Thirty vocal improviser-educators from Australia (n = 15) and the United States (n = 15) were surveyed for musical background, influences and pedagogical views, and assessed for personality type using the "Myers-Briggs Type Indicator" ("MBTI"). The purpose was to both combine and compare the two groups to identify overall…

Group musical improvisation, as a spontaneous process of collaborative creativity effected through non-verbal social interaction, is a unique psychological phenomenon and universal capacity. Existing studies focus on improvisation among professional jazz musicians, often using qualitative methods. However, improvisation transcends genres and…

Idea generation is an integral component of jazz improvising. This article merges theoretical origins and practical experiences through the examination of two seminal works from Pressing and Sudnow. A comparative analysis yields three common sources with distinct characteristics. The greater body of jazz literature supports this potential link…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the effect of ear playing instruction on adult amateur wind instrumentalists' musical self-efficacy. Ten volunteer members of a community band in a small town in Ohio completed the "Ear Playing Profile" both prior to and following an eight-week period of instruction in playing by ear…

Jazz musicians are unique individuals who seek to perform from a transcendental state in which tacit knowledge, teamwork, and communication blend to produce an effective performance. Academic leaders are also unique individuals who rely on communication to generate a sense of inclusion within a complex organization that at times epitomizes…

The purpose of this study was to compare the levels of anxiety that students experienced according to whether their public performance consisted of a free improvisation or a repertory piece. The researcher had two objectives: (1) examine the relationship of students' levels of anxiety to free improvisation and repertory pieces during a…

This paper describes an investigation into the nature of musical intelligence and its links with creativity across two continents, Europe and Africa. In seeking to identify the intellectual processes associated with musical intelligence, improvised music was examined as an example of problem solving in this domain. Twenty-four musicians (twelve…