Impromptu is coupled with the groundbreaking music text, Conversations with Music. The project-oriented approach to learning brings software and text together in an environment where users carry out composition-like activities to discover and build on their own understanding. Users should take advantage of the updated version, JDK 1.5 compatible Impromptu, which is available for free download, here. It is a Java program and runs in any OS with a 1.4 or higher Java Environment. It has been tested in Windows and Macintosh OS X.

The Impromptu application includes an extensive Help function within the application. Just pull down the Help menu and click on Help Topics.

Impromptu has been designed as a learning environment to help players interrogate and develop their own musical intuitions. Impromptu begins by getting you directly involved in making music. It is intended to be used together with the book, Conversations with Music. .

Conversations includes a series of composition-like projects that are carried out using the Impromptu software. In turn, the effectiveness of Impromptu depends on the guidance and analysis included in the text. Critical to the effectiveness of both is the user’s active interrogation of his/her intuitions, creative process, and completed compositions.

To get started with the projects and the software, click here to download an abbreviated version of Conversations with Music. This will put a zip file of the Mini Text on your desktop. Reference is made throughout this abbreviated version to specific pages in the text where projects and musical issues are discussed in much greater detail. The book also includes a companion website with recorded examples of music related to the projects.

For more specific documentation, there is an extensive Help function within the application. Just pull down the Help menu and click on Help Topics.