Teleology of the Disciplines of Counterpoint and Harmony

Abstract

Despite the near absence, among students, of prior knowledge on which to anchor and subsume the precepts of polyphony, it is recognized that it has the potential to add and awaken values ??related to musical composition, perception and the understanding of structures. Indeed, this seems to be the maximum degree of span and epistemic stature that can be expected from the discipline of counterpoint in undergraduate courses. For the integration of the disciplines harmony and counterpoint, the epistemological and didactic nature issues clarify what the criteria are for the scientific support of a certain discipline and the way in which fundamental knowledge is privileged and organized in learning methods presented in the form of manuals. If the ultimate aim is to reintegrate these disciplines into the curriculum and reconnect their content with the experience of our new learners, it will be beneficial if this is mediated by the scrutiny of cognitive theories in response to questions involving the processes of assimilation and retention of knowledge. This article draws on the cognitive theories of Gérard Vergnaud (Theory of Conceptual Fields), Bob Gowin (Epistemological Vee) and David Ausubel (Theory of Meaningful Learning).