An Analysis-Synthesis of the Pedagogical Literature on Intonation in Initial Learning of Violin and Viola: Pitch Contents, Teaching Approaches, and Auxiliary Resources

Abstract

This work presents an analysis of the didactic literature for the initial learning of intonation on violin and viola. Analysis has been conducted through a document-analysis design of 86 methods. The chosen analytic categories were: (a) contents (number of pitches and sequence of pitches presentation); (b) pedagogy (teaching approach and use of pizzicato); and (c) auxiliary learning resources (written accompaniments and audio resources). The results of the analysis allowed us to conclude that there is a great disparity in the number of pitches, which is reduced with the passage of time. Different sequences coexist in practically all the materials, and the traditional teaching approach occurs the most frequently in the documents analyzed. A homogeneous teaching approach is adopted in most of the documents, especially with the violin. Pizzicato is scarcely used as a didactic resource. There is a wide inclusion of written (accompaniments) and recorded (minus-one) auxiliary resources in the most modern documents. Based on these results, a methodological proposal for the initial learning of intonation on these instruments is presented.