top of page

COURSE CONTENTS

ROYAL CONSERVATOIRE ANTWERP 2025-26

course: Practical Harmony and Improvisation

​

BACHELOR 1

Semester 1

  • Harmonized scales in and out of order in all 24 keys (including knowledge of the harmonic functions, chord symbols and basso continuo figures).

  • Creating short preludes based on Basic Model A in all 24 keys, applying arpeggiations.

 

​Semester 2

  • Preludes in all 24 keys, featuring harmonic expansions with secondary dominants, and the use of diminution techniques such as:

a. Arpeggios and broken-chord patterns
b. Scales and scale patterns
c. Embellishment notes such as neighbor notes and suspensions

​

BACHELOR 2

Semester 1

  • Preludes in all 24 keys, featuring harmonic expansions with secondary dominants, developing personal expression and stylistic interpretation.

  • Systematic exploration of diminutions, patterns and 'passagios' across all keys, emphasizing the development of a personal, organized technical archive. Maintenance of an evolving archive of patterns, fingerings, and figurations to support long-term technical fluency, harmonic awareness, and individual interpretive choices.

  • Modulating preludes.

 

​Semester 2

Free fantasia basics:

  • Maintenance of an evolving archive of patterns, fingerings, and figurations.

  • Introduction to freer formal structures beyond fixed models.

  • Exploration of spontaneous idea generation and short improvisational gestures.

  • Developing continuity through motivic development and harmonic flow.

  • Initial awareness of stylistic references (e.g. baroque, classical, romantic idioms).

 

BACHELOR 3

Semester 1

Free fantasia:

  • Development of longer and more coherent improvised forms.

  • Shaping the flow of ideas through harmonic, motivic, and textural transformation.

  • Conscious use of stylistic choices and idiomatic language (historical or personal).

  • Balancing imagination and structure in spontaneous performance.

​

Semester 2

Advanced free fantasia:

  • Sustaining extended improvisations with clear artistic direction and formal logic.

  • Integrating personal stylistic identity with deliberate stylistic references or contrasts.

  • Making informed, real-time aesthetic decisions regarding harmony, texture, pacing, and character.

  • Demonstrating artistic independence, spontaneity, and a continuous flow of musical ideas.

​​​

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Remember / Understand

  • Identify, describe, and explain the functional elements of the tonal system, including scales, chords, harmonic functions, modulations, harmonic symbols, and basso continuo figures.

Apply

  • Apply principles of tonal harmony, voice-leading, and form in real-time piano improvisation.

  • Employ technical piano skills fluently and efficiently to realize improvised musical ideas with imagination and spontaneity.

Analyze

  • Analyze improvised material in real time to shape musical form, tension, and continuity.

  • Differentiate stylistic, harmonic, and expressive choices within one’s own improvisations and those of others.

Evaluate

  • Critically evaluate improvised performances in terms of coherence, expressivity, and stylistic integrity.

  • Make informed aesthetic decisions that reflect a developing, imaginative, and personal musical taste.

Create

  • Create original, expressive, and spontaneous musical material at the piano.

  • Develop a personal improvisational language (“voice”) through the practices of preluding and free fantasia.

  • Shape and sustain a continuous flow of musical ideas, allowing form and structure to emerge organically in real time.

  • Design, shape, and sustain extended improvised forms with clear artistic intention, imagination, and direction.

  • Transfer improvisational strategies derived from tonal practice to non-tonal or alternative musical systems.

bottom of page