Musical improvisation is a widely used practice within many musical genres and cultures. But although there have been several studies on the experience and psychological benefits of music listening and music making, few have focused specifically on musical improvisation outside the practices of music therapy and jazz improvisation. In this study, we aim to explore the phenomenology of musical improvisation to find the possible psychological motives and everyday mental health functions related to it. Semi-structured interviews were recorded with 11 musicians (2 female/10 male, mean age 27.8 years) and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The analysis found two master themes (with five emergent themes): self-actualization (with need for growth, self-expression, and peak experiences) and intersubjectivity (with receptivity and rapport). In this empirical study, we found that musical improvisation provides a medium for self-expression and self-exploration, and by creating an intersubjective field within the improvisers and listeners. These motives also reliably trigger peak and optimal experiences, such as flow state.

中文翻译：

---

“我的音乐自画像”：音乐即兴的现象学


音乐即兴创作是许多音乐流派和文化中广泛使用的做法。但是，尽管已经有几项关于听音乐和音乐制作的体验和心理益处的研究，但很少有人专门关注音乐疗法和爵士乐即兴创作实践之外的音乐即兴创作。在这项研究中，我们旨在探索音乐即兴创作的现象学，以找到可能的心理动机和与之相关的日常心理健康功能。对 11 位音乐家 （2 名女性/10 名男性，平均年龄 27.8 岁） 进行了半结构化访谈，并使用解释性现象学分析进行了分析。分析发现了两个主要主题（有五个新兴主题）：自我实现（需要成长、自我表达和高峰体验）和主体间性（具有接受性和融洽关系）。在这项实证研究中，我们发现音乐即兴创作为自我表达和自我探索提供了一种媒介，并在即兴创作者和听众中创造了一个主体间场。这些动机还可以可靠地触发峰值和最佳体验，例如流状态。