Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Creative Processes in Musical Improvisation

This book investigates the creative processes within musical improvisation, combining perspectives from musicology and psychology. Drawing on research results, theoretical analyses, and sociocultural experiences, it discusses a new theoretical and methodological framework to study the actions, processes of self-constitution, musical making, and creativity of improvisers. Its central claims position improvisation as inherently creative due to its production of novelty within performance constraints, driven by unpredictability that demands constant adaptation and expands creative possibilities.

Building on an introductory chapter that sets out the interdisciplinary scope of the project –with insights from cultural psychology, performance studies, and musicology– the authors use theoretical frameworks as well as empirical and practice-based research to reframe improvisation as a fundamental site of human creativity, with a particular focus on Brazilian academic contexts. An insightful reflection on the social and political potential of improvisation as a space for navigating uncertainty, embracing the unknown, and fostering collective creation, this book is the perfect read for scholars in cultural and cognitive psychology, music studies, creativity studies, philosophy, and related disciplines.

Diogo Monzo is the author of the theoretical model and the book Distributed Free Improvisation: A Cultural Affective-Semiotic Perspective on Creativity. He is currently engaged in postdoctoral research at the Institute of Psychology, University of Brasília, Brazil. He is also a recording artist with a career in popular music and musical improvisation.

Mônica Souza Neves-Pereira is Associate Professor in the Department of School and Developmental Psychology at the Institute of Psychology, University of Brasília, and Full Professor in the Postgraduate Program in Developmental and School Psychology (PGPDE). Her research focuses on theoretical approaches to the cultural psychology of creativity, processes of creativity development in the school context, and creativity and racism.