Beatriz Ilari

Esta obra reúne de forma inédita dez ensaios sobre o trabalho de pedagogos como Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, Zoltán Kodály, Edgar Willems, Carl Orff, Maurice Martenot, Shinichi Suzuki, Gertrud Meyer-Denkmann, John Paynter, Raymond Murray Schafer e Jos Wuytack, sendo leitura fundamental para quem deseja, de fato, compreender as concepções de educação musical que temos hoje.

De ponta a ponta, seja no Brasil, seja na América Latina ou pelo mundo afora, essas pedagogias fazem parte dos currículos de educação musical das principais instituições de formação docente e de milhares de escolas de ensino básico e conservatórios.

Há imenso valor histórico, sociológico, educacional, filosófico e psicológico nas ideias desses clássicos. Conhecer seu legado pedagógico implica entender as múltiplas formas de pensar e atuar no ensino de música. Afinal, essas pedagogias constituem parte da história e dos fundamentos da educação musical e conhecê-las é também um modo de compreender melhor a nossa educação.

Ao publicar “Em Busca da Mente Musical”a Editora UFPR abre o leque para um tema intrigante. o estudo sistemático da cognição musical ou psicologia cognitiva da música é ainda recente no Brasil, quase nada foi publicado em língua portuguesa sobre um tema passível de discussões e provocações, e que envolve pesquisadores de diversas áreas do conhecimento. Para suprir a carência de informações sobre o assunto.organizado pela pesquisadora Beatriz Senoi Ilari, o livro traz ensaios que visam compreender os diversos processos mentais que regem as mais variadas atividades musicais humanas, incluindo suas influências internas e externas. O tema reúni especialistas de diversas áreas do conhecimento que trabalham em laboratórios de pesquisa e universidades do Brasil, do Canadá, Inglaterra, EUA, e Portugal.

Mentes em música reúne oito ensaios escritos por pesquisadores brasileiros de diversas partes do Brasil – compositores, educadores, intérpretes e musicoterapeutas. Esses textos versam sobre diferentes aspectos que permeiam a interação entre a música e a mente. O estudo da mente musical é novo? Como funciona a mente de um compositor quando ele está compondo? Mesmo com intenso preparo, por que os instrumentistas ficam tensos na hora de subir no palco? Como os cientistas explicam a chamada criatividade musical? Algumas pistas para esses enigmas são apresentadas aqui, junto com um importante arcabouço teórico.

The AIRS Test Battery of Singing Skills (ATBSS) is a comprehensive instrument that was designed to acquire data from varied age, cultural and ethnic groups. The aim of the present research was twofold. First, it aimed to examine favorite songs and singing of melodic elements and a familiar tune using tasks from the ATBSS in two underrepresented groups of children: Brazilians in Brazil and Latinos in the United States. Second, the research aimed at contributing cultural data to the body of knowledge on the ATBSS. Two studies investigated singing behaviors in 48 children using two components from the ATBSS and a researcher-developed scale of children’s musical habits that was completed by their parents. Findings were equivalent across both studies in that girls significantly outperformed boys in two singing tasks. Latino children in the U.S., however, showed higher singing test scores than their Brazilian counterparts. Consistent with previous research, these results suggest that gender and culture play important roles in singing development in middle childhood.

The purpose of this study was to replicate and extend previous findings on spontaneous
movement and rhythmic engagement with music in infancy. Using the identical
stimuli and procedures from the original study, I investigated spontaneous rhythmic
movements in response to music, infant-directed speech, and contrasting rhythmic
patterns in 30 Brazilian infants (ages 5, 11, and 19 months). Findings were consistent
with the original study in that more spontaneous rhythmic movements were found
in response to music and metrically regular stimuli than to speech. Brazilian babies,
however, showed higher means for spontaneous rhythmic movement to music than
those reported in the original study. Consistent with the developmental systems
approach, these results suggest that culture plays a larger role in spontaneous
rhythmic engagement to music and rhythmic entrainment than previously suggested.

Several studies comparing adult musicians and non-musicians have provided compelling evidence for functional and anatomical differences in the brain systems engaged by musical training. It is not known, however, whether those differences result from long term musical training or from pre-existing traits favoring musicality. In an attempt to begin addressing this question, we have launched a longitudinal investigation of the effects of childhood music training on cognitive, social and neural development. We compared a group of 6-7 year old children at the start of intense after-school musical training, with two groups of children: one involved in high intensity sports training but not musical training, another not involved in any systematic training. All children were tested with a comprehensive battery of cognitive, motor, musical, emotional and social assessments and underwent magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography. Our first objective was to determine whether children who participate in musical training were different, prior to training, from children in the control groups in terms of cognitive, motor, musical, emotional and social behavior measures as well as in structural and functional brain measures. Our second objective was to determine whether musical skills, as measured by a music perception assessment prior to training, correlates with emotional and social outcome measures that have been shown to be associated with musical training. We found no neural, cognitive, motor, emotional or social differences among the three groups. In addition, there was no correlation between music perception skills and any of the social or emotional measures. These results provide a baseline for an ongoing longitudinal investigation of the effects of music training.

The purpose of this study was to investigate musical parenting of infants and toddlers in Brazil. Forty-three Brazilian mothers were interviewed on musical experience and preferences, beliefs and uses of music with their children. Results suggest that mothers appear to be caught between two main forces: the natural humanurge to interact, communicate and bondwithyoung children and the need to conform to social norms including those concerning consumer behaviours. These results mirror those found in industrialised countries, and suggest that the notion of middle-class as a cultural pattern appears to be more widespread than previously thought. Implications for music education are outlined at the end of the paper.

Inspired by ideas that Levi-Strauss (1955) presented in Tristes Tropiques, the author discusses music and early childhood in Brazil from educational, historical, anthropological, and sociological perspectives. She begins with a short history of early childhood education in Brazil, including changes in educational policies, teacher preparation, and recent statistics. Next, a brief history of music teaching and learning is followed by a discussion of Brazilian children's current musical practices. In this section, the author discusses teacher training, curriculum, religion, wealth, local culture, and the role of the media. The author concludes with suggestions for the development of both early childhood music education policy and practice in Brazil.

In this study we examined infants' long-term memory for two complex pieces of music. A group of thirty 7.5 month-old infants was exposed daily to one short piano piece (i.e., either the Prelude or the Forlane by Maurice Ravel) for ten consecutive days. Following the 10-day exposure period there was a two-week retention period in which no exposure to the piece occurred. After the retention period, infants were tested on the Headturn Preference Procedure. At test, 8 different excerpts of the familiar piece were mixed with 8 different foil excerpts of the unfamiliar one. Infants showed a significant preference for the familiar piece of music. A control group of fifteen nonexposed infants was also tested and showed no preferences for either piece of music. These results suggest that infants in the exposure group retained the familiar music in their long-term memory. This was demonstrated by their ability to discriminate between the different excerpts of both the familiar and the unfamiliar pieces of music, and by their preference for the familiar piece. Confirming previous findings (Jusczyk and Hohne, 1993; Saffran et al., 2000), in this study we suggest that infants can retain complex pieces of music in their long-term memory for two weeks.

... Considerações Finais. Apesar dos avanços científicos recentes, as investigações acerca dos efeitos da música no desenvolvimento intelectual ainda estão em fase preliminar e há poucosfatos comprovados e muitos mitos (veja Ilari, 2003). ... San Diego: Academic Press. ...

The aim of this study was to investigate maternal beliefs and uses of music with infants. One hundred mothers of infants aged between seven and nine months of age were recruited in Montréal, Canada. Mothers were interviewed on musical background, musical ...

This paper describes the historical roots, symbolism, and uses of musical instruments in capoeira. A martial art form of Afro-Brazilian origin, capoeira is rhythmically performed to music in a roda (i.e., circle). Capoeira is at times defined as a martial art form disguised as dance because it is rooted in the struggles of African slaves. Elements of music, dance, fight, and ritual are part of this unique martial art form, which has two main styles: Angola and Regional. Capoeira styles are important as they determine rhythmic patterns, chant, movement, and musical instrumentation in a roda. The leading instrument in all capoeira styles is the berimbau. The instrument dictates the rhythm and movement of capoeira players in a roda (Ilari, 2001). Made out of a wooden stick, a wire, and a gourd and played with a stick and a coin, the berimbau is considered a sacred instrument due to its association with the cry of the slaves. Other instruments used in capoeira are pandeiros, agogo bells, reco-recos, and atabaques. A discussion regarding the use of these instruments within the context of capoeira will be presented at the conference. The incorporation of these instruments into contemporary Brazilian music will also be considered.