Oral Tradition as Context for Learning Music From 4E Cognition Compared With Literacy Cultures. Case Studies of Flamenco Guitar Apprenticeship
Frontiers in Psychology April 29, 2022 Amalia Casas-Mas, Juan Ignacio Pozo, Ignacio Montero 11 citations
Two flamenco guitar apprentices with contrasting learning profiles—reproductive and transformative—were studied to examine how bodily practices and verbal discourse reflect embodied cognition in an oral tradition. The analysis, using the SAPIL system, revealed that flamenco learners show a fusion of verbal, body language, and musical discourse, unlike musically literate cultures. Music is embedded in their family and social life, transcending musical activity itself. The transformative apprentice differed from the reproductive one in active learning processes. Flamenco learning relies on listening and temporary external representations rather than notation, with the body central to holistic rhythm processing through singing, playing, and dancing. The embodied mind is a product of the learning culture, reflected through body and gesture.