You will still find improvised songs today (including the competitive element) in the Iberian peninsula.

I attended a competitive song festival in northern Catalonia at the beginning of this year, and was impressed by the singers, who were amusing as well as skilful. There are various standard song forms that each pair of 
competitors have to conform to, and the judges give them a theme to start with. They then sing alternate improvised verses trying to trip each other up. Eventually one singer can't invent a new verse quickly enough in reply and so loses.

A similar tradition is also very common in Valencia, where somebody whispers themes and topics into the ear of the singer, who has to sing about this immediately following the verse he or she is currently singing. This is unbelievably hard (you try it!) to finish singing one verse you just invented while receiving information for and inventing the next verse.
 
The music in both the Catalan and Valencian  traditions tends to follow a standard form, rather than an 
improvised one, although (particularly in the Valencian case) the proximity of Arab/Moorish music is clear.

Someone once told me something like this still happens in Euskadi (the Basque country) also, but alas I have no information on it.

Cheers

Simon Furey

________________________________

From: study of popular / folk / traditional ballads on behalf of frances Zammit
Sent: Fri 14/09/2007 10:54
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Maltese Folk Music



Hello All,

I am new to the list and new, but very interested in, the whole subject.

I wonder if anyone knows of any work that has been done on Maltese Folk
Music, called Ghana. This is the wikipedia entry:

'Għana is the term given to a specific type of traditional Maltese folk
music. The word 'għana' (pronounced: aa-na; the 'għ' in Maltese language has
the effect of lengthening and pharyngealizing associated vowels ) can have
two literal meanings, the first meaning richness, wealth and prosperity. The
second is associated with singing, verse, rhyme and even kantaliena, a type
of moaning, or singing with a slow rhythm. Għana can be broken up into
formal and informal practices'.

In particular,  'Spirtu Pront' sessions, 'two or more għannejja (singers)
are paired together and take part in an improvised song duel that
demonstrates their knowledge of a wide range of social topics as well as
their command of the Maltese language. Sessions always take around an hour
in duration, and there may be number of sessions that make up a whole
performance. The għannejja are the living poets of the Maltese language,
singing in a highly expressive, free flowing style. Their improvised melodic
lines borrow heavily from Arabic influenced scales. Although improvisation
is definitely an element, it is never the focus'.(Wikipedia)

I beleive this type of Music is still sung in Malta and wondered if it can
be compared to any other ethnic folk music and, if so, during what era.

Many Thanks

Frances Zammit