The act of creating music that has not been predetermined This term often refers specifically to the act of playing new melodic lines as part of a solo
Spontaneous Composition The performance of music that is composed on the spur-of-the moment by the performer, usually as a solo, or cadenza Also used extensively in jazz
music that involves some performer freedom during performance within a certain set of parameters, in which the performer draws upon techniques and intuition based on previous experience
Creation of a musical composition while it is being performed, seen in Baroque ornamentation, cadenzas of concertos, jazz, and some non-Western musics See also embellishment
Spontanious Composition The performance of music that is composed on the spur-of-the moment by the performer, usually as a solo, or cadenza Also used extensively in jazz
Creation of music in real time. Improvisation usually involves some preparation beforehand, particularly when there is more than one performer. Despite the central place of notated music in the Western tradition, improvisation has often played a role, from the earliest organum through the use of continuo (partially improvised accompaniment played on a bass line) in the 17th and 18th centuries. It has taken forms such as creation of a melody over a bass line for dancing, elaborate ornamentation added to a repeated section in an aria, keyboard variations on popular songs, concerto cadenzas, and free solo fantasias. Perhaps at its lowest ebb in the 19th century, improvisation returned to concert music in "experimental" compositions and in "authentic" performances of older music. Its most important contemporary Western form is jazz. It is also a defining feature of the raga
Music played spontaneously, alone, or against a pre-arranged background of chords and melodies Liszt and Chopin were renowned for the improvisations Today, they are common in organ recitals and in jazz music
Movement that is created spontaneously, ranging from loosely structured to tightly limited (e g , based on a given genre, a particular element of movement, or an understanding of a role), but always with an element of chance Improvisation provides an artist with an opportunity to bring together elements without preplanning, and requires focus and concentration Contact improvisation is a more complex form of improvisation, in which dancers create movement using the physical laws of gravity, momentum, friction, and inertia as they govern the motion of two or more bodies in contact