GRMUS 634P — Tonal Improvisation

This course is open to all instrumentalists and is ideal for students who are looking to acquire the fundamentals of tonal improvisation and start improvising regularly during our biweekly 50-minute meetings. Through ample group playing time, students develop increased proficiency listening to, imitating, and learning various styles and modes of tonal improvisation. Activities include improvising on baroque ground basses, improvising on harmonic patterns and dance forms, breaking down and improvising over composed Western classical repertoire, improvising on African, European, and American folk music, and text-based free improvisation. Emphasis is placed not only on honing individual skills, but also on playing in groups and exchanging musical ideas in real time to develop listening and real-time musical awareness. The final exam is an in-class performance where each student will perform in a style and mode of improvisation developed and tailored to their individual instrument and in the style of a composer/genre of their choice.