Music Theory Pedagogy: What Paul Taught Nadia

Abstract

The teaching of harmony in the United States, if judged objectively, has been a massive failure, even though a dedicated corps of fine musician-scholars labors to impart the curriculum to eager if not always adequately prepared students. These students are taught "about" harmony, as if the topic were really about tonality or the imaginary desires of chords. The only students who can perform and create harmony at a professional level are those who learned such skills outside the academy. The situation was not always so bleak. Nadia Boulanger, for example, learned the art of harmony from her teacher at the Paris Conservatory, Paul Vidal. Even though she was not taught roman numerals or chord functions, she learned harmony as a performative art, as something to express what was implicit in a given melody or bass. The article describes what Paul taught Nadia, and how the incredibly high standards for crafting harmonic-contrapuntal musical fabrics at the Paris Conservatory could be mastered by students willing to memorize the intricacies of a centuries-old art.