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Improvisation Paperback – August 22, 1993

by Derek Bailey (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 66 ratings
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Derek Bailey's Improvisation, originally published in 1980, and here updated and extended with new interviews and photographs, is the first book to deal with the nature of improvisation in all its forms--Indian music, flamenco, baroque, organ music, rock, jazz, contemporary, and "free" music. By drawing on conversations with some of today's seminal improvisers--including John Zorn, Jerry Garcia, Steve Howe, Steve Lacy, Lionel Salter, Earle Brown, Paco Peña, Max Roach, Evan Parker, and Ronnie Scott--Bailey offers a clear-eyed view of the breathtaking spectrum of possibilities inherent in improvisational practice, while underpinning its importance as the basis for all music-making.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    174 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Da Capo Lifelong Books
  4. Publication date
    August 22, 1993
  5. Dimensions
    8.9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0306805286
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0306805288
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Guitarist Derek Bailey has performed solo concerts throughout the world, played with most of the musicians associated with free improvisation, and recorded over ninety albums. He lives in London, where he divides his time between solo performances; organizing and playing in Company, an international ensemble of improvising musicians; running his own label, Incus Records; writing; and ad hoc musical activities.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Da Capo Lifelong Books; Reprint edition (August 22, 1993)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 174 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0306805286
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0306805288
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 66 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
66 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

mbburnett
5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting...
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2013
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I purchased this book for a class and while I did not always agree with Mr. Bailey's views, especially concerning classical music, this book was informative, thought provoking, and well written. I also highly recommend the video series available on Vimeo. The section on East Indian Raga is particularly fascinating. This book is well worth the money.
4 people found this helpful
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Gilbert Dewaele
5.0 out of 5 stars A treasure
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2013
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This book is a must have/read for improvisors related to all kinds of music as well as composers.
Gilbert Isbin
2 people found this helpful
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Kamil Durana
4.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading!
Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2014
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Very interensting overlook of general principles for improvisation (across many musical platforms), almost phylosophical. I would recommend it to any musician aiming for more than formal repeating.
2 people found this helpful
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Phixer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2015
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As described, Quality and Shipment.
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A.A.
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2016
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Great read.
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Amazon Customer
2.0 out of 5 stars Shoddy repress
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2023
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This is a really cheap-looking repress. For some reason the print is absolutely tiny with a huge amount of white space around it on each page. Was the original edition a much larger format and they just shrank the whole thing? The photos look like they were faxed to the printer. Did they lose the originals or just couldn’t be bothered to look for them? I haven’t read it yet (I need to buy a magnifying glass first), but I already noticed a stray page of text stuck between the index and the back pages. Hopefully the rest of the text will be in the right order. But I’m not holding my breath.
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James E. Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars An engaging essay
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2012
of one person's views on what is of value in music, and beliefs about the nature of improvisation and its place in society.

Quite hyperbolic and idiosyncratic in parts, so if you're looking for an academic study look elsewhere.

An example on p140: " In any but the most blinkered view of the world's music, composition looks to be a very rare strain, heretical in both practice and theory." ??? This statement after describing how a group of 7 improvising musicians all agreed that there was no essential difference between composing and improvising. Bailey, it seems, didn't get the fact that most written music stems from mental improvising or often improvising on an instrument and the fact that it is later notated is rather beside the point.

In fact Bailey wasted a lot of my time on discussing this false dichotomy, particularly when he used it to bag western classical music in general - it seems he had a rather large axe to grind.

The real value for me was in the fascinating and instructive interviews he conducted with musicians who improvised in various stylistic genres including baroque. It is for this aspect of the book that I give it 5 stars and thank Bailey very much for his time and effort.
8 people found this helpful
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Christopher Forbes
4.0 out of 5 stars Seminal Text for Anyone Interested in Improvised Music
Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2002
Let's get the caveat out of the way first. This is NOT a How to book on Improvising! In fact...I'm not sure there can be a How To book on improvising...there are no tricks and written examples really defeat the purpose. The only way to learn to improvise, at least in a contemporary setting, or a free setting, is to do it and do it and do it. At first it won't sound good...that's where so many people get lost. They think that if their improvisation isn't brilliant off the bat, then somehow they haven't got the "trick" yet. But perserverence is what leads to mastery. (For example, when I was 16, I got sick of my jazz harmony in my piano's left hand. I spent an entire weekend at the piano, practicing chords that I'd discovered on Bill Evans albums. Changed my jazz playing forever!) So if you are looking for a How To book...give it up. Reading won't help, only playing will. (Like the Nike commercial says, just do it!)
Now on to the book at hand...Derek Bailey's book on Improvisation is really a classic. Bailey's interest here is wide ranging. Using a combination of interviews and essay, he looks at improvisation, or the lack of it, in Indian, Flamenco, Baroque, contemporary concert, rock, jazz and freely improvised music with the purpose of exploring improvisation in all it's forms from the inside. The act of improvisation is basically conceptual. How you think about your material has a deep effect on the material itself. So the book examines mostly the attitudes of improvising musicians toward improvisational issues: structure, composition/improvisation, rules and stylistic issues, recording, the relationship to the audience, and even the attitude toward innovation. It is interesting that there is such diversity, even in the improvising community, in outlook. Indian music is based on rather limiting sets of rules, and innovation doesn't even come into play. It's how you express the raga, not how innovative you are that determines your artistry...at the other end of the spectrum, in freely improvised music, the players are at great pains to always remain sponteneous...not to reuse tricks over and over again. In both cases, I think the stated positions are ideals...invariably there is innovation in Indian music and there are "licks" in free improvisation, but the differences in basic stance are fascinating.
On the whole, I think Bailey does an admirable job of discussing improv in the various fields. The one exception that I would make is in the classical field. Bailey is correct, classical instrumental education has totally banished improvisation, with the exception of liturgical organ music. It has created a dicotomy in which composers (usually dead) create music which performers lovingly try to recreate. However, this is a modern development. Improvisation was alive and well, deep into the 19th century. Most instrumentalists looked on pieces of music as a fairly detailed blueprint which they added to in the form of improvisation. And most composers were also instrumental soloists of note and improvisation was a key part of their repertoire. Chopin was notable for improvising the virtuoso figures of his piano pieces in the salons of Paris, and actually resisted writing down pieces, partly because he didn't want to commit any one version to paper. Beethoven and Mozart were of course known for their improvisation...Beethoven actually made his greatest showing as a young pianist in the improvisations he played. Many of Brahms late piano works started as improvisations, and some of the Intermezzi were carried around by Brahms in his head for 2 years before he finally wrote them down. Of course, cadenzas in concerti were supposed to be improvised by the performer, though, as the art was lost, more and more performers relied on prewritten cadenzas, either by the composer of the piece or by famous 19th century virtuosi. And there is a charming reocrding from an original Edison cylinder of Camille Saint-Saens improvising on the piano. (At the end of the disc you can hear Saint-Saens say in French, "are we done yet?") Bailey doesn't address any of this, and tends to make the classical tradition sound like the enemy of improvisation...seems actually to be a bit hostile to the entire notion of classical music. I find this a blemish on an otherwise excellent account of improvisation.
If you are an improvising musician in any discipline, you should read this book. If you want to understand the thought processes of improvising musicians, read this book. If you want to expand your understanding of the creative possibilities in music, read this book.
If you want a How to book, go somewhere else.
57 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars Dimensione carattere veramente piccola
Reviewed in Italy on February 8, 2024
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Il libro è molto interessante ma la qualità di stampa è davvero scarsa. La dimensione del carattere è davvero piccola e difficile da leggere. Si può notare che il testo occupa meno della metà della pagina, quindi probabilmente si è trattato di un errore. Si può anche vedere che è stampato da 'Amazon Logistica Srl' e la dimensione del carattere di questa nota è un po' più adeguata.

The book is very interesting but the print quality is really poor. The font size is really small and hard to read. It can be seen that the text takes less then half of the page, so probably this was by mistake. One can also see that it is printed by 'Amazon Logistica Srl' and the font size of this note is a bit more adequate.
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Kindle Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars Dimensione carattere veramente piccola
Reviewed in Italy on February 8, 2024
Il libro è molto interessante ma la qualità di stampa è davvero scarsa. La dimensione del carattere è davvero piccola e difficile da leggere. Si può notare che il testo occupa meno della metà della pagina, quindi probabilmente si è trattato di un errore. Si può anche vedere che è stampato da 'Amazon Logistica Srl' e la dimensione del carattere di questa nota è un po' più adeguata.

The book is very interesting but the print quality is really poor. The font size is really small and hard to read. It can be seen that the text takes less then half of the page, so probably this was by mistake. One can also see that it is printed by 'Amazon Logistica Srl' and the font size of this note is a bit more adequate.
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Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Aprender a comprender la improvisación
Reviewed in Spain on March 20, 2017
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Derek Bailey nos conduce por la improvisación a través de diferentes ámbitos musicales (flamenco, india, rock, jazz, clásica...) para llevarnos a cómo él entiende su práctica en la improvisación. Son sus experiencias, análisis y reflexiones las que nos hacen comprender un concepto generalmente mal interpretado como es la improvisación libre.
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Jim R
5.0 out of 5 stars Smells like burgers
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 7, 2013
Verified Purchase
Great book and surprisingly easy to read despite the sometimes dry subject matter. My only real issue is that my copy smells strangely like the inside of a Burger King, I've asked other people to sniff and they all agree.
14 people found this helpful
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joemurray
4.0 out of 5 stars An essential text for adventurous listeners
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 24, 2014
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You wanna know what musically improvisation is? Here's the place to start.

Derek Bailey still is the leading thinker and practitioner of free-improvisation. His flinty guitar pretty much defines best practice in improvisation and his Incus label is a treasure trove of intelligent, beautiful improvised music. In this book Derek looks at where improvisation fits in with Flamenco, Indian Music, Baroque etc and puts this into context when describing later advances in improvised music.

The writing is clear (if a little dry in parts) with large chunks dedicated to the artists describing their practice in their own words.

Originally written to accompany a TV series (you can find some episodes on the amazing Ubuweb). Read this with Michael Nyman's Experimental Music to prime yourself on some of the most exciting music ever made.
3 people found this helpful
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David P. Arnold
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2015
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ok for the purists
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