Post-Tonal Improvisation in the Aural Skills Classroom

Abstract

This paper presents an improvisation-based approach for teaching students to hear and understand aspects of twentieth-century music. The improvisation exercises are based on concepts taken from eight commonly used twentieth-century music textbooks. The paper ends with analyses of improvisations created by two undergraduates who were trained in the author’s method. Recordings and transcriptions of these improvisations are included.