Considerations on Harmonization and Popular Music in Supplementary Piano Discipline

Abstract

The proposed discussion centres around the need to update the various formal and informal education processes of the contemporary musician in relation to the theory and practice of harmony. Within this scope, this article discusses Harmonization within the context of popular piano teaching as an integral part of the Complementary Piano discipline. To do this, first we contextualize the teaching of popular music in Brazil and the concepts of Harmony and Harmonization within a succession of historical processes. Second, we present an experiment applying harmonizations of the Brazilian folk song Sambalelê with Complementary Piano students from two Brazilian Universities. We conclude that Harmony, besides being treated as a theoretical discipline, should be seen as a foundation of musical knowledge focused on performance and instrumental practice. Also that the ability to harmonize melodies is directly linked to how one can apply that knowledge to piano playing.