Improvisation (also called extemporization) is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or new ways to act. This invention cycle occurs most effectively when the practitioner has a thorough intuitive and/or technical understanding of the necessary skills and concerns within the improvised domain.

The skills of improvisation can apply to many different abilities or forms of communication and expression across all artistic, scientific, physical, cognitive, academic, and non-academic disciplines. For example, music, cooking, presenting a speech, sales, personal or romantic relationships, sports, flower arranging, martial arts, psychotherapy, the arts, and much more.

Explanation

Philosophically, improvisation often focuses on bringing one's personal awareness "into the moment," and on developing a profound understanding for the action one is doing. This fusion of "awareness" and "understanding" brings the practitioner to the point where he or she can act with a range of options that best fit the situation, even if he or she has never experienced a similar situation. The study of the skills and techniques of improvisation can strongly influence one's competence in business, personal life, and/or in the artsFact: date=July 2007.

The mental and emotional states needed to practice the art of improvisation are very similar to the practice taught in the religious and philosophical art of Zen, and many of the same concepts are used in both practicesFact: date=July 2007. Although it is not necessary for the study and practice of either improvisation or Zen, the study of one often gives new insight into the practice of the otherFact: date=July 2007. Keith Johnstone, a teacher of improvisational theatre, often relates the two when teaching about improvFact: date=July 2007.

Techniques of improvisation are widely trained in the entertainment arts; for example, music, theatre and dance.

To "extemporize" or "ad lib" is basically the same as improvising. Colloquial terms such as "let's play it by ear," "take it as it comes," and "make it up as we go along" are all used to describe "improvisation." In professional wrestling, they call improvisation a "shoot" ie wrestlers are working in the ring for real or when some are given the mic on tv are making "shoot" comments. Some give "shoot" interviews.

Musical improvisation

main: Musical improvisation

Improvisation is an important aspect of music in general. Musical improvisers often understand the idiom of one or more musical styles—e.g. blues, rock, folk, jazz—and work within the idiom to express ideas with creativity and originality. Improvisation can take place as a solo performance, or interdependently in ensemble with other players. When done well, it often elicits gratifying emotional responses from the audience. Very few musicians have ever dared to offer fully improvised concerts such as the famous improvised piano recitals by classical composers/pianists like Franz Liszt or modern pianists such as Alicia Techintin. The origins of Liszt's improvisation in an earlier tradition of playing variations on a theme were mastered and epitomized by Mozart and Beethoven. However, some have managed some very poignant attempts similar to these precedents, one of the most successful of these is Keith Jarrett. He is a jazz pianist and multi-instrumentalist who has performed many completely improvised concerts that have captivated audiences all over the world. Jerry Garcia was considered one of the masters of improvisation (guitar), garnering world-wide acclaim with the band/tribe The Grateful Dead. In the same creative aesthetic as such named masters, including the late innovator and guitar master Derek Bailey, comes a new breed of improvising musician.A few pianists have given modern recitals of improvisation in the baroque style, which may be less intimidating because of its stricter development and range of modulation and yet, on the other hand, more daunting because of its polyphony. One of the masters in the style of baroque improvisation was Glenn Gould. There have also been a few other exceptional improvised solo piano concerts in Stuttgart, Southern Germany in the 1990s.