In the Course of Performance: Studies in the World of Musical Improvisation (Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology)

Nettl, Bruno [Editor]; Russell, Melinda [Editor];

ISBN 10: 0226574113 / ISBN 13: 9780226574110

Published by University of Chicago Press, 1998

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 0226574113-3-35042051

Bibliographic Details

• Title: In the Course of Performance: Studies in the World of Musical Improvisation (Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology)
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226574113
• ISBN 13: 9780226574110
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Good
• Weight: 24 ounces

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

Bruno Nettl is professor of music and anthropology at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. He is the author or editor of nineteen books, including Folk and Traditional Music of the Western Continents and The Study of Ethnomusicology. In 2012 he was awarded the Charles Homer Haskins Prize, which is presented annually to a distinguished humanist by the American Council of Learned Societies