JAZZ NOTES

CREATIVE ARTWORK

While jazz may be difficult to define, improvisation is clearly one of its key elements. 

The skilled jazz soloist will interpret a tune in very individual ways, never playing the same composition exactly the same way twice. Depending upon that player's mood and personal experience, interactions with fellow musicians, and even members of the audience, a jazz performer may alter melodies and harmonies at will.

Sometimes what is improvised, what is made up by the soloist in performance, is a matter of spontaneous interpretation of the melody, or the harmony. Sometimes the improvisation

 involves the invention of a new melody altogether. 

Although there is no absolute rule about spontaneity in jazz, the possibility of spontaneous departure is always there. Jazz is essentially produced in  an atmosphere of improvisation, and the ability to ad-lib is a part of the jazz soloist's equipment. 

It can thus be said that jazz is primarily a player's art, because even when the player works under the guidance of a jazz composer, it will always involve improvisation.