Search results for "Improvisation"
showing 10 items of 51 documents
Exploring the process of developing an improvisation concert within the framework of intensity of interaction
2012
This project views musical performances as collaborative practices, within which intensity is a relational phenomenon. The study is in one part a search for and an elaboration of various means of identifying, analyzing, and unveiling the elements, the variety of tendencies and tensions within musical performances. At the same time, the focus is on the musical communication in detail and as a whole. Therefore, the study speaks about the Intensity of Interaction. The presentation demonstrates the method of double stimulation, which is based on the work by Vygotski. Therefore, the study uses intensity ratings as part of the stimulated recall interview. This means that video recordings of the n…
Analysis of corporal gestures in dance students’ improvisations as a response to controlled musical parameters
2009
This study addresses the lack of a theoretical basis in dance piano accompaniment music geared towards dance. We study which musical features are perceptually most relevant and prompt specific dance movements and gestures, particularly in academic dance.11 musical pieces using an academic style (duration approximately 30s) were composed for the experiment and recorded on a piano. The pieces varied along 6 musical features: mode, tempo, time signature, intensity, anacrusis and syncopation. For each video-recorded improvisation, we analyzed the performance of movement and gesture types. One-way ANOVAs were performed taking each musical feature as a factor and each movement as a dependent vari…
Musical interaction in music therapy for depression treatment
2022
Music therapy is efficacious for the treatment of depression. Compared to other psychotherapeutic forms, it allows for the emergence of various modes of mutual interaction, thus enabling multiple channels for emotional expression and fostering therapeutic alliance. Although musical interaction patterns between client and therapist have been regarded as predictors of therapeutic outcome in depression, this has not yet been systematically investigated. We aim to address this gap by analyzing the possible linkage between musical interaction features and changes in depression score. In a clinical trial, digital piano improvisations from 58 Finnish clients and their therapists were recorded ove…
Enhancing improvisational music therapy through the addition of resonance frequency breathing : Common findings of three single-case experimental stu…
2018
One core characteristic of active music therapy is the facilitation of emotional expression through the creation of music improvisations. In an attempt to further develop this approach, we created an enhanced form of integrative improvisational music therapy by including 10 minutes of resonance frequency breathing (RFB) at the beginning of the sessions. RFB is a type of slowbreathing known for its ability to reduce stress and support emotional regulation. This paper summarizes the common findings of three single-case experimental studies and introduces a provisional model to explain the observed effects of RFB. During the breathing itself, all three clients (two of them healthy and one diag…
Melodic structure and inner self in clinical improvisation
2016
This study investigates the analogies between the melodic evolution within clinical improvisation and the shifts in the core self, across the continuum of music therapy process. This investigation is facilitated by a hypothesis; that musical shifts in improvisation’s structure precede psychological shifts in improviser’s self during therapy. Melodic improvisations created within the Integrative Improvisational Music Therapy (IIMT) model (Erkkilä, 2016) are investigated as proposed in the Therapeutic Narrative Analysis (Aldridge & Aldridge, 2008): certain melodic episodes from significant improvisations are analyzed with the Repertory Grid Method (Kelly, 1995) and patterns of the musical dat…
The sense of self of experienced and non-experienced music therapists in musical improvisation : an interpretative phenomenological analysis
2014
Music therapists’ work is constantly researched and measured in order to find the best possible ways for conducting music therapy and treating people through music. In spite of this, music therapists themselves are rarely investigated. This research had as its aim to investigate music therapists. The actual investigation involved the sense of self of a music therapist in musical improvisation through semi-structured interviews analysed with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Findings of the research included accepting awareness, using the self as a tool and mutual and authentic interaction between equals. These findings coincide with previous researches supporting that music can be a…
Pedagogical Styles for Melodic Improvisation - Comparing the Effects of Music-Theoretical and Dramaturgic Instruction
2009
The pedagogical literature on improvisation in jazz and related genres is chiefly concerned with scales, chords, and other music-theoretically defined elements. On the other hand, the literature on freer forms of improvisation emphasizes a “dramaturgical” approach, with focuses on expression and personal commitment. The present research aims at assessing the relative merits of these approaches. In the study, 36 students of professional music pedagogy, most of them with little or no improvisation experience, took part in a week-long improvisation course during which part of them were given music-theoretical and part of them dramaturgically oriented instruction. The students’ melodic improvis…
The inspiration in improvisation : identifying and classifying the approaches to emotion-based musical improvisation
2016
The purpose of this study was to identify the naturally occurring approaches that musicians use to improvise and to analyse the relationships between the approach used, the improviser’s musical experience, and the quality of the resulting improvisation. 16 participants took part in three group improvisation and discussion sessions, and the improvisations of the final session (80 in total) were recorded and rated by experts on emotions- and quality-related aspects. The approaches mentioned by participants in the final session were organised into five distinct categories: technical, musical inspiration, nuanced emotion, visualized scene, and personal experience. Significant negative correlati…
Perception of basic emotions in clinical improvisations : an experimental study
2016
Recently the Finnish music therapy research has focused on therapy of clients with depression. In music psychology the global interest in felt and perceived emotions in music has been a clear trend for two to three decades. This experimental study shares the interests of both fields by examining perceived emotions in improvised music from music therapy sessions. In the experiment, participants (n=29), who were professional music therapists (n=14) and music therapy students (n=15), were asked to listen to 21 short excerpts from seven improvisations that clients with depression have played in their therapy. Meanwhile or after each excerpt, participants were asked to rate the strength of each …
Using altered states of consciousness in improvisational music therapy : the potential of resonance frequency breathing
2018
Improvisational music therapy is a type of creative arts therapy in which clients are encouraged to express themselves through the symbolic and non-verbal medium of music, by creating free music improvisations together with the therapist. The present research aims at investigating whether the efficacy of this method can be further enhanced by purposefully accessing the ego-quieting properties of altered states of consciousness. This work proceeds in three main steps. First, the notions of consciousness and its alteration are examined and reformulated, resulting in a more comprehensive theoretical model. Then, existing methods for inducing altered states of consciousness are evaluated in ter…