Improvisation for Choirs

This publication is meant to provide some insight and help for others who are interested in exploring improvisation in the choral setting.  It includes introductory information about improvisation. However, there are many  books and articles on the subject that go into much greater depth, both in the history and context of improvisation as well as the educational outcomes of using improvisation in the classroom.


The focus of this book is implementing improvisation with choral ensembles, big or little, in rehearsal and/or in performance.  In addition, the focus is not on jazz improvisation (although vocal jazz musicians often use these kinds of techniques in their work), but rather on techniques of free improvisation or musical creation at the moment. This kind of improvisation often leads to results that sometimes sound like free jazz, but are often quite different. Sometimes, these sounds are chaotic. Other times, the choir produces sounds that are ethereal, powerful, unconventional, exotic or even strange in wonderfully creative ways.