The ability to improvise represents one of the
highest levels of musical achievement. An improviser
must master a musical language to such a degree as to be
able to spontaneously invent stylistically idiomatic
compositions on the spot. This feat is one of the
pinnacles of human creativity, and yet its cognitive
basis is not completely understood. What musical
knowledge is required for improvisation? How does a
musician learn to improvise? How is this knowledge used
in performance? What are the neural correlates of
improvised performance?
In 'The Improvising
Mind', these questions are explored through an
interdisciplinary approach that draws on cognitive
neuroscience, the study of historical pedagogical
treatises on improvisation, interviews with improvisers,
and musical analysis of improvised performances.
Findings from these treatises and interviews are
discussed from the perspective of cognitive
psychological theories of learning, memory, and
expertise.
Musical improvisation has often been
compared to 'speaking a musical language'. While past
research has focused on comparisons of music and
language perception, few have dealt with the music -
language comparison in the performance domain. In this
book, learning to improvise is compared with language
acquisition, and improvised performance is compared with
spontaneous speech from both theoretical and
neurobiological perspectives.
Tackling a topic
that has hitherto received little attention,The
Improvising Mind is a valuable addition to the
literature in music cognition. This book will be of
interest to musicologists, music theorists, cognitive
neuroscientists and psychologists, musicians, music
educators, and anyone with an interest in
creativity.
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