Aspiration and Motivation

This chapter explores the question of what motivates people to want to do free improvisation. It delves into the aspirations of performers to create something new and meaningful to their musical identity, and is expressed in their own voice. It focuses on the critical role that self-trust plays in setting the process of improvisation and, more broadly, creativity, into motion. The chapter draws on interviews to explore how aspiration initiates the process of creative exploration and experimentation, disregarding the conventional parameters of a musical genre. The investigation examines the role trust plays in cognitive and affective behaviours and the connotations of artistic freedom and self-expression in free improvisation.