Professor David Mesquita discusses his background and teaching solfege methods. He explores the concept of contrapponto alamente and the differences between Spanish and Italian music in the Renaissance. The podcast also touches on temperaments and tunings in music.
Ear training and sight singing are crucial in music education, aiding in understanding historical solmization and developing a sense of pitch.
The Kodai method is an effective approach for teaching children music, focusing on relative solfeggio and cultural repertoire.
Learning counterpoint should involve immediate hearing and singing, emphasizing improvisation and practical skills alongside theoretical knowledge.
Deep dives
Importance of Ear Training and Sight Singing
Professor David Miskita emphasizes the significance of ear training and sight singing in music education. He discusses how his background in music, including learning absolute and relative solfeggio, has helped him in his research and teaching. Professor Miskita highlights the value of being bilingual in solfeggio methods and how it has aided him in understanding historical solmization. He also shares his personal experience with developing a sense of pitch and the benefits of using different tools and approaches in his lessons.
The Kodai Method for Teaching Children
Professor Miskita explains his experience with the Kodai method, a popular approach for teaching children music. He discusses how this method focuses on learning simple songs and understanding the relative nature of musical features. He highlights the usefulness of the Kodai method for children in grasping the concept of relative solfeggio and appreciating the repertoire of different cultures.
The Evolution of Counterpoint and Harmony
Professor Miskita delves into the historical development of counterpoint and harmony. He discusses how the Renaissance and Spanish music tradition had a strong emphasis on vocal style, polyphony, and polychorality. He explains the connection and continuity between counterpoint and harmony throughout different eras, while acknowledging the gradual changes and innovations that took place. He also highlights the importance of understanding temperament in different musical periods.
Learning Counterpoint through Singing
Professor Miskita advocates for an approach to learning counterpoint that involves immediate hearing and singing. He believes that counterpoint should be taught by adding voices step by step, focusing on improvisation, and developing a sense of pattern and reflex. He emphasizes the value of students singing and playing different voices in counterpoint and the benefits of combining practical skills with theoretical knowledge.
The Role of Improvisation in Music Education
Professor Miskita emphasizes the importance of improvisation in music education. He suggests a more open approach to music education that includes improvisation, composition, and exposure to various musical cultures and centuries. He highlights the need to balance theoretical knowledge with practical skills and encourages the exploration of different improvisation methods in order to develop a broad range of musical abilities.
My Guest today is Professor David Mesquita, he teaches ear training, sightsinging, Historical satzlehre Renaissance through to the Romantic at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. His research focuses on Spanish Music and music theory, as well as improvised counterpoint.
0:30 What is your background? 1:31 On learning both Fixed Do and Moveable Do growing up at the same time 2:19 Do you have Absolute or Perfect Pitch? 2:49 What repertoire did you use when studying solfege? 4:05 Students who have to solmize but were raised on Fixed Do? 4:32 Can you comment on the Kodaly method? 5:20 What do you think about Hexachordal solfeggio solmization? 6:54 Do you have a preference for a type of solmization? 8:31 How do you teach ear training? 11:36 Is all all aural or is sight singing involved as well? 13:19 How does someone develop their vocabulary in order to improvise counterpoint? 15:54 Does this take years to master? 17:01 How long are the example that you use in the classroom? 17:41 How would you teach a student who begins with zero knowledge? 19:43 What does Contrappunto alla mente mean? 21:48 Was Lusitano a theorist from Spain? 22:34 The Spanish Golden Age - Siglo de Oro 23:53 Is the Spanish Style very different from the Italian style? 25:37 What are the stylistic differences between the Spanish Style and others? 27:33 Were the writers like Soriano Fuertes writing from a perspective of Nationalism? 29:19 Did the Spanish Style go extinct like the partimento tradition? 30:51 Is Renaissance counterpoint useful or applicable for more modern styles of music? 32:01 What commonalities exist between Renaissance counterpoint and later styles? 33:02 Using Renaissance counterpoint as a good base for studying all tonal music 35:28 What are the different levels of expertise in improvised counterpoint and ear training? 36:50 What are the 6 levels of expertise? 38:07 Is improvised counterpoint a separate subject from written counterpoint? 38:39 What’s your opinion on Harmony and Counterpoint, are they two separate subjects? 41:33 Are Harmony and Counterpoint merging in some way today? 41:58 Is there any difficulty applying your process to later Romantic music? 43:58 Do you use different temperaments for different styles of music? 45:48 Do you have a particular frequency that you favor? 46:46 Do you get a physical sensation or awareness of playing in different tunings? 47:48 Does a keyboard in equal temperament sound out of tune for you? 49:04 talking about contrapunto.ch, a website to help practicing improvised counterpoint? 52:08 How do you use the website? 53:28 What’s the best way to learn counterpoint? 54:01 Is there more than 2 voices? 55:35 Available resources, links and teachers to learn counterpoint 57:29 How would you reform music education? 1:00:08 What remaining mysteries about the Spanish style remain for you? 1:02:17 Wrapping Up
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