An exploration of critical issues relating to improvisation in Western music education

Objectives The purpose of this study was to explore and discover critical issues of Western music education regarding improvisation, and to analyze and discuss them. Methods As a systematic literature study, strategies such as database searches, backward snowballing, and forward snowballing were used to collect data. English words, improvisation, music, education were used as key words for data searches to identify relevant English literature. In order to discover potential critical issues gathered literature were thoroughly reviewed and re-analyzed by realms. Results Recurring important issues of improvisation in Western music education were divided into four realms. Those were issues relating to defining the term, diverse spectrum of improvisation, the critique of current pedagogies, and music teachers’ avoidance of improvisational activities. Also, the second issue was subdivided into three. Those were improvisation as musical traditions, improvisation as musical activities, and improvisation as pedagogical approaches. Conclusions This study suggested defining improvisation in an educational context, having a sensitivity to a degree of freedom given for students’ musical choices, and taking action to incorporate improvising activities in music teacher education.