music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

and other performing arts, the phrase (; from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for 'at one's pleasure' or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an

adjective In linguistics, an adjective (abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the ma ...

adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering ...

) or "ad-lib" (as a

verb A verb () is a word ( part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descr ...

noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, ...

), refers to various forms of improvisation. The roughly synonymous phrase ('in accordance with ne'sgood pleasure') is less common but, in its Italian form , entered the musical '' lingua franca'' (see below). The phrase "at liberty" is often associated

mnemonic A mnemonic ( ) device, or memory device, is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval (remembering) in the human memory for better understanding. Mnemonics make use of elaborative encoding, retrieval cues, and imag ...

ally (because of the

alliteration Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...

of the ''lib-'' syllable), although it is not the translation (there is no cognation between and ).

Libido Libido (; colloquial: sex drive) is a person's overall sexual drive or desire for sexual activity. Libido is influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors. Biologically, the sex hormones and associated neurotransmitters that act u ...

is the etymologically closer cognate known in English.

Music

As a direction in sheet music, indicates that the performer or conductor has one of a variety of types of discretion with respect to a given passage: *to play the passage in

free time Free time, traditionally usually called ''leisure time'' or ''leisure'', refers to the time when one is not working. It may also refer to: *Free time (music) Free time is a type of musical anti-meter free from musical time and time signature. I ...

rather than in strict or " metronomic"

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

(a practice known as ''

rubato Tempo rubato (, , ; 'free in the presentation', literally ) is a musical term referring to expressive and rhythmic freedom by a slight speeding up and then slowing down of the tempo of a piece at the discretion of the soloist or the conductor. Ru ...

'' when not expressly indicated by the composer); *to improvise a melodic line fitting the general structure prescribed by the passage's written notes or chords; *to omit an instrument part, such as a nonessential accompaniment, for the duration of the passage; or *in the phrase "repeat ," to play the passage an arbitrary number of times (''

cf. The abbreviation ''cf.'' (short for the la, confer/conferatur, both meaning "compare") is used in writing to refer the reader to other material to make a comparison with the topic being discussed. Style guides recommend that ''cf.'' be used onl ...

vamp The VaMP driverless car was one of the first truly autonomous cars Dynamic Vision for Perc ...

). Note that the direction (see above) has a more restricted meaning, generally referring to only the first two types of discretion. Baroque music, especially, has a written or implied , with most composers intimating the freedom the performer and conductor have. For post-Baroque classical music and jazz, see cadenza.

Other performing arts

"Ad-lib" is used to describe individual moments during live theatre when an actor speaks through their character using words not found in the play's text. When the entire performance is predicated on spontaneous creation, the process is called

improvisational theatre Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

. In film, the term ''ad-lib'' usually refers to the interpolation of unscripted material in an otherwise scripted performance. For example, in interviews,

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is ...

says he ''ad-libbed'' the now famous line, "I'm walking here! I'm walking here!" as "Ratso" Rizzo in ''

Midnight Cowboy ''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama film, based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with notable smaller ...

''. Live performers such as

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

talk-show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sho ...

hosts sometimes deliver material that sounds ad-libbed but is actually scripted. They may employ ''ad-lib writers'' to prepare such material. Some actors are also known for their ability or tendency to ad-lib, such as Peter Falk (of the series '' Columbo''), who would ad-lib such mannerisms as absent-mindedness while in character. The HBO sitcom '' Curb Your Enthusiasm'' by Seinfeld co-creator

Larry David Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He and Jerry Seinfeld created the television sitcom ''Seinfeld'', on which David was head writer and executive producer for the first seve ...

primarily uses

retroscripting Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

and ad lib instead of scripted dialogue.

References

* {{cite book , title=Amo, Amas, Amat and More , url=https://archive.org/details/amoamasamatmore00ehrl , url-access=registration , first=Eugene , last=Ehrlich , year=1985 , pag
23
, publisher=Harper & Row, Publishers , location=New York Latin words and phrases Improvisation Musical terminology

Music

Other performing arts

See also

References