improvisation

Creating music ‘on the spot’ as it is being performed. It is a principal means of artistic expression among oral cultures, including popular music and jazz in the West. It is based on standard models, including song form (ABA), modes, raga, or scales of specific significance, and on standard rhythms, or familiar melodies combining modal and rhythmic components.

A composer/performer creates a fresh and personal interpretation of a model at each performance, one showing understanding of the stylistic history of the original, and bringing an experienced artistry to bear on expression and decoration. Successful improvisation relies on the awareness of an audience, knowing the prototype, and freely responding to refinements of artistic variation. Organists are taught improvisation as a technique and it was the norm amongst composers from the Renaissance to mid-Romantic period. Improvisation was also the principal technique of silent film accompaniment.