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The Use of Latin American Bolero as a Tool for the Teaching Bel Canto Techniques to an Undergraduate Mezzo Soprano

As it was established in its origins, the compositional form of the bolero consists of 32 measures divided into two sections of 16 measures. The melodies incorporate sequences of melodic lines that are usually 4 measures long and are easily accessible, helping students to practice musical memory and stimulating their ear-training development. The poetry in Spanish gives the student the opportunity to be trained to sing pure vowels that are essential for the unification of the registers and the development of a healthy singing technique. This dissertation discusses the teaching the Latin American bolero genre to undergraduate mezzo-sopranos, combining it with the bel canto approach, as found in four elements from the method of the famous pedagogue, Manuel Garcia (1805-1906). These four elements are the clean onset or coup de la glotte, the unification of the registers, legato, and expressive devices or bel canto idioms like timbre and tempo rubato. The guidelines used to choose the repertoire are range, tessitura, simple meter and rhythm, tonal melodic lines, and piece duration. The boleros chosen for this study are "Solamente una vez" by Agustín Lara (1897-1970), "La gloria eres tú" by José Antonio Méndez (1927-1989), "Bésame mucho" by Consuelo Velázquez (1916-2005), "Aquellos ojos verdes" by Nilo Menéndez (1902-1987), "La mentira" by Álvaro Carrillo (1921-1969), "Tú me acostumbraste" by Frank Domínguez (1927-2014), "Alma mía," and "Así" by María Grever (1885-1951).

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc2332567
Date05 1900
CreatorsGonzález-Cobos, Fabiana Beatriz
ContributorsMorscheck, Stephen, Snider, Jeffrey, Joyner, William
PublisherUniversity of North Texas
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
FormatText
RightsPublic, González-Cobos, Fabiana Beatriz, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved.

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