So is improvisation just anything that's not written down? If you wrote something in 10 minutes in your head and memorized it, would that still be an improv? I find it difficult to achieve any form of consistency regarding anything that has a cantus firmus or strict melodic lines you have to counterpoint against, 2 voices doable, but 3 or 4 becomes more impossible at speed. If people could improv so well so fast, why haven't they written much themselves yet?
Thank you for your comment. I could improvise without preparation easier tenor cantus firmus forms than this one, for instance as trio. At this point I am however totally unable to do it like here with double pedal and especially in fast speed. But I don’t think it’s not a reason to avoid working on it like practicing difficult repertoire; that is indeed the right way to learn Improvisation. My first cantus firmus impros all were learnt by heart. With time one learns formulas and how to use them more and more freely, choosing between several of them and finally inventing new ones ad hoc. The limits between impro and composition are not so clear, and since I practiced a lot on it I called it a „prepared“ impro. Composition would be different. In this case you could invent things you cannot remember directly, which are not directly coming out of your fingers (technically too challenging) and you would also fix everything in less challenging parts, which I kept free here.
