A listener's guide to free improvisation / John Corbett.

Preparing to go into the field -- Range and diversity -- Fundamentals -- Rhythm: the hurdle -- Duration: another hurdle -- Basic identification: who is doing what? -- Entrances and exits: mapping the flow of events -- Interaction dynamics: the core -- Dynamics dynamics: passive-aggressive improvising -- Transitions: observing how the music changes -- Structure: the butcher shop -- Personal vocabulary: each unto themselves -- Advanced techniques -- On watching while listening -- Live or memorex? -- Kindling: 20 starter records for your improvised music collection -- Once vs. ongoing -- The level of mystery -- The ambiguous and the unresolved: is Tony dead? -- The rule of threes -- Dancing between the hypothetical poles -- Poly-free -- Kindling II: 20 classic poly-free records -- Distraction and sleep -- Thinking and chewing gum (at the same time) -- You and the night and the music: audience participation -- Additional reading: seven great books (plus one DVD) -- A little rouge, a touch of blush -- On the moral superiority of improvised music -- Life list: a selected checklist of major living free improvisors