Abstract:
The lack of stylistic authenticity in performances of Brazilian popular music by nonnative
musicians is a significant and often-cited issue among native Brazilians who live and
perform outside the country. Based on research in the areas of music perception, music
cognition, and psychomotor learning theories, a complete pedagogical approach was
created that develops cultural background, context, pattern vocabulary, and technical skills
and guides non-native musicians to authentic performances of Brazilian popular music
styles such as samba, bossa nova, choro, baião, and maracatu. A brief survey of four
Brazilian popular music experts obtained anecdotal results suggesting that student
ensembles prepared using the pedagogical approach were perceived as relatively more
authentic as compared to professional non-native ensembles. Future studies can provide
more information about the approach’s effectiveness and applications to cultural music
styles from different countries around the world.
