Improving Improvisation in the Classroom: An Innovative Approach to Improvisation Pedagogy for Classical Musicians

The improvising musician consciously and subconsciously draws on a lifetime of learnt theoretical knowledge and accumulated auditory memories to create and compose instantaneously. Improvisation and composition were taught in the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Neapolitan Conservatories by way of keyboard exercises called partimenti. Before commencing these lessons, all students undertook compulsory training in solfeggi– stylistic, melodic compositions for voice often with keyboard accompaniment. These melodies were predominantly taught orally by way of sung instruction, and used complex rules to apply solmisation. Learning to sing and memorise countless solfeggi melodies gave students the necessary melodic auditory memories required for future improvisation lessons. ‘Third Stream’ ear training is a modern-day method with several striking similarities to solfeggi. It was developed by improvising pianist and composer Ran Blake in the 1970s and is currently taught at a small number of jazz and contemporary music schools to all students learning to improvise. The method exclusively uses recorded music and aural learning to teach students to memorise and sing a repertoire of melodies, selected from a wide variety of music genres and styles. Increasingly improvisation is being included in classical music curricula, often to illustrate theoretical concepts and enhance musicianship. Within this however there is little attention on developing students’ auditory memories in the way that Third Stream or solfeggi does. This study addresses this by presenting a new method, derived from Third Stream ear training and solfeggi principles and elements, designed to provide all students with the necessary auditory memories to approach improvisation tasks.