Per Musi

Groove and the electric bass

Manasses Morais de Arruda — 2024-06-10

This paper sought to demonstrate how the idea of groove produces specific musical performances of the double bass in samba and to understand the conceptual field through which double bassists construct this phenomenon within the musical culture. The methodology identified interpretative resources from data collected in an experiment involving 19 instrumentalists. The subjects were instructed to construct improvised bass lines over a harmonic structure presented a priori. The musical events present in each instrumentalist's recordings were annotated, classified, and analyzed with computational data visualization resources. The results show an interpretation map where the idea of groove is expressed in the samba rhythm with the use of interpretative resources and specific techniques such as ghost notes and slaps. Strategies of temporal and sequential structuring of technical resources were also presented, enriching the understanding of the groove phenomenon in the specific practice of bassists in samba.

The Witch and the Maestro

Ines Loureiro — 2024-05-09

The aim of this article is to describe the milestones in the relationship between guitarist Carlos Barbosa-Lima and composer Antonio Carlos Jobim. Over more than a decade, the two cultivated a fruitful musical collaboration fueled by mutual admiration. Starting with their joint work on solo guitar arrangements of Jobim's songs, a friendship was established and it had positive impacts on both of their trajectories: through Barbosa-Lima's hands, Jobim was definitively incorporated into the classical guitar repertoire, and through Jobim, Barbosa-Lima gained greater visibility among jazz and popular music audiences, including in Brazil. From this collaboration emerged the project to compose a "Concerto for guitar and orchestra," which, although not realized, demonstrates how stimulating the connection between the guitar brujo and the Sovereign Maestro was.

Endangered soundscapes

Ana María Botella Nicolás — 2024-03-25

This case study examines a learning situation that bridges the gap between environmental education and music education. Starting from the concept of sound ecology, secondary students created soundscapes of ecosystems threatened by climate change and human activities. To achieve this, they conducted research on ten endangered ecosystems and used Audacity software to recreate the three components of the soundscape for each of them: biophony, geophony, and anthropophony. Finally, they developed an interactive map showcasing all the projects and held a public exhibition of their work. The results demonstrated a positive impact on student motivation and a significant enhancement of their environmental competence. Regarding project development, challenges emerged due to variations in students' competency levels and difficulties in adhering to the initial time schedule. This study also analyzes the strategies employed to address these challenges.

Imitation/evocation of sounds of Nature and the imitation catalog by Flausino Valle

Leonardo Vieira Feichas — 2024-06-10

In this article we will focus on one of the aspects that we deem open to interpretation regarding the composer Flausino Valle (1894-1954), which would be referring to its musical language, more specifically in onomatopoeic characteristics contained in the Preludes. These characteristics appear sometimes in an obvious way, as in the title, sometimes in a less explicit way. With this, our objective was to analyze the Preludes under the bias of Molino/Nattiez's Tripartite Musical Semiology with the additional support of the idea of the “associated spaces” by Dominique Maingueneau. As a result, we came to the conclusion that in some of the Preludes certain evocations require knowledge about Valle and/or his “Catálogo de Imitação de Vozes da Natureza” (“Catalog of Imitation of Voices of Nature”) and a closer study to be identified, as they are not evident. We also came to the conclusion that, analyzing in this way, references to other instruments, more specifically the viola caipira, can be considered recurrent.

José Siqueira and Mstislav Rostropovich

Marcelo Moreno da Silva — 2024-05-15

This article proposes to reveal a connection between José Siqueira and the Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich through musical elements present in the II Sonata for Cello and Piano (1972). We’ve explored the cello literature from that period, as well as elements that came to influence Siqueira in his compositional process. Based on Siqueira (1981), Aquino (2006), Santos (2016), and Silva (2023), we suggest the presence of sonorities that are similar to musical gestures from Britten’s First and Third Suites — Siqueira’s contemporary and Rostropovich’s personal friend. Through a comparative study of excerpts, it is possible to perceive important compositional traits in Siqueira’s output, in addition to those from the cultural manifestations of the music of the Brazilian Northeast, as a dualism between regionalism and elements from the European concert music. Thus, we present a more comprehensive perspective of Siqueira’s compositional style, denoting that the connection between Siqueira and Rostropovich goes beyond a dedicatory.

Musical game Magic Dice

Maria Fernanda Leitao Canabarro — 2024-03-25

This work discusses the challenge of the music teacher in engaging the student in classes and in individual practice. Theoretical references from philosophers such as Huizinga, Piaget and Callois were used to address the game and its relationship with music. Furthermore, methodologies relating to the practice of the instrument from theorists such as Suzuki, Tania Carey, Karen Tuttle and Primrose were also used to support decisions about the technical-interpretive aspects of the violin, viola and cello. With the aim of making classes and daily study more interesting and improving the technical-interpretive aspects of the instrument, the Magic Dice game proposes practice in a playful reality, allowing the child to improve their performance and achieve satisfaction when playing. In this study, after using the Magic Dice, there was progress in the student's tuning, sound and posture, in addition to growth in sociability, interaction and bond between student, instrument and teacher.

Musical Classicism using gamification

Arantza Campollo-Urkiza — 2024-03-25

Current national and international educational guidelines point out the importance of using different methodological strategies for the development of key competences at the end of compulsory schooling. In this respect, gamification is a teaching strategy that is conducive to the development of content and key competences in the classroom through the adaptation of game elements in the didactic proposals. In this way, we present the experience of using this methodological strategy to learn about the historical period of classicism in two classrooms in the 3rd year of Compulsory Secondary Education. The results obtained show a good acceptance and high motivation of the participating students. At the same time, it shows the possibility of investigating in greater depth aspects of musical analysis, and in the areas of listening and musical perception .

Quantitative analysis of the intelligibility of Portuguese sung in Brazilian chamber music:

Cristina de Souza Gusmão — 2024-06-10

The studies on the intelligibility of sung text involve singing across all musical genres. Aimed at identifying the causes of the lack of comprehension of the text in Brazilian chamber songs, we had the participation of 110 lyrical singers who responded to a semi-structured online questionnaire containing both objective and descriptive questions. The factors that impact intelligibility most frequently cited by the singers were: high pitch, imprecise diction, retracted vocal placement and excessive vibrato. Another important piece of data from the study reveals that 70% of respondents identified sopranos as the singers with the greatest loss of comprehension when singing in vernacular.

Educational practices with the synthesizer in the Higher Music Education in Catalonia

Pablo Puentes Madarnás — 2024-05-09

Despite its fundamental role in modern musical creation, the synthesizer still lacks widespread recognition within music education programs in Catalonia, Spain. This study examined educational practices related to the synthesizer in Higher Music Education in the region. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight teachers specialized in this instrument. The data analysis was carried out following the guidelines of Thematic Analysis, revealing three general themes: (i) the teaching of the synthesizer is oriented towards creative objectives, (ii) the synthesizer is taught differently depending on the specialty and the repertoire (iii) the synthesizer does not have its own instrumental modality. The article concludes with a discussion advocating for the integration of the synthesizer into music education programs to promote a more contextualized and meaningful learning experience.

Musical teaching and curriculum enrichment

Vera Inácio Cordeniz — 2024-03-25

This article reflects on the contours of the public policy - “Full Time School” (FTS), looking at its operationalization over 15 years of implementation in mainland Portugal. The article considers the interconnection between FTS, equality of opportunities of other activities - teaching of music (Primary Education) and highlights the articulating state’s role. Methodologically, the article analyses a set of legislative/specialized documentation as well as scientific studies to understand the implications of music education in curricular enrichment, in articulation with the author experience. We consider how this policy has been applied in the Autonomous Region of Madeira and we draw a parallel with Brazilian FTS, in order to understand the approach in artistic-musical education. We conclude by outlining how to approach the transposition of the FTS policy to other study cycles, examining the time spent on AEC/its playfulness, allied to the powerful tools of public policy.

Body percussion in the band repertoire

Salvatore Di Russo — 2024-04-12

When analyzing the band music repertoire, which includes works composed for wind ensemble as well as arrangements from orchestral compositions, an increase in the incorporation of body percussion as a compositional resource has been observed. This article focuses on the work La corrida de toros by Mario Bürki. The Swiss composer, in his descriptive symphonic poem, is dedicated to presenting the different parts of a Spanish bullfight, also called tercios if we stick to bullfighting terminology. Starting with the paseillo that leads the bullfighters into the arena, up to the tercio de muerte (third of death) in the final part. The composition includes sounds and rhythms combined with the percussion of different parts of the body. This paper presents a complete musicological analysis that contemplates structural, organological, harmonic and rhythmic parameters. Special attention is given to the aspects related to the musical function that body percussion plays in this composition.

Contemporary Brazilian piano in Ituiutaba

Denise Andrade de Freitas Martins — 2024-03-25

We aim to share processes and results of the work, which involved commented edition, publication, and phonographic recording of novel pieces for solo and four-hand piano by 15 renowned contemporary Brazilian composers. These were destined to be confrontation pieces to be interpreted in the Piano Contests “Prof. Abrão Calil Neto”, in the city of Ituiutaba in the state of Minas Gerais, performed from 2004 to 2019 in the mentioned town. This material was prepared for publication in four books (two for solo and two for four-hand piano), also recording a CD with some selected pieces of each author, and carried out some lecture recitals, with the objective of recording and spreading the contemporary Brazilian piano music. It is hoped that this article encourages that similar actions are realized.

The effect of BAPNE Body Percussion exercises on the balance and the executive functions of DCD children

Elahe Khanjankhani — 2024-03-25

This research aims to study the effect of Bodypercussion exercises on balance and executive functions of children with DCD. Thirty children with DCD between seven and nine years of age were selected from girls' elementary schools. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups: experimental and control (15 subjects in each group). For eight weeks, the experimental group participated in group BAPNE neuromotor sessions. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and mixed ANOVA test with repeated measures and Bonferroni's post hoc test. The results showed that the result of BAPNE body percussion exercises on static balance (P=0.001), dynamic balance (P=0.001), sustained attention (P=0.001) and response inhibition (P=0.001) is significant and participants in the experimental group performed better at post-test (P=0.001) and follow-up (P=0.001) than the control group.

Music reading and music notation software

Mar Galera-Núñez — 2024-04-12

A multiple-case study was conducted within the context of the subject “Musical Practices and Fundamentals” of the Degree of Primary Education at the University of Seville. Five volunteers were subjected to an oral test in which they had to study four music sheets of two different difficulty levels, using two different means. The main objective of this study was to understand the differences between the perceptions of the participants toward the use of these two different means. The results show that the software had greater acceptance for those participants who had lower knowledge and skills regarding the musical content of the music sheets used in this study. Based on the results, it is understood that the introduction of this type of means could pose an improvement in the performance of the students, thereby reducing the differences in previous musical knowledge and skills, which, in turn, could enrich the methodology of the subject.

Autobiography as a resource for the study of traditional Williche music

Ignacio Soto Silva — 2024-03-25

This paper is a review of the book: Iris RUMIAN and Ponciano RUMIAN. 2020. Wechemapu. Autobiography of an Imaginary. Osorno: Editorial Universidad de Los Lagos. 221pp (ISBN: 978-956-6043-25-6). This is a three-part overview. First, an introduction on the context of the Wechemapu band and the authors of the book. This is followed by a summary of the main aspects of the book's content. Finally, I present a critical reflection on the contributions and challenges of the book and its implications for musical research.

Conducting pedagogues

Erickinson Lima — 2024-03-25

Sharing experiences of the academic, artistic and professional life on the Conducting field, leads to a reflection about the formation of conductors. What takes to be a Maestro? How to balance theory and praxis? Which teaching techniques are essential in a conductor formation? This interview is the first of a dialogue circuit with national (Brasil) and international Maestros. The first guest is the Professor and Maestro Eduardo Lakschevitz. On his path between Brazil and The United States, Lakschevitz works hardly as the coordinator and pedagogue of FUNARTE Choral Conducting Pannels, and his actions reflect on the production and dissemination of the choral repertoire and on training courses to conductors and musical educators. Giving voice to Maestros such Lakschevitz allows us to visualize new practical, conceptual and pedagogical perspectives, and leads our attention to the real necessities on the Conducting field: thinking and acting beyond the gestural techniques.