Free Improvisation

Free improvisation is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination
of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any
musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in its own right. ## History Free
improvisation, as a genre of music, developed in the U.S. and Europe in the mid to late
1960s. The musical advancements made through improvisation through Free Jazz served as
inspiration to European musicians, who then created "Free Improvisation" as a
differentiation. Exponents of free improvised music include saxophonists Evan Parker,
Anthony Braxton, Peter Brötzmann and John Zorn, drummer Christian Lillinger, trombonist
George Lewis, guitarists Derek Bailey, Henry Kaiser and Fred Frith and the improvising
groups Spontaneous Music Ensemble, The Art Ensemble of Chicago and AMM. ## Characteristics
In an atonal context, free improvisation refers to where the focus shifts from harmony to
other dimensions of music: timbre, melodic intervals, rhythm and the spontaneous
interaction between musicians. Although performers may choose to play in a certain style
or key, or at a certain tempo, conventional songs are highly uncommon in free
improvisation; more emphasis is generally placed on mood, texture or more simply, on
performative gesture than on preset forms of melody, harmony or rhythm. These elements are
improvised at will, as the music progresses.