BookatlasPiano Rabbit Hole: Improvisation Theory & Practice
11310 / 18210 · Workshop 93 — Tempo Architecture and Rubato: Ritardando, Accelerando, Fermatas, Metric Modulation, Free Time, and Returning to Pulse Without Losing the Listener← prev⊞ allnext →

93.56Free time does not mean random time

In free-time playing:

you still need:

  • phrase direction
  • relative duration
  • breath
  • harmonic pacing
  • arrival points

Time becomes rhetorical rather than metrical.