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Neurocognitive Aspects of Musical Improvisation and Performance

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Multidisciplinary Contributions to the Science of Creative Thinking

Part of the book series: Creativity in the Twenty First Century ((CTFC))

Abstract

Improvisation is a bedrock of human creativity; it is ubiquitous in musical performance and is considered one of the most abstract and complex aspects of (musical) behaviour. Many scientists still believe that creativity and musical improvisation are too difficult to subject to empirical enquiry. However, musical creativity is an excellent means to study cognitive processes such as pattern formation and recognition, top–down attentional control, expectation, imagery, aesthetics and embodied cognition. Furthermore, musical improvisation is usually an intensely pleasurable experience, whereby the creator finds him- or herself in an optimal relationship between his/her capabilities and actions, similar to a flow-like creative state. In this chapter we present our current neurocognitive understanding of several facets of musical creativity.

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Acknowledgment

The research is partially supported by the Research Grant EP/H01294X funded by the EPSRC, UK and the CREAM project (Grant Agreement no. 612022) funded by the European Commission.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, Imperial College, London, UK

    Shama Rahman

  2. Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK

    Joydeep Bhattacharya

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  1. Shama Rahman
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  2. Joydeep Bhattacharya
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Correspondence to Shama Rahman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. DEI Department, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Giovanni Emanuele Corazza

  2. Marconi Institute for Creativity, Bologna, Italy

    Sergio Agnoli

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Rahman, S., Bhattacharya, J. (2016). Neurocognitive Aspects of Musical Improvisation and Performance. In: Corazza, G., Agnoli, S. (eds) Multidisciplinary Contributions to the Science of Creative Thinking. Creativity in the Twenty First Century. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-618-8_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-618-8_15

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