BookatlasPiano Rabbit Hole: Improvisation Theory & Practice
16809 / 18210 · Workshop 121 — Improvisation as a Composition Engine: How to Capture Spontaneous Ideas, Recognize What Is Worth Keeping, and Turn a One-Time Performance into a Real Piece← prev⊞ allnext →

121.6Improvisation is a search process

When improvising, your musical system rapidly tries:

  • intervals
  • rhythms
  • harmonic paths
  • register choices
  • voicings
  • textures
  • phrase lengths

Most are ordinary.

A few are:

interesting.

Very few may be:

structurally important.

Your job is to notice those.