ABSTRACT
Improvisation is a fundamental and unavoidable aspect of the human experience in general, a specific trait of human practices, often linked to expertise or competence, that displays itself at various levels in all dimensions of life. Unless the authors believe in the totally predetermined character of all events, every action seems to imply, to a greater or a lesser degree, contingency and the possibility of facing the surprising, the unknown, the unforeseen and the unexpected. However, jazz is only one among the many different musical genres in which improvisation plays a significant role. Although jazz, along with “radical,” “free” or “non-idiomatic” forms of improvised music, is the kind of music most people tend to associate with improvisation, this must not eclipse the fact that improvisation has played and continues to plays an equally relevant role in other musical genres.
