"Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians."
The techniques, styles, and conventions of musical performance in ancient cultures, including solo and ensemble performance, improvisation, and ornamentation.
Historical Context: Understanding the cultural and social contexts in which ancient music was performed, such as historical events, religious beliefs, and societal values.
Notation: Learning to read and interpret ancient musical notation and understanding the different systems of notation used in different historical periods.
Instruments: Familiarizing oneself with the various ancient musical instruments, their construction, and their playing techniques.
Repertoire: Becoming familiar with the diverse musical repertoire of ancient times and examining different musical genres, such as sacred music, secular music, and dance music.
Tuning Systems: Understanding the different tuning systems used in ancient music, such as Pythagorean tuning or just intonation.
Improvisation: Learning about the role of improvisation in ancient music and exploring different improvisational techniques used by ancient musicians.
Ensembles: Understanding the role of various ensembles, such as vocal ensembles, instrumental ensembles, or mixed ensembles, and examining their different performance practices.
Performance Techniques: Learning to perform ancient music using period-appropriate techniques, such as articulation, ornamentation, phrasing, and dynamics.
Performance Spaces: Examining the various performance spaces used in ancient times, such as theaters, cathedrals, or courtrooms, and understanding their impact on musical performance.
Historical Performance Practice: Learning about the principles and methodologies of historical performance practice, which aims to recreate the performance practices of a particular historical period.
Music Theory: Studying the music theory prevalent in ancient times, such as modes, scales, harmony, rhythm, and counterpoint.
Cultural Exchange: Investigating the impact of cultural exchange and cross-cultural musical practices on ancient music, such as the influence of Persian or Arab music on Western music.
Performance Analysis: Analyzing the performance practices of ancient music performances, such as examining the use of musical gestures, rhythmical patterns, or musical improvisation.
Music Iconography: Studying the visual representations of musical performance in ancient art, such as frescoes, mosaics, or sculptures, and understanding their historical context.
Music Archaeology: Examining the archaeological evidence for ancient musical instruments, performance spaces, and repertoire, and the methods used to reconstruct ancient music.
Gregorian chant: A type of plainchant music that was popular during the medieval period. It is characterized by its monophonic nature and sacred texts written in Latin.
Medieval music: Encompasses music produced during the Middle Ages (500 to 1400 AD). It is characterized by the use of modal melodies, monophonic texture, and vocal music.
Renaissance music: Characterized by the use of polyphony, which is when two or more musical voices play at the same time. This type of music was popular during the 15th and 16th centuries.
Baroque music: Characterized by the use of elaborate ornamentation, contrasting dynamics, and intricate melodies. This type of music was popular during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Classical music: Characterized by its simplicity, balance, and symmetry. This type of music was popular during the 18th and early 19th centuries.
Romantic music: Characterized by its emotional intensity, use of dissonance, and dramatic expression. This type of music was popular during the 19th century.
Early music: Refers to music composed and performed during the pre-Baroque period. It is characterized by the use of early musical instruments, such as the harpsichord and lute, and simple, melodic harmonies.
Folk music: Music that has been passed down through generations and is often associated with a particular cultural or historical context.
World music: Encompasses music from various cultures and regions around the world and includes traditional, indigenous music, as well as modern, hybrid forms.
Sacred music: Music composed for religious purposes, such as hymns or songs for worship services.
Secular music: Music composed for non-religious purposes, such as love songs or entertainment.
Chamber music: Music composed for small ensemble groups, such as a string quartet or woodwind ensemble.
Opera: A form of theatrical musical performance that combines music, drama, and singing.
Ballet: A type of performance that incorporates dance, music, and costume to tell a story or convey a mood.
Instrumental music: Music composed for instrumental ensembles, such as an orchestra or symphony.
"Blues, rock music, jazz, and jazz fusion, in which instrumental performers improvise solos, melody lines, and accompaniment parts."
"Musical ideas in improvisation are spontaneous but may be based on chord changes in classical music and many other kinds of music."
"A performance given extempore without planning or preparation."
"Improvisation is often done within (or based on) a pre-existing harmonic framework or chord progression."
"Throughout the eras of the Western art music tradition, including the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods, improvisation was a valued skill."
"J. S. Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, and many other famous composers and musicians were known especially for their improvisational skills."
"Some classical music forms contained sections for improvisation, such as the cadenza in solo concertos, or the preludes to some keyboard suites by Bach and Handel, which consist of elaborations of a progression of chords."
"Improvisation might have played an important role in the monophonic period. The earliest treatises on polyphony indicate that added parts were improvised for centuries before the first notated examples."
"In the Baroque era, performers improvised ornaments and basso continuo keyboard players improvised chord voicings based on figured bass notation."
"Some contemporary composers from the 20th and 21st century have increasingly included improvisation in their creative work."
"In Indian classical music, improvisation is a core component and an essential criterion of performances."
"In Indian, Afghan, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi classical music, raga is the 'tonal framework for composition and improvisation.'"
"Musical improvisation combines performance with communication of emotions."
"Musical improvisation combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians."
"However, it was only in the fifteenth century that theorists began making a hard distinction between improvised and written music."
"In the 20th and early 21st century, as common practice Western art music performance became institutionalized in symphony orchestras, opera houses, and ballets, improvisation has played a smaller role."
"The Encyclopædia Britannica defines a raga as 'a melodic framework for improvisation and composition.'"
"Indian, Afghan, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi classical music."
"The Encyclopædia Britannica defines it as 'the extemporaneous composition or free performance of a musical passage, usually in a manner conforming to certain stylistic norms but unfettered by the prescriptive features of a specific musical text.'"