Week 12 Forum - Improvisation

I thought that a two hour discussion on what improvisation is was a bit too longwinded for me. I know we have to introduce this concept to the first years, but I still feel I've had enough improvisation from last year.

Last year it went for a whole semester. I found that after the first few weeks last year there wasn't anything new I could really do. All I can think of now is to play a different instrument each week. I hope DJ Tr!p comes back because he was awesome!

I think that Steven Whittington and David Harris spent way too much time defining what things are when they could be just doing it. Who cares what the exact, precise, intellectual definition of improvisation is. Go to the piano and just improvise!

Yes there is a difference between composition and improvisation but does knowing the difference make you any better at either? Some of the most talented musicians of all time can’t even read music and just play music because they can. I think intellectualizing the topic just makes it unnecessarily boring.[1]


[1] Stephen Whittington, David Harris. 'Music Technology Forum Presentation - Improvisation'. Lecture presented in the EMU Space, Electronic Music Unit, University Of Adelaide, 31st May 2007