- Year of study: One semester, spring
- Final assessment: assessment from course instructor
- Language of tuition: Norwegian/English
Course description
The course is aimed at students who wish to explore various methods of tonal improvisation with the intention of benefiting from it in their own concert activities and teaching. The course covers improvisation on the student's main instrument and secondary instrument if desired. We will explore improvisation in solo context as well as in ensembles.
The teaching is based on an open form where experimentation and trial and error are important elements for acquiring new knowledge. The instructors in the course have different backgrounds and experiences related to improvisation and will themselves join in exploring and learning from each other's methods.
No special prior knowledge of theory or improvisation is required to participate in this course.
Course coordinator: Strings and Harp Department, Composition, Music Theory and Music Technology Department
Learning objectives
Upon completion of the course, it is expected that the student:
- has knowledge of various methods for tonal improvisation
- has developed a sense of form for improvisation in different musical forms and styles
- demonstrates the ability to perceive larger musical structures and to create an "improvisation plan"
- has the ability to acquire knowledge from "models" in the music literature and to create their own variations based on these models
- has a conscious understanding of the difference between intuitive and planned improvisation, as well as how these different approaches can be combined or ignored.
Overview
The course has both a practical-theoretical approach and intuitive approach to tonal improvisation. It alternates between historical improvisation methods, models drawn from music literature, and an intuitive approach where the boundaries are not restricted.
We will also review a varied selection of historical sources on improvisation, as well as brief excerpts from modern research on the subject.
The course will primarily focus on tonal styles from approximately 1600-1940, but will also draw connections to how this tradition continues to thrive in film music, folk music, pop, rock, and other genres.
Structure
The course is taught in groups with 12 double lessons (90 minutes each) per week over one semester. The course is divided into 4 modules of 3 double lessons each, which address various practical-theoretical approaches to improvisation. Rhetorical devices such as rubato, pauses, repetition, tone variation, dramaturgy, etc., will be addressed concurrently in all modules.
Module 1: Figurative preludes for solo instrument (From the Baroque to the Romantic era)
Module 2: "Partimento" An introduction to improvisational methods from 18th-century Naples
Module 3: Improvisation in periodic forms (Minuets, waltzes, and other small forms)
Module 4: Intuitive improvisation. These lessons are spread throughout the semester to create a constant alternation between the theoretical and intuitive approaches.
Course requirements
- Participation in the scheduled lessons is compulsory. Absence of more than 20% will normally lead to failure of the course.
- Performance of own improvisations documented with audio and video recordings. Necessary training in recording techniques is included in the course.
- Submission of a personal "sketchbook" where the student presents musical patterns collected from the classes and their own analyses of works from music literature
Final assessment
All course requirements must be approved prior to obtaining a final assessment.
Students are assessed in correspondence to the learning outcomes of the course. The final assessment will be given as a mark of “passed”/”failed” for each individual student, which shall be determined on the basis of her or his level demonstrated through the course work.New assessment
Students failing the course will have to apply to re-follow the course for a new assessment. Students may only re-follow the course if there are available places.