The purpose of this case study was to explore learner experiences of collective free musical improvisation. Specifically, the research examined how participants perceived that they developed and expressed musical voice when they improvised with others. To that end, the researcher tried out a Bakhtinian approach to the pedagogy of collective free improvisation in four workshops with six secondary school chamber musicians—musicians trained in Western classical music who had little or no previous collective free improvisation experience. Workshops were designed to support participants in learning by improvising with the researcher becoming one of the improvisers. Bakhtinian dialogism provided a lens through which to focus the investigation, and tools, tones, and concepts to inspire participants as they improvised together for the first time. In addition to the perception of expressing musical voice, the study explored how participants perceived that they invented utterances as they created music with others. Further, the research considered participant descriptions of the experience of addressivity—turning and responding to communicate—during collective free improvisation. Data were collected in the following ways: pre-workshop interviews, video and audio recording of the four improvisation workshops, journals and discussions during the workshops, post-workshop interviews, and researcher notes and reflections. In addition to spoken and written words, improvisations played during the workshops were analyzed as discourse using a method—Musical Utterance Analysis—developed by the researcher for this study. Data were initially coded using concepts from Bakhtin (1981, 1986): voice, utterance, addressivity, heteroglossia, polyphony, and carnival. Analysis was completed by reviewing and reassembling the words and actions of participants during the workshops and interviews to create a novella with dialogue. This final phase of analysis revealed a holistic perspective of musical dialogue in collective free improvisation that emphasizes the importance and impact of listening. In this study, musical dialogue is explained as synergies of listening. Participants perceptions and experiences of voice, utterance, and addressivity are explained as synergies: creative empowerment, knowing and being known, emergence of a collective voice, catharsis, and freedom. Notably, participants reported that by listening and responding to one other improviser, they could connect better with the group of improvisers. Overall, for the participants of the study, the implementation of and the experimentation with a Bakhtinian approach to the pedagogy of collective free improvisation was effective. / 2026-05-15T00:00:00Z

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Musical improvisation is an infinite artistic well. It helps the musician to make a personal performance and lets the music reflect the inner feelings. It is a language with which the performer can adapt the formulation to the specific situation. Yet so many have fear and respect when facing the phenomenon. In this study Dan Alkenäs discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using musical improvisation as a pedagogical method in school education. During a semester Alkenäs has, together with music teacher Bitten Löfgren and a group of pupils, studied what results are to be expected when teachers let musical improvisation have a leading role in music lessons. He discusses the creative working environment and the pupils’ ability to put theory into practice. One leading theme is the discussion of the common view of musicality. Alkenäs argues that it is important for a music teacher in a democratic school, with children from different kinds of cultures and backgrounds, to be flexible and adjust the lessons according to the individuals in the group. The study shows that this pedagogy, among other things, has a positive effect on interaction between students with different interest, levels of knowledge and potentials.

<p>Musical improvisation is an infinite artistic well. It helps the musician to make a personal performance and lets the music reflect the inner feelings. It is a language with which the performer can adapt the formulation to the specific situation. Yet so many have fear and respect when facing the phenomenon. In this study Dan Alkenäs discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using musical improvisation as a pedagogical method in school education. During a semester Alkenäs has, together with music teacher Bitten Löfgren and a group of pupils, studied what results are to be expected when teachers let musical improvisation have a leading role in music lessons. He discusses the creative working environment and the pupils’ ability to put theory into practice. One leading theme is the discussion of the common view of musicality. Alkenäs argues that it is important for a music teacher in a democratic school, with children from different kinds of cultures and backgrounds, to be flexible and adjust the lessons according to the individuals in the group. The study shows that this pedagogy, among other things, has a positive effect on interaction between students with different interest, levels of knowledge and potentials.</p>