Expanding the Space for Improvisation Pedagogy in Music

Guro Gravem Johansen is Associate Professor of Music Education at the Norwegian Academy of Music (Oslo, Norway) and holds a PhD on instrumental practising on improvisation. Johansen's research interests are instrumental practising and teaching and learning of jazz and improvisation.Kari Holdhus is Associate Professor at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. Her research interests are relational aesthetics, aesthetic learning processes, equity based music education practices.Christina Larsson is a classical singer and music teacher and currently a PhD candidate at The School of Music and Theatre at Örebro University in Sweden.Una MacGlone is a double bassist and founder member of the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra. She lectures on free improvisation courses at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and is completing a PhD at the University of Edinburgh.

"If I were to choose one type of musical experience that is the most misunderstood, under studied and poorly taught in "western" music education, it would be improvisation. This wonderful collection of chapters brings new scholarship and approaches to improvisation pedagogy that are badly needed. Especially meaningful is how the authors place the topic squarely in the center of socially-relevant discourse for today’s music teaching and learning. A must-read for new and seasoned teachers and scholars."Peter Webster, Scholar in Residence, Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California, USA. Emeritus Professor, Bienen School of Music, Northwestern University, USA.

• Chapter 1: Expanding the space for improvisation pedagogy in music: An introductionSection 1 - Distinctive features: empowering practices using improvisationChapter 2: Teaching and Learning Improvisation: Culture-Specific Cases of a Cross-cultural Musical ActChapter 3: A broadened approach towards musical improvisation as a foundation for very young children’s agencyChapter 4: Musical Improvisation for Japanese Children TodayChapter 5: A Deweyan take on improvisation as an experience: An example from a Swedish Year 4 music class.Chapter 6: The Play of Vocal Actors: exploring performative agency through opera improvisation.InterludeChapter 7: When mixed-skill ensemble becomes social practice art. Section 2: Semantic possibilities: meaning making through improvisationChapter 8: Young children’s talk about improvising: how conceptual tools and workshop roles are formed through musical improvisation workshop.Chapter 9: Improvisation in primary school settings: Discovering the play of music makingChapter 10: Teaching and Learning in Unfamiliar Territory. Chapter 11: Communication in Musical Improvisation Performances: Common Languages across Practices in Real-Time Arts. InterludeChapter 12: Sonic Bothy: Improvisation, art, and equality.Section 3: Pedagogical consequences: plural teaching and learning in improvisationChapter 13: Pedagogical improvisation: Musical Improvisation’s Little Sister?Chapter 14: A life of its own: teaching group improvisation through responsive choices.Chapter 15: Crossing the line: Collective improvisation and artistic ownership in The Norwegian Wind Ensemble.Chapter 16: Seven steps to heaven? An epistemological exploration of learning in jazz improvisation, from the perspective of expansive learning and horizontal development. Chapter 17: What have we learned about improvisation pedagogy?