MUS 322-01 - Advanced Studies in Music: Baroque Improvisation

4 credits (Spring)

The art of improvisation - a vital aspect of music-making in many types of music today (e.g. jazz, North Indian classical music) - has virtually died out of Western classical music. Yet in earlier periods, the ability to improvise was an essential skill learned by every Western musician; J. S. Bach was famously able to improvise fugues for hours on end. In this course, we will study historical sources from the Baroque period (such as treatises and examples of written-out improvisation) plus the work of recent scholars and performers who have studied these sources. Students will then apply these ideas to their own performance medium. They will learn to ornament a melody in various Baroque styles, build variations over a standard harmonic pattern, realize a figured bass, and work towards improvising whole pieces. They will also complete a research paper that investigates the primary and secondary sources available for interpreting a selected piece of music.

Prerequisite or co-requisite: MUS 112, MUS 213, and facility on any instrument (including voice). Recommended: MUS 215, MUS 216, MUS 261, or MUS 324.
Instructor: Brown