovered impor tance,
has
pr ompted educators to include the guitar in their
music pr ogr ams.
The electr ic guitar has been
consider ed only r ecently.
If the guitar student is to
gain a mar k etable back gr ound in music,
he must be
taught electr ic guitar techniques as well as classical
techniques.
This will better prepare him for job
opportunities as a perfor mer.
The guitar ist must be
pr epared to enter the "work ing" musical world with as
firm a musical back gr ound as possible.
Colleges and
,
'
51
univers i t i e s ne e d t o re - e valuat e t he ir music programs
s o t hat t he y inclu d e t he e le ct ric guit ar.
t aught on a se riou s level,
It may be
just as t he classic guit ar,
and improvis at ion bas e d st u d ie s are an e xce llent way
of doing s o .
NOTES
1
The Early History of the Viol.
Woodfield, Ian.
New York: C ambridge University Press, 19 8 4 , p. 79.
2
Boorman, Stanley.
of Late Mediaeval Music.
Press , p. 13 3 .
3
4
York:
s
Ibid.,
Studies in t he Performance
London: C ambridge University
p. 78.
Reese, Gustave. Music in the Renaissance.
W.W. Norton and C ompany, 195 9, p. 5 21-5 22.
Ibid.,
New
p. 3 5 4 .
s Bechtel, Ben.
" Improvisation in Early Music."
Music Educators Jou rnal, ( January 198 0 ), p. 110 .
7
Ibid.,
p. 111.
a
Woodfield, Ian. The Early History of the Viol.
New York: C ambri dge University Press, 198 4 , p. 173 .
9 Bardi,
and Singing.
Giovanni de.
Discourse on Ancient Music
Italy, c.l5 8 0 . p. 10 9.
1 o
Yong, Kwee Him.
Amoenissium. c. 15 5 0 .
Practum Musicum Long
p. vii.
1 1
Strunk, Oliver.
Source Reading in Musical
History: The Renaissance.
New York : W.W. Norton and
C ompany, 1965 , p. 68 .
1 2
Horsley, Imogene. New Grove Dictionary of
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Music and Musicians.
198 0 , p. 3 6.
1 3
Essay on the True Art of Playing
Bach, C . P.E.
Keyboard Instruments, Part II. Berlin, 1762, p.
3 6- 3 7.
1 4
Horsley,
loc. cit.
52
53
1 s
S t rat t on, S t ephen S . Nicolo Paganini: His Life
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1 90 7, p. 1 0 9.
1 s S allis, James.
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William Morrow and Company, Inc. , 1 982 , p.
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1 7 Dobbins, B ill.
" Improvisat ion: An Essent ial
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Music Educat ors
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1 a
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p.
41.
1 9 Warren,
George.
"Variat ions on What Theme? "
S oundboard, ( February 1 977), p. 7.
z o K ee, Cor.
( April 1 965 ), p.
"Teaching Improvisat ion. " Diapason.
2 7.
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