Download or read book The Improvising Mind written by Aaron Berkowitz and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-06-17 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ability to improvise represents one of the highest levels of musical achievement. Yet what musical knowledge is 3equired for improvisation? How does a musician learn to improvise? What are the neural correlates of improvised performance? These are some of the questions explored in this unique and fascinating new book.

Download or read book Play Your Way Sane written by Clay Drinko and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-01-19 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stop negative thoughts, assuage anxiety, and live in the moment with these fun, easy games from improv expert Clay Drinko. If you’ve been feeling lost lately, you’re not alone! Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, Americans were experiencing record levels of loneliness and anxiety. And in our current political turmoil, it’s safe to say that people are looking for new tools to help them feel more present, positive, and in sync with the world. So what better way to get there than play? In Play Your Way Sane, Dr. Clay Drinko offers 120 low-key, accessible activities that draw on the popular principles of improv comedy to help you tackle your everyday stress and reconnect with the people around you. Divided into twelve fun sections, including “Killing Debbie Downer” and “Thou Shalt Not Be Judgy,” the games emphasize openness, reciprocation, and active listening as the keys to a mindful and satisfying life. Whether you’re looking to improve your personal relationships, find new meaning at work, or just survive our trying times, Play Your Way Sane offers serious self-help with a side of Second City sass.

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Critical Improvisation Studies written by George Lewis and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 617 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: V. 1. Cognitions -- v. 2. Critical theories

Download or read book Thinking in Jazz written by Paul F. Berliner and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2009-10-05 with total page 904 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A landmark in jazz studies, Thinking in Jazz reveals as never before how musicians, both individually and collectively, learn to improvise. Chronicling leading musicians from their first encounters with jazz to the development of a unique improvisatory voice, Paul Berliner documents the lifetime of preparation that lies behind the skilled improviser's every idea. The product of more than fifteen years of immersion in the jazz world, Thinking in Jazz combines participant observation with detailed musicological analysis, the author's experience as a jazz trumpeter, interpretations of published material by scholars and performers, and, above all, original data from interviews with more than fifty professional musicians: bassists George Duvivier and Rufus Reid; drummers Max Roach, Ronald Shannon Jackson, and Akira Tana; guitarist Emily Remler; pianists Tommy Flanagan and Barry Harris; saxophonists Lou Donaldson, Lee Konitz, and James Moody; trombonist Curtis Fuller; trumpeters Doc Cheatham, Art Farmer, Wynton Marsalis, and Red Rodney; vocalists Carmen Lundy and Vea Williams; and others. Together, the interviews provide insight into the production of jazz by great artists like Betty Carter, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins, and Charlie Parker. Thinking in Jazz overflows with musical examples from the 1920s to the present, including original transcriptions (keyed to commercial recordings) of collective improvisations by Miles Davis's and John Coltrane's groups. These transcriptions provide additional insight into the structure and creativity of jazz improvisation and represent a remarkable resource for jazz musicians as well as students and educators. Berliner explores the alternative ways—aural, visual, kinetic, verbal, emotional, theoretical, associative—in which these performers conceptualize their music and describes the delicate interplay of soloist and ensemble in collective improvisation. Berliner's skillful integration of data concerning musical development, the rigorous practice and thought artists devote to jazz outside of performance, and the complexities of composing in the moment leads to a new understanding of jazz improvisation as a language, an aesthetic, and a tradition. This unprecedented journey to the heart of the jazz tradition will fascinate and enlighten musicians, musicologists, and jazz fans alike.

Download or read book Theatrical Improvisation Consciousness and Cognition written by C. Drinko and published by Springer. This book was released on 2013-04-05 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Improvisation teachers have long known that the human mind could be trained to be effortlessly spontaneous and intuitive. Drinko explores what these improvisation teachers knew about improvisation's effects on consciousness and cognition and compares these theories to current findings in cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy.

Download or read book Cognition in Improvisation written by Aaron Berkowitz and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 522 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ability to improvise represents one of the highest levels of musical achievement. An improvisor must master a musical language to such a degree as to be able to spontaneously invent stylistically idiomatic compositions on the spot. This feat a one of the pinnacles of human creativity, and yet its cognitive basis is poorly understood. In this dissertation, I explore cognition in improvisation, seeking to answer the following three questions: What is the knowledge base necessary for improvisations? How is this knowledge acquired? How is this knowledge used in performance?

Download or read book Handbook of Embodied Cognition and Sport Psychology written by Massimiliano L. Cappuccio and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2019-01-01 with total page 809 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first systematic collaboration between cognitive scientists and sports psychologists considers the mind–body relationship from the perspective of athletic skill and sports practice. This landmark work is the first systematic collaboration between cognitive scientists and sports psychologists that considers the mind–body relationship from the perspective of athletic skill and sports practice. With twenty-six chapters by leading researchers, the book connects and integrates findings from fields that range from philosophy of mind to sociology of sports. The chapters show not only that sports can tell scientists how the human mind works but also that the scientific study of the human mind can help athletes succeed. Sports psychology research has always focused on the themes, notions, and models of embodied cognition; embodied cognition, in turn, has found striking confirmation of its theoretical claims in the psychological accounts of sports performance and athletic skill. Athletic skill is a legitimate form of intelligence, involving cognitive faculties no less sophisticated and complex than those required by mathematical problem solving. After presenting the key concepts necessary for applying embodied cognition to sports psychology, the book discusses skill disruption (the tendency to “choke” under pressure); sensorimotor skill acquisition and how training correlates to the development of cognitive faculties; the intersubjective and social dimension of sports skills, seen in team sports; sports practice in cultural and societal contexts; the notion of “affordance” and its significance for ecological psychology and embodied cognition theory; and the mind's predictive capabilities, which enable anticipation, creativity, improvisation, and imagination in sports performance. Contributors Ana Maria Abreu, Kenneth Aggerholm, Salvatore Maria Aglioti, Jesús Ilundáin-Agurruza, Duarte Araújo, Jürgen Beckmann, Kath Bicknell, Geoffrey P. Bingham, Jens E. Birch, Gunnar Breivik, Noel E. Brick, Massimiliano L. Cappuccio, Thomas H. Carr, Alberto Cei, Anthony Chemero, Wayne Christensen, Lincoln J. Colling, Cassie Comley, Keith Davids, Matt Dicks, Caren Diehl, Karl Erickson, Anna Esposito, Pedro Tiago Esteves, Mirko Farina, Giolo Fele, Denis Francesconi, Shaun Gallagher, Gowrishankar Ganesh, Raúl Sánchez-García, Rob Gray, Denise M. Hill, Daniel D. Hutto, Tsuyoshi Ikegami, Geir Jordet, Adam Kiefer, Michael Kirchhoff, Kevin Krein, Kenneth Liberman, Tadhg E. MacIntyre, Nelson Mauro Maldonato, David L. Mann, Richard S. W. Masters, Patrick McGivern, Doris McIlwain, Michele Merritt, Christopher Mesagno, Vegard Fusche Moe, Barbara Gail Montero, Aidan P. Moran, David Moreau, Hiroki Nakamoto, Alberto Oliverio, David Papineau, Gert-Jan Pepping, Miriam Reiner, Ian Renshaw, Michael A. Riley, Zuzanna Rucinska, Lawrence Shapiro, Paula Silva, Shannon Spaulding, John Sutton, Phillip D. Tomporowski, John Toner, Andrew D. Wilson, Audrey Yap, Qin Zhu, Christopher Madan

Download or read book Perception Cognition and Aesthetics written by Dena Shottenkirk and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-04-29 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume addresses key questions related to how content in thought is derived from perceptual experience. It includes chapters that focus on single issues on perception and cognition, as well as others that relate these issues to an important social construct that involves both perceptual experience and cognitive activities: aesthetics. While the volume includes many diverse views, several prominent themes unite the individual essays: a challenge to the notion of the discreet, and non-temporal, unit of perception, a challenge to the traditional divide between perception and cognition, and a challenge to the traditional divide between unconscious and conscious intentionality. Additionally, the chapters discuss the content of perceptual experience, the value of traditional notions of content, disjunctivism, adverbialism, and phenomenal experience. The final section of essays dealing with perception and cognition in aesthetics features work in experimental aesthetics and unique perspectives from artists and gallerists working outside of philosophy. Perception, Cognition and Aesthetics is a timely volume that offers a range of unique perspectives on debates in philosophy of mind surrounding perception and cognition. It will also appeal to scholars working in aesthetics and art theory who are interested in the ways these debates influence our understanding of art.

Download or read book The Relationship Between Improvisation and Cognition written by Carine Lewis and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "After the group had played [improvisation] game[s]...colours became brighter, people and spaces seem of a different size, focus is sharper. Our normal thinking dulls perception..." Keith Johnstone (1979, pg. 131) Improvisation is considered to be both the process and product of creativity. It involves the creation of new ideas, on the spur of the moment that are novel and unplanned. Spontaneity, the ability to do something on the spot with no prior preparation is seen as a key element of improvisation and distinction in relation to creativity. The process of improvisation involves thinking in different ways and as a result, could influence our thought processes. It is important to note here that while we are interested in the process of improvisation, it is only possible to measure this through the product. The product is therefore seen as a direct outcome of the process of thinking that occurs during improvisation. It has been suggested that improvisation could relate to cognitive processes (Karakelle, 2009; Schmidt, Goforth & Drew, 1975; Scott, Harris & Rothe, 2001). This program of research therefore aims to identify the cognitive changes in relation to the process of improvisation. This is measured by looking at cognitive tasks pre and post improvisation. Several studies were therefore conducted investigating the effects of improvisation on various cognitive abilities, with a focus on differences between divergent and convergent thinking; (i) the Effect of Verbal Improvisation on Mood, Creativity and Cognition; (ii) verbal improvisation in relation to divergent and convergent thinking; (iii) dance improvisation in relation to divergent and convergent thinking; (iv) Divergent thinking; Differences among expert and novice improvisers and (v) length of Treatment; Cognitive effects following a shorter improvisation treatment length. As a result of the above experiments, results were extended to a clinical sample of Parkinson's disease. An extensive investigation was also carried out investigating the scoring of method of the Alternative Uses Task (AUT; Guilford, 1957b). Furthermore, the level of cognitive load as a result of improvisation was investigated by observing gesture in improvisation. Taken together, results showed that after a series of verbal improvisation activities, participants improved in scores of divergent thinking tasks. However, this was not observed in scores of convergent thinking tasks. Issues surrounding reliability of the scoring method of the AUT were also discussed. However, this did not affect the consistency of the results observed in this program of research. A theory of schemas was applied to the process of improvisation as a result of the cognitive changes that occured, such that improvisation helps people think in more original and flexible ways by improving access to schemas and working memory.

Download or read book Structure and Improvisation in Creative Teaching written by R. Keith Sawyer and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-06-27 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With an increasing emphasis on creativity and innovation in the twenty-first century, teachers need to be creative professionals just as students must learn to be creative. And yet, schools are institutions with many important structures and guidelines that teachers must follow. Effective creative teaching strikes a delicate balance between structure and improvisation. The authors draw on studies of jazz, theater improvisation and dance improvisation to demonstrate that the most creative performers work within similar structures and guidelines. By looking to these creative genres, the book provides practical advice for teachers who wish to become more creative professionals.

Download or read book In the Course of Performance written by Bruno Nettl and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1998-12-15 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Course of Performance is the first book in decades to illustrate and explain the practices and processes of musical improvisation. Improvisation, by its very nature, seems to resist interpretation or elucidation. This difficulty may account for the very few attempts scholars have made to provide a general guide to this elusive subject. With contributions by seventeen scholars and improvisers, In the Course of Performance offers a history of research on improvisation and an overview of the different approaches to the topic that can be used, ranging from cognitive study to detailed musical analysis. Such diverse genres as Italian lyrical singing, modal jazz, Indian classical music, Javanese gamelan, and African-American girls' singing games are examined. The most comprehensive guide to the understanding of musical improvisation available, In the Course of Performance will be indispensable to anyone attracted to this fascinating art. Contributors are Stephen Blum, Sau Y. Chan, Jody Cormack, Valerie Woodring Goertzen, Lawrence Gushee, Eve Harwood, Tullia Magrini, Peter Manuel, Ingrid Monson, Bruno Nettl, Jeff Pressing, Ali Jihad Racy, Ronald Riddle, Stephen Slawek, Chris Smith, R. Anderson Sutton, and T. Viswanathan.

Download or read book Theatrical Improvisation written by J. Leep and published by Springer. This book was released on 2008-07-01 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Theatrical Improvisation provides an in-depth analysis of short form, long form, and sketch-based improv - tracing the development of each form and the principles that define and connect the styles of performance. Brimming with original interviews from leaders in the field such as Ron West, Charna Halpern, John Sweeny and Margaret Edwartowski, Theatrical Improvisation presents straightforward improvisational theory, history, and trends. Includes easy-to-follow resources on teaching improvisation, with assessment tools, exercises, games, and classroom assignments to enable instructors to incorporate and assess improv in the classroom. Leep offers a practical, essential, and engaging guide for anyone who wants to better understand the art, teach, or perform improvisation.

Download or read book Generative Processes in Music written by John Sloboda and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2001-01-11 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Where most of the literature in the psychology of music has focused on the processes involved when listening to music, little has been written about the processes involved in making music. Reissued by popular demand, and for the first time in paperback, Generative Processes: The Psychology of Performance, Improvisation, and Composition brings together leading figures in music psychology to present pioneering studies of the processes by which music is generated. The book looks at the generation of expression in musical performance, the problems of synchrony in ensemble performance, the development of children's song, rehearsal strategies of pianists, improvisational skill in trained and untrained musicians, children's spontaneous notations for music, formal constraints on compositional systems, and compositional strategies of music students. Edited by the leading authority on music psychology, the book will be of great interest to cognitive and developmental psychologists, as well as music educators and musicologists

Download or read book Sync Or Swarm written by David Borgo and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2005-12-12 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a study of musical improvisation, using theories from cultural and cognitive studies. The author presents a systemic view, with chapters funneling outward in scope from the perspective of a solo improviser to that of a group interacting in performance, to the long-term dynamics of an improvising group from formation to dissolution.

Download or read book Pretend Play As Improvisation written by R. Keith Sawyer and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2013-01-11 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Everyday conversations including gossip, boasting, flirting, teasing, and informative discussions are highly creative, improvised interactions. Children's play is also an important, often improvisational activity. One of the most improvisational games among 3- to 5-year-old children is social pretend play--also called fantasy play, sociodramatic play, or role play. Children's imaginations have free reign during pretend play. Conversations in these play episodes are far more improvisational than the average adult conversation. Because pretend play occurs in a dramatized, fantasy world, it is less constrained by social and physical reality. This book adds to our understanding of preschoolers' pretend play by examining it in the context of a theory of improvisational performance genres. This theory, derived from in-depth analyses of the implicit and explicit rules of theatrical improvisation, proves to generalize to pretend play as well. The two genres share several characteristics: * There is no script; they are created in the moment. * There are loose outlines of structure which guide the performance. * They are collective; no one person decides what will happen. Because group improvisational genres are collective and unscripted, improvisational creativity is a collective social process. The pretend play literature states that this improvisational behavior is most prevalent during the same years that many other social and cognitive skills are developing. Children between the ages of 3 and 5 begin to develop representations of their own and others' mental states as well as learn to represent and construct narratives. Freudian psychologists and other personality theorists have identified these years as critical in the development of the personality. The author believes that if we can demonstrate that children's improvisational abilities develop during these years--and that their fantasy improvisations become more complex and creative--it might suggest that these social skills are linked to the child's developing ability to improvise with other creative performers.

Download or read book Making in the Moment The Dynamic Cognition of Musicians in action written by Kevin J Ryan and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Watching highly-skilled experts in the midst of improvised performance can be a source of mystification and wonder. Understanding this mystery in more detail, especially for music, is a major motivation for my dissertation. Moreover, while there are multiple avenues through which one could explore improvisation, I will primarily utilize the tools of embodied cognitive science to help better understand it in general and bebop jazz improvisation in particular. I furthermore consider possible ways to define improvisation as an essential precondition of my project.In what follows, I will not defend one type of embodied approach over all alternatives. Instead, I will consider improvisation in light of three different strands of research: shared intentions, ecological psychology (especially in regards to a theory of affordances), and predictive processing. The focus on these strands, taken both as individual research programs and a single unit of analysis, closely mirrors the essential core commitment of embodiment by providing a dynamic account that spans brain, body, and world. It likewise does so in ways that reject any neat partition of inputs, cognition, and output.For shared intentions, the main issue I will explore concerns how to best account for the dynamic moment-to-moment engagement of musicians with each other, especially in light of improvisation as an intentional activity, and covering the differences from novices to experts in bebop performance. For a theory of affordances, the focus will be on the interplay between a skilled agent and a structured environment as an essential part of musical perception and action. Finally, for predictive processing, a picture of the brain as a predictive, anticipatory engine takes center stage to explain how musicians can respond to the extremely fast time constraints that are part of musical performance. I will also consider how novelty can be accounted for on predictive processing accounts. Through considerations of these different areas, the impacts of embodied approaches will be further clarified and help us to better model, understand, and appreciate the cognition of musicians-in-action..

Download or read book Organizational Improvisation written by Ken N. Kamoche and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thought-provoking papers on the relatively new field of organizational improvisation, which consider the pressures on organizations to react continually to today's ever-changing environment.