ABSTRACT
The ban on repetition is one of the most important dogmas of free improvisation. This taboo can be explained with the paradox that improvisation means inventing something in the moment, and the readers can invent something only once. So it presents a constant challenge – especially if they are successful in an improvisation, and would like to repeat their success and the joyfulness of the experience that comes from the flow of it. One could also take Peter Kowald’s statement to extremes and say that it’s not just “good concerts” that are rare; even those concentrated moments when everything “clicks” are rare too. This is especially true for longstanding bands whose members have been playing with each other for years, and who know how each other reacts in any circumstances. In free improvisation, there are indeed numerous taboos, though most of them are only implicit.
