This thesis explores the process of musical group-improvisations by asking two main questions: To what extent is it possible for an observer to correctly sense important aspects of the participants' experience? And which areas should a therapist attend to, if he/she wants to facilitate fruitful improvisations in a group? These two questions are linked, since a clear perception of 'what goes on in the music' will usually be the starting point for constructive facilitation.
An experiment is presented, which is designed to test the validity of interpretations based on music-improvisations. In this experiment, a total of 14 group improvisations were conducted with two groups of four participants. All participants were normal-functioning adolescents with an interest in music. The author took part in one of the groups as a facilitator and co-improviser, whereas the other group was on its own. After each session, the participants, as well as the author, completed a questionnaire on how they perceived the improvisation. Central to these questionnaires were aspects such as 'peak moments', 'overall satisfaction' as well as questions addressing social interaction and group dynamics. On two occasions, external observers, who were all music therapy students, were included in the experiment in order to validate important findings.
Based on a comparison of the participants answers and the observers interpretations, some tentative conclusions are put forth: If the therapist/ facilitator participates in the improvisation, his judgments are less objective and more faulty than when just observing; it is comparatively easier for an observer to correctly sense more 'behavioral' (e.g. 'exerting influence') aspects of the improvisation, than sensing internal or emotional aspects (e.g. 'feeling frustrated'); prior knowledge of each persons musical and interpersonal preferences is an important factor when trying to guess how that person experienced the improvisation; even strong feelings in a participant can go completely unnoticed by an observer or a group of observers. Some caution about ones judgements is therefore adviced.
Subsequently some non-intended findings of the experiment are presented. These findings suggest that: An improvisation-group can function surprisingly well without a facilitator; there is a strong relation between how much influence a person has, and how satisfied he is with an improvisation; facilitation can aid in making the participants more supportive towards other people's musical expression.