Oral Tradition as Context for Learning Music From 4E Cognition Compared With Literacy Cultures. Case Studies of Flamenco Guitar Apprenticeship

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.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The awareness of the last 20 years about embodied cognition is directing multidisciplinary attention to the musical domain and impacting psychological research approaches from the 4E (embodied, embedded, enactive, and extended) cognition. Based on previous research regarding musical teaching and learning conceptions of 30 young guitar apprentices of advanced level in three learning cultures: Western classical, jazz, and flamenco of oral tradition, two participants of flamenco with polarised profiles of learning (reproductive and transformative) were selected as instrumental cases for a prospective ex post facto design. Discourse and practice of the two flamenco guitarists were analysed in-depth to describe bodily issues and verbal discourse on the learning practice in their natural contexts. Qualitative analysis is performed on the posture, gestures, verbal discourse, and musical practice of the participants through the System for the Analysis of Music Teaching and Learning Practices (SAPIL). The results are organised attending: (a) the Embodied mind through differential postures and gestures of flamenco participants that showed a fusion among verbal, body language, and musical discourse with respect to the musical literacy cultures; (b) the Embedded mind and a detailed description of circumstances and relationships of the two flamenco participants, and how music is embedded in their way of life, family and social context, and therefore transcends musical activity itself; (c) the Enactive mind, regarding the active processes that make differences between the reproductive and the transformative flamenco apprentices, then tentative relationship are observed in the discourse of each apprentice and the way in which they practice; finally, (d) the Extended mind through the bodily, technical and symbolic tools they use during learning. Flamenco culture of oral tradition made use of listening, and temporary external representations instead of notational, but also the body played a central role in a holistic rhythm processing through multimodality, such as singing, playing, and dancing. Conclusions point out the embodied mind as a result of the culture of learning reflected through the body and the gesture in instrumental learning.