The National Association of Schools of Music, recognizing the importance of improvisation in building overall musical aptitude, included it among the requirements for accreditation.
Improvisation was first added as an addendum to the handbook for standards for undergraduate degrees by the National Association of Schools of Music in 1991-1992 and was later incorporated as a requirement at the 1993-1994 national meeting. It did, however, undergo revisions in 1999 and the current N.A.S.M. requirement states students must acquire the following skills:
VII. Competencies Common to all Professional Baccalaureate Degrees in Music and to all Undergraduate Degrees Leading to Teacher Certification.
B. Common Body of Knowledge and Skills
3. Composition and Improvisation
Students must acquire:
a. Rudimentary capacity to create derivative or original music both extemporaneously and in written form.
b. The ability to compose, improvise, or both at a basic level in one or more musical languages, for example, the imitation of various musical styles, improvisation on pre-existing materials, the creation of original compositions, experimentation with various sound sources, and manipulating the common elements in non-traditional ways.
Since this regulation was integrated into the National Association of Schools of Music membership handbook, colleges and universities have relied on group piano courses to insure that this requirement is properly met. Although this requirement can be met by other means, group piano courses maintain and/or absorb this responsibility due to the prominence of group piano labs in schools of music, music departments and music programs across the United States. Group piano courses also provide many other first musical experiences for music majors and non-music majors including transposition, composition, harmonization, multi-clef reading, open-score reading, figured bass and the reading of pop symbols or chord changes.
The group piano setting allows students the opportunity to perform and improvise music from different musical genres and permits students the opportunity to apply skills from music theory courses (e.g. figured bass, pop chord progressions and voice leading) into an applicable performance medium. It is within this group atmosphere that improvisation may be fostered to give all students, regardless of skill and ability, the opportunity to explore and develop creative skills with the help and support of his or her peers. (Copyright 2004, Laughlin)
