Aaron L. Berkowitz
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199590957
- eISBN:
- 9780191594595
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199590957.003.0002
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Music Psychology
This chapter explores what the authors of 18th and 19th century treatises on keyboard improvisation put forth as core elements of the knowledge base in this style. Treatises selected for the present ...
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This chapter explores what the authors of 18th and 19th century treatises on keyboard improvisation put forth as core elements of the knowledge base in this style. Treatises selected for the present study and relevant background information about them are presented. This is followed by a discussion of the prerequisites necessary for learning to improvise as described by the authors of the treatises. Following this explication of background competence, formulas are explained. Formulas represent the primary means through which the elements of the knowledge base are transmitted. Examples of such formulas in the 18th‐century style (cadences, the rule of the octave, and movimenti) are discussed in the context of how they may serve in the process of learning to improvise. This provides background for the next chapter, in which the pedagogical strategies of the treatises are discussed.Less
This chapter explores what the authors of 18th and 19th century treatises on keyboard improvisation put forth as core elements of the knowledge base in this style. Treatises selected for the present study and relevant background information about them are presented. This is followed by a discussion of the prerequisites necessary for learning to improvise as described by the authors of the treatises. Following this explication of background competence, formulas are explained. Formulas represent the primary means through which the elements of the knowledge base are transmitted. Examples of such formulas in the 18th‐century style (cadences, the rule of the octave, and movimenti) are discussed in the context of how they may serve in the process of learning to improvise. This provides background for the next chapter, in which the pedagogical strategies of the treatises are discussed.
Aaron Berkowitz
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199590957
- eISBN:
- 9780191594595
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199590957.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Music Psychology
The ability to improvise represents one of the highest levels of musical achievement. An improviser must master a musical language to such a degree as to be able spontaneously to invent stylistically ...
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The ability to improvise represents one of the highest levels of musical achievement. An improviser must master a musical language to such a degree as to be able spontaneously to invent stylistically idiomatic compositions in the moment. This feat is one of the pinnacles of human creativity, and yet its cognitive basis is poorly understood. What musical knowledge is required for improvisation? How does a musician learn to improvise? What are the neural correlates of improvised performance? This book explores these questions through an interdisciplinary approach that draws on the study of pedagogical treatises on improvisation, interviews with improvisers, musical analysis of improvised performances, and cognitive neuroscience. Findings from the treatises, interviews, and analyses are discussed from the perspective of cognitive psychological theories of learning, memory, and expertise, as well as data from functional brain imaging studies of improvisation. Pedagogy, learning, and performance in improvisation are explored in a cross-cultural context, demonstrating universal features across a wide variety of musical traditions. Though disparate, these sources provide a convergent picture of the improvising mind, suggesting that musical improvisation draws on some of the very same cognitive processes and neural resources as the more mundane but equally infinitely creative faculties of language and movement. Improvisation therefore provides a new focus for comparisons of music and language cognition: while past research comparing music and language cognition has focused almost exclusively on perception of the two sound systems, the cognitive processes underlying the acquisition and production of music and language have not been systematically explored. Here, learning to improvise is compared with language acquisition, and improvised performance is compared with spontaneous speech from both theoretical and neurobiological perspectives.Less
The ability to improvise represents one of the highest levels of musical achievement. An improviser must master a musical language to such a degree as to be able spontaneously to invent stylistically idiomatic compositions in the moment. This feat is one of the pinnacles of human creativity, and yet its cognitive basis is poorly understood. What musical knowledge is required for improvisation? How does a musician learn to improvise? What are the neural correlates of improvised performance? This book explores these questions through an interdisciplinary approach that draws on the study of pedagogical treatises on improvisation, interviews with improvisers, musical analysis of improvised performances, and cognitive neuroscience. Findings from the treatises, interviews, and analyses are discussed from the perspective of cognitive psychological theories of learning, memory, and expertise, as well as data from functional brain imaging studies of improvisation. Pedagogy, learning, and performance in improvisation are explored in a cross-cultural context, demonstrating universal features across a wide variety of musical traditions. Though disparate, these sources provide a convergent picture of the improvising mind, suggesting that musical improvisation draws on some of the very same cognitive processes and neural resources as the more mundane but equally infinitely creative faculties of language and movement. Improvisation therefore provides a new focus for comparisons of music and language cognition: while past research comparing music and language cognition has focused almost exclusively on perception of the two sound systems, the cognitive processes underlying the acquisition and production of music and language have not been systematically explored. Here, learning to improvise is compared with language acquisition, and improvised performance is compared with spontaneous speech from both theoretical and neurobiological perspectives.
Maren R. Niehoff
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780300175233
- eISBN:
- 9780300231304
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300175233.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This chapter looks at the tree extant Lives of Moses, Joseph, and Abraham, also taking into account what Philo says about the lost Lives of Isaac and Jacob. Philo's biographical interests are ...
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This chapter looks at the tree extant Lives of Moses, Joseph, and Abraham, also taking into account what Philo says about the lost Lives of Isaac and Jacob. Philo's biographical interests are connected to politics. Drawn out of his scholarly lifestyle in Alexandria by the riots of 38 CE, Philo becomes actively involved in the events of his time and writes historical treatises with an emphasis on influential actors and their lives. His decision to write the Lives of the biblical forefathers belongs to the same political context. He wrote the biographies of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses during roughly the same period as the historical works, and they are characterized by a similar style of writing. At the same time, however, the Lives of the biblical forefathers extend beyond narrow political apologetics and convey a broader picture of Judaism.Less
This chapter looks at the tree extant Lives of Moses, Joseph, and Abraham, also taking into account what Philo says about the lost Lives of Isaac and Jacob. Philo's biographical interests are connected to politics. Drawn out of his scholarly lifestyle in Alexandria by the riots of 38 CE, Philo becomes actively involved in the events of his time and writes historical treatises with an emphasis on influential actors and their lives. His decision to write the Lives of the biblical forefathers belongs to the same political context. He wrote the biographies of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses during roughly the same period as the historical works, and they are characterized by a similar style of writing. At the same time, however, the Lives of the biblical forefathers extend beyond narrow political apologetics and convey a broader picture of Judaism.
Anna Vaninskaya
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748641499
- eISBN:
- 9780748651672
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748641499.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
The great polymath William Morris and his contemporaries and followers — from H. Rider Haggard to H. G. Wells — are the focus of this study, which draws upon a wide array of primary sources, from ...
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The great polymath William Morris and his contemporaries and followers — from H. Rider Haggard to H. G. Wells — are the focus of this study, which draws upon a wide array of primary sources, from working-class fiction and articles in fringe socialist newspapers to historical treatises, autobiographies and diaries, in order to explore the many ways Victorians and Edwardians talked about community and modernity. The book's narrative moves from the realm of romance bestsellers and sniggering reviews to debates in weighty historical tomes, and then to the headquarters of revolutionary parties, to street-corners and shabby lecture halls. It demonstrates how in each domain the dream of community clashed with the reality of the modern state and market. The book brings together the worlds of fin de siècle literature, politics and historiography, redefines the terms of the critical debate about the late-Victorian romance revival, uncovers the full extent of the contemporary radical appropriations of nineteenth-century scholarship, and incorporates previously unexamined archival material.Less
The great polymath William Morris and his contemporaries and followers — from H. Rider Haggard to H. G. Wells — are the focus of this study, which draws upon a wide array of primary sources, from working-class fiction and articles in fringe socialist newspapers to historical treatises, autobiographies and diaries, in order to explore the many ways Victorians and Edwardians talked about community and modernity. The book's narrative moves from the realm of romance bestsellers and sniggering reviews to debates in weighty historical tomes, and then to the headquarters of revolutionary parties, to street-corners and shabby lecture halls. It demonstrates how in each domain the dream of community clashed with the reality of the modern state and market. The book brings together the worlds of fin de siècle literature, politics and historiography, redefines the terms of the critical debate about the late-Victorian romance revival, uncovers the full extent of the contemporary radical appropriations of nineteenth-century scholarship, and incorporates previously unexamined archival material.
