Melodic and rhythmic shaping of jazz improvisation. Computer-aided music analysis of monophonic jazz solos

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Martin Pfleiderer
• Subject Area: Musicology
• Term: from 2012 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 215043466

The project aims to investigate the melodic and rhythmic shaping of improvised jazz solos using a large database of solo transcriptions and computational analysis tools. Approximately 250 monophonic jazz solos from a wide range of styles and performers have been transcribed semi-automatically and analyzed with respect to a comprehensive set of melodic features (e.g., pitch and interval frequencies, rhythmic and metrical structures). Furthermore, the data set will be used to identify and classify melodic and rhythmic patterns and motifs. Occurrence and variations of those basic units will allow conclusions concerning improvisation processes and style characteristics. The results of the project will be of great interest for jazz research (jazz history, jazz theory) and for the psychology of creative processes. They might lead to practical application in jazz education (didactics of improvisation) and in music information retrieval and computational musicology (automatic transcription, statistical music analysis, genre classification).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants