Approaching Improvisation as a Classical Violinist. "Paganini non ripete".

Abstract

The practice of improvisation is most often absent in the education of classical mu- sicians today, even though it had a central part in European art music in previous centuries. Nevertheless, improvisation is still an important element in folk music, non-Western classical music, and jazz, yet many classical musicians like myself find playing without notes to be both a mental and technical challenge. In this thesis, I will explore methods for approaching improvisation on the violin from a broad per- spective, without being limited to a certain genre or style of music. The result is a set of playful exercises, or games, adapted for both one and multiple musicians that are intended to be a starting point for learning to improvise, particularly on string instruments such as the violin.