Originally Posted By: Jackie
The relevant part of the definition was that the composer pretty much knew what it was going to sound like when it was done. Well now, that is interesting. What if a composer makes it up as he goes along? (Other than the fact that it's unlikely to be a coherent piece, which ain't necessarily a bad thing.)


Well, that describes what they call improvisations. It was usually done at the keyboard, often the organ. Some of them are quite good pieces of music. But even then the composers knew what things were going to sound like, just not putting a lot of thought into it, rather letting their skills dictate what was going to happen. It also defines jazz.