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Music vocabulary · Performance and Practice

Improvise

Meaning in music, with examples

/ˈɪmprəvaɪz/verbCommon term

In music, improvise means: To create music in the moment while performing, without reading it from written notes, usually over a known chord progression or within a mode.

In Turkish: doğaçlama yapmak, doğaçlama çalmak, emprovize etmek

How it is used

Central to jazz, blues and many other traditions, such as taksim in Turkish makam music. Players improvise over the changes, a groove or a drone. The noun is 'improvisation', often shortened to 'improv' in casual talk.

Example sentences

  1. In the middle section, the pianist improvises over a simple two-chord vamp.

  2. A taksim is an improvised introduction that shows the character of the makam.

Common collocations

  • improvise over
  • improvise a solo
  • free improvisation
  • improvised section
  • learn to improvise
  • soloA section of music played or sung by one performer, often featured above the rest of the band, or a whole piece written for a single performer.
  • jazzA genre that developed in African American communities in New Orleans in the early 20th century, known for swing rhythm, rich harmony and improvisation.
  • chord progressionA series of chords played one after another that forms the harmonic backbone of a song, often written with Roman numerals such as I–IV–V.
  • scaleA set of notes played in order of pitch, going up or down, that follows a fixed pattern of steps. Scales are the building blocks of melodies and chords.
  • grooveThe rhythmic feel of a piece that makes people want to move, created mainly by the drums and bass locking together.

More terms: Performance and Practice

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