MUSI V2582x - Jazz improvisation:theory,history and practice

Institution:

Barnard College

Subject:

Description:

This course offers an introduction to jazz improvisation for instrumentalists. Through recordings, transcriptions, daily performance and selected readings, students will actively engage the history of jazz through their instruments and intellect. The idea of improvisation will be explored in an historical context, both as a musical phenomenon with its attendant theory and mechanics, and as a trope of American history and aesthetics. The course will explore improvisation in jazz as 'statements within frameworks,' and investigate the crucial historical junctures when these musical frameworks broadened to accommodate new approaches and options. Further, these moments will be explored in their social and historical contexts in order to understand how societal and cultural factors affect the way musicians play. The class will seek to answer the following questions: How does one construct meaning in improvisation How does one build a musical narrative What tensions exist between innovation and tradition in jazz improvisation How does one draw on one's own musical history and tastes in order to develop an individual voice How does one perform purely in the moment Can a musician's playing be dishonest The goal is to provide the student not only with the instrumental skills required to become a proficient jazz improviser (thus serving the performance ensembles in which some of these students will go on to participate) but to do so in a way that is informed by the history of the music and the social contexts in which it evolved. While this course will be performance based, it will include strong music theory and music history components. The course will examine the development of jazz improvisation chronologically, yet will also pause to examine certain aesthetic concepts central to building compelling jazz improvisations. This class is for instrumentalists who wish to deepen their understanding of the theory, history and practice of jazz improvisation. The history of jazz will be used as a prism through which to view approaches to improvisation, from the cadences of the early Blues through the abstractions of Free Jazz and beyond. The student will be exposed to the theory and vocabularies of various jazz idioms, which they will also learn to place in their social and historical contexts. Finally the student will be challenged and encouraged to develop an individual voice, at once informed by the theory and history of jazz improvisation and expressive of the student's musical identity. General Education Requirement: The Visual and Performing Arts (ART). 3 points

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.barnard.edu

Phone Number:

(212) 854-5262

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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