The Improvising Mind
Cognition and Creativity in the Musical Moment
Published on 17. June 2010
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-0-19-959095-7 (ISBN)
Description
The ability to improvise represents one of the highest levels of musical achievement. An improviser must master a musical language to such a degree as to be able to spontaneously invent stylistically idiomatic compositions on the spot. This feat is one of the pinnacles of human creativity, and yet its cognitive basis is not completely understood. What musical knowledge is required for improvisation? How does a musician learn to improvise? How is this knowledge used in performance? What are the neural correlates of improvised performance?
In 'The Improvising Mind', these questions are explored through an interdisciplinary approach that draws on cognitive neuroscience, the study of historical pedagogical treatises on improvisation, interviews with improvisers, and musical analysis of improvised performances. Findings from these treatises and interviews are discussed from the perspective of cognitive psychological theories of learning, memory, and expertise.
Musical improvisation has often been compared to 'speaking a musical language'. While past research has focused on comparisons of music and language perception, few have dealt with the music - language comparison in the performance domain. In this book, learning to improvise is compared with language acquisition, and improvised performance is compared with spontaneous speech from both theoretical and neurobiological perspectives.
Tackling a topic that has hitherto received little attention,The Improvising Mind is a valuable addition to the literature in music cognition. This book will be of interest to musicologists, music theorists, cognitive neuroscientists and psychologists, musicians, music educators, and anyone with an interest in creativity.
In 'The Improvising Mind', these questions are explored through an interdisciplinary approach that draws on cognitive neuroscience, the study of historical pedagogical treatises on improvisation, interviews with improvisers, and musical analysis of improvised performances. Findings from these treatises and interviews are discussed from the perspective of cognitive psychological theories of learning, memory, and expertise.
Musical improvisation has often been compared to 'speaking a musical language'. While past research has focused on comparisons of music and language perception, few have dealt with the music - language comparison in the performance domain. In this book, learning to improvise is compared with language acquisition, and improvised performance is compared with spontaneous speech from both theoretical and neurobiological perspectives.
Tackling a topic that has hitherto received little attention,The Improvising Mind is a valuable addition to the literature in music cognition. This book will be of interest to musicologists, music theorists, cognitive neuroscientists and psychologists, musicians, music educators, and anyone with an interest in creativity.
Reviews / Votes
There are many reasons to recommend The Improvising Mind, not least its allure for professional academic audiences, and yet wider appeal; and the potential for its subject matter to provoke cogitation on sociological, psychological and philosophical matters. * Psychology of Music, Jan 2013 * Although the primary readership for The Improvising mind: Cognition and Creativity in the Musical Moment is likely to be musicologists, psychologists, musicians and educators, anyone fascinated by the act, process, development, skills and even the miracle of creativity will find much in Aaron Berkowitz's book to intrigue, inform and stimulate them. * Classical Net * This is a short book at under 200 substantive pages. But it's one well deserving of attention ... Although the primary readership for The Improvising mind: Cognition and Creativity in the Musical Moment is likely to be musicologists, psychologists, musicians and educators, anyone fascinated by the act, process, development, skills and even the miracle of creativity will find much in Aaron Berkowitz's book to intrigue, inform and stimulate them. * Classical Net *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
numerous black and white photographs
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
517 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-959095-7 (9780199590957)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Aaron Berkowitz received his Bachelor degrees in Music (B.A.) and Biology (B.S.) from George Washington University, his M.D. from Johns Hopkins University, and his Ph.D. in Music from Harvard University, where he received a Presidential Fellowship, a Mind/Brain/Behavior Research Award, and the Oscar S. Schafer Award for Excellence in Teaching. His research has been published in NeuroImage and Twentieth Century Music, he has been an invited speaker at several major US universities and conferences, and he has served as a guest professor in music and psychology at Tufts University. He has performed throughout Europe and the US as a pianist and fortepianist, and his compositions have been performed in Europe and the US, including at Carnegie Hall.
Content
Dedication ; Acknowledgements ; Prelude ; 1. Introduction ; 2. THE PEDAGOGY OF IMPROVISATION I: IMPROVISATION TREATISES OF MID-EIGHTEENTH AND EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURIES ; 3. The pedagogy of improvisation II: Pedagogical strategies ; 4. Learning to improvise; Learners' perspectives ; 5. Music and language cognition compared I: Acquisition ; PART II: COGNITION IN IMPROVISED PERFORMANCE ; 6. Improvised performance: Performers' perspectives ; 7. The neurobiology of improvisation ; 8. Music and language compared II; Production ; 9. Cadenza ; CODA: CONSTRAINTS AND FREEDOM; IMPROVISATION IN MUSIC, LANGUAGE, AND NATURE ; Bibliography ; Index