Elements and Performance Criteria
- Develop a professional development plan
- Listen to recordings of own improvisations, and establish professional development goals in consultation with appropriate people
- Discuss factors that contribute to excellence in improvisation, and incorporate them into professional development goals as appropriate
- Listen to the work of master improvisers, and evaluate techniques that could be applied to own practice
- Establish criteria for monitoring and evaluating own skill development
- Develop a practice plan that incorporates realistic goals for refining improvisation techniques
- Identify repertoire that will help achieve technical and expressive development goals, and incorporate them into practice plan
- Refine techniques
- Experiment with repertoire and explore improvisation techniques
- Practise playing improvised solos that contain advanced harmonic, structural, melodic and rhythmic characteristics, simultaneously phrasing and shaping the music
- Build technical facility to develop confidence in own ability to create musically mature and spontaneous responses to musical stimuli
- Listen critically to own performance to assess strengths and weaknesses, and adjust practice regime accordingly
- Ensure that practice is undertaken with due consideration of personal health and safety
- Perform improvisation before an audience
- Support and enhance the contribution of others to achieve best performance outcomes
- Make improvisation sensitive to the needs of other performers to encourage ensemble trust, initiative and willingness to be innovative
- Respond accurately to starting cues when performing solo improvisation
- Sustain musical impetus in improvisation through dynamic use of musical elements
- Maintain stylistic cohesion in the realisation of harmony, melody, and/or rhythm and musical expression
- Listen carefully to other performers, responding musically to their work and adjusting own performance appropriately
- Provide a clear cue to the ensemble to finish the solo section as required
- Ensure that the duration of solo improvisations accords with the custom and practice of the group and/or musical style
- Observe ensemble customs and protocols, and follow work health and safety (WHS) requirements
- Acknowledge applause according to the custom and practice of the group and/or musical style
- Evaluate own skill development