Definition of Improvisation

Improvisation

The act or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously; as, improvisation on the organ.

That which is improvised; an impromptu.

Related Definitions:

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Improvisation Quotations

Improvisation is too good to leave to chance.
Paul Simon

If it's a modern-day story dealing with certain ethnic groups, I think I could open up certain scenes for improvisation, while staying within the structure of the script.
Martin Scorsese

The music of the Gypsies belongs in the sphere of improvisation rather than in any other, without which it would have no power to exist.
Franz Liszt

There's always some room for improvisation.
Satyajit Ray

I like films that are well-written and concise and with not a lot of room for improvisation.
Patrice Leconte

The genius of our country is improvisation, and jazz reflects that. It's our great contribution to the arts.
Ken Burns

I like to think that we've got a plan, so let's stick to it. That said, once we've stuck to it, we're allowed as much improvisation as anyone cares to indulge themselves in.
Guy Ritchie

There are a lot of visual marks that have to be hit, and lines that need to be said in a right way - so there wasn't really any improvisation on the set when it came to the bulk of the script.
Simon Pegg

We did very little improvisation on camera, and once in a while we did.
Peter Tork

As you know from reading many of these Negro writers, we don't deal too much with the discussion of democracy and what it means and how improvisation fits in all that.
Stanley Crouch

Actors need bricks to play with, and in fact we rejected all the improvised fragments we had made without a plan. Improvisation without a plan is like tennis without tennis balls.
Lars von Trier

I allow an area for improvisation because the chemical things actors bring to stories make it not work.
Vincente Minnelli

Not with the Rochester Philharmonic, but I formed my own orchestra, made up of musicians from the Eastman School, where I'm on the faculty now, direct the Jazz Ensemble and teach improvisation classes.
Chuck Mangione

There are editing procedures for talks just as there are editing procedures in jazz improvisation.
David Antin

I can't speak American dog very well. There was a lot of improvisation with Uggie - like when I put the dog on the table or sometimes I follow him, sometimes he follows me. I had a lot of treats in my pocket. We worked with Omar Von Muller, the dog trainer. It was very easy because it was a big movie.
Jean Dujardin

All of the material for 'The Fine Line' was created via improvisation with my partner, but not in front of an audience. We'd continue to refine it in front of an audience based on their responses until it was set and scripted.
Douglas Wood

Jazz is all about improvisation and it's about the moment in time, doing it this way now, and you'll never do it this way twice. I've studied the masters. Why would I want to play ball after the guys who sit on a bench? I want to play like Michael Jordan.
Brian McKnight

Certain kinds of speed, flow, intensity, density of attacks, density of interaction... Music that concentrates on those qualities is, I think, easier achieved by free improvisation between people sharing a common attitude, a common language.
Evan Parker

In discussing the process with the actors, I made it clear to them that they could improvise but that the sum total of their improvisation needed to impart certain plot points, and schematic material.
Mike Figgis

When I think back now to the recording sessions, there is more improvisation than one hears. It's an ideal combination of arrangements and improvisation. Only a few people are able to listen and say what is composed and what is improvised. It's a unit.
Eberhard Weber

Much of what happens in Love Always is really from overheard conversations in the Russian Tea Room. It's an improvisation of the way certain Hollywood agents think and talk to each other.
Ann Beattie

As far as I'm concerned, the essentials of jazz are: melodic improvisation, melodic invention, swing, and instrumental personality.
Mose Allison

I allow a lot of room for improvisation and funny stuff. I always feel planned.
Michael Bay

I find Indian music very funky. I mean it's very soulful, with their own kind of blues. But it's the only other school on the planet that develops improvisation to the high degree that you find in jazz music. So we have a lot of common ground.
John McLaughlin

I continued studying by myself in the field of jazz with my own technique of improvisation, walking bass lines, rhythms, all kinds of stuff, which I created for myself.
Miroslav Vitous

To create characters, one must build background. And one of the tools we use is improvisation.
Harvey Keitel

All you're trying to do in an improvisation is get as much material as possible for the editing room.
Martin Short

I never know what it's going to look like. Wouldn't be much point in painting if I already knew the outcome. I have a subject in front of me and I start flooding colour and making marks, I don't know, it's improvisation isn't it?
Peter Wright

Perfect retention. I don't think I could do that-I've never disciplined myself to do it.I suppose a lot of it is a question of discipline. Which improvisation is not.
George Shearing

To write a book about improvisation is partly a contradiction in terms. Improvisation is spontaneous. It's in the moment.
Sally Schneider

More Improvisation Quotations

Improvisation Translations

improvisation in German is Improvisation

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