…became a central question in my undertaking, a question which not only led me down a path of understanding my own artistic approach but also the practice of improvisation itself. How does one develop one’s own artistic practice through a deeper understanding of free improvisation? What constitutes practicing in this domain, and how do we conceptualize it on both an individual and a group level? These questions and queries present a starting point of my research, but in a way, they project themselves out from the past to the current moment, emanating a conceptual presence that still permeates my thinking and playing. The beauty of the journey is in the fluidity and openness of the process, retracing my steps just to realize that the entire journey was about the process, not its outcome. In the following passages, fragments, and sounds, you can retrace those steps with me—from my research, through my own thoughts, to the artistic output which makes up the body of this work.
Introduction
Improvisation as a starting point, with all of its intertwining pathways, roads which often lead nowhere, forcing us to retrace our steps, only to arrive somewhere completely new and unexpected. An Escher-like construction, which obfuscates that which initially seemed so clear: to improvise is to be human. But humanity can be improved and practiced; continuous effort and a deeper understanding of the matter at hand offer a proposition of possible progression. To progress in this realm of what can be described as free, open-form, non-idiomatic, or pan-idiomatic improvisation...
Table of Contents
On Personal Virtuosity
On Practicing
Sound /// Sound 2
In Absentia
Recontextualized Sound
On Workshops
On Reflection
Performing Reflection 0.5
Performing Reflection 1.0
Performing Reflection 2.0
----First working period (Frankfurt, 17. – 19.5.2022)
----Second working period (Frankfurt, 15. – 17.11.2022)
----Third working period (Vienna, 12.01.2023)
----Fourth working period (Vienna, 13. – 15.2.2023)
----Music Biennale Zagreb (17. – 19.04.2023)
Appendix: Post-Reflection and Outlook
How do we define this practice? Each of these terms carries historical weight, framing improvisation in particular ways. The term free introduces a productive tension: it implies the presence of constraints—structures, roles, or norms—that are loosened, subverted, or reshaped in the act of improvisation. This opens up a broader discussion, pointing to the social and philosophical implications of musical improvisation. On a musical level, freedom may mean liberation from conventional roles and obligations, from implicit and explicit rules of hierarchy, form, or instrumental technique. These musical and extra-musical parameters can be described collectively as the referent. Yet freedom in this context is not a blank slate, but something achieved through active exploration. As Bertinetto (2022, p. 9) notes, the freedom of improvisation arises within and through the organism’s interaction with its environment—an emergent quality shaped by responsive engagement rather than absence of structure.
A referent is “a set of cognitive, perceptual, or emotional structures (constraints) that guide and aid in the production of musical material” (Pressing 1998, p. 52). Pressing leaves this definition quite open, which allows us to imagine a referent in different ways. This can range from concrete examples, such as the harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic structures of jazz standards; specific ornamentation techniques in Baroque improvisation; and the modal structures of Indian classical music, to more abstract forms, including graphic scores, text-based instructions, and conceptual frameworks.
In this light, the free in free improvisation can be understood as a particular orientation toward referents, perhaps a loosening or questioning of their authority. While complete freedom from referents may be illusory—since even our tools, habits, and learned gestures can act as referents—the notion nonetheless serves as a useful lens for distinguishing between improvisational practices. It marks a shift from externally imposed or stylistically inherited frameworks toward an increasingly self-directed and responsive approach. Yet this process does not lead to an empty or unbounded space. Rather, it points toward a utopian ideal of ‘pure’ improvisation—an ideal that remains necessarily unattainable, given that improvisation is always mediated by prior knowledge, embodiment, and the contingencies of the moment.