Music Improvisation: Concepts and Practice

Catalog description

This course guides undergraduate students through fundamental strategies of music improvisation. Our goal is to apply these methods to various and diverse formal structures, musical styles, performance settings, sonic environments, and collaborative formats. It is open to students with a proficient level of experience singing and/or playing an instrument (producers and computer musicians interested and capable in live performance are welcome) and will best serve students who have experimented with or seek to further use music improvisation as a fundamental part of their creative approach. For the theoretical part of the course, students will learn about improvisation through critical literature, exploring its multiple conceptual, historical, and cultural contexts. For the practice part, students will be guided through creating, rehearsing, and collectively performing original music. The course will culminate in an informal, public final performance of students' original music. By the end, students will have gained practical experience with music improvisation as a viable and flexible tool in creative music and a useful, genuine, and generous means to collaborate with other artists. This class is open to students with a proficient level of experience singing and/or playing an instrument (producers and computer musicians interested and capable in live performance are welcome). Students should plan to bring their own musical instruments to class each week. For questions about this course, please contact Professor Kwami Coleman ([email protected]).