BAROQUE
- In the Baroque era, performing musicians were expected to not only interpret the piece of the original composer, but also add their own elements into it, in other words improvise on the main melody of the composition. The forms in this category were the toccata, fantasia or prelude, all based on free variations on a basic melody and improvisation in the form of rich ornamentation.
- Some ornamentive figures were the trill, mordent, and appoggiatura- attached to one or two written notes; then the gruppetto or glissando. Another form of decoration of the melody was the cadenza, inserted into the final cadence of any section of a vocal aria or a solo instrumental movement.
- Among other more extended melodic formulas were scales, runs, leaps and arpeggios, added to paraphrase some written line or measure. These were used in diminution, division or figuration of the melody, most often used for melodies written in slow tempo.
- We might notice from modernly printed scores that most of the ornaments in the pieces from baroque have been written out in the notation, or at least indicated by certain musical symbolism, however back in the time, these ornaments were produced by the musicians in a spontaneously.
- The concept of an ornament might evoke a sense of an superfluous feature which served merely for decoration of the main melody, however for musicians in the Baroque, ornamentation was the driving force of the piece.
- The ornaments not only served to embellish the music, but were its basis. For example, the appoggiatura created a sound of dissonance, or the trill moved the accent away from the one main note.
- Given this variety of ornamentive techniques, the musicians were free to interpret the composer's written score in their own way. The freedom of improvisation spread out and appeared even in the forms of variations, suites and sonatas.
- One of the compositional categories typical for the era were pieces written in the style of improvisation for one solo instrument (typically the keyboard or lute). For example, keyboard players created figured basses through the improvisation of chords, arpeggios, and even complex polyphonic harmonies. There also existed vocal solo improvisation. Both vocal and instrumental performers drew from their skills, interpretations and experiences to create rich ornamentation of the melody. The improvisation techniques varied across cultures, countries and individual composers.
JAZZ
- In jazz, improvisation has always been a crucial feature. Jazz musicians have the ability of simultaneously creating music and performing it at the spot, forming spontaneous music which can never be repeated in the same way.
- More than on the melody, the emphasis is put on these solo sections of the piece. Similar to the ritornello in Baroque (view the page Structure and Form), there appears a contrast between the main melody played by the whole jazz group, and the ideas and improvisation of the soloist. The solo parts can be played by any instrument and typically last more measures than the main melody.
- Improvisation in jazz then typically appears in the form of one theme and variations on it. The theme is usually a catchy or melodic phrase made up of 32 measures. This melody is then interpreted by the improviser, using ornamentation and change in pitches and rhythms.
- The improvisations are at often based on a harmonic pattern (called the chorus, like in the Baroque), or a repeated chord progression, over which the soloist creates free melodies.
- As we've learned, there are many similarities between the improvisation techniques of baroque and jazz. One main backbone is set, upon which the musician is free to improvise using elaborate ornamentation. The techniques of ornamentation are similar for both styles, and embellish the original musical composition. The difference is that in the baroque, the improvisation relates to the main melody, whereas in jazz, soloists usually improvise based on a repeated harmonic motif.
