Bossa Nova and Beyond: Brazilian CCM Styles and the Hybrid Singer

Abstract

ABSTRACT Hybrid voice pedagogy is increasingly well-known, but it typically applies to North American styles, genres, and techniques, such as jazz, pop, and musical theater. In this case study, the author describes their own hybrid voice pedagogy with Latin American styles and genres, using five examples from the most popular Brazilian genres: bossa nova, MPB, samba-canção, sertanejo and baião. This eight-year study was developed in a voice program that focuses on a variety of Latin-American genres and applies a cross-training pedagogy for the hybrid singer, to prepare students to sing popular genres in various professional situations. The concepts of “hybrid singer,” “Latin-American cultural hybridity,” and “Brazilian cultural anthropophagy,” the latter from 1920s literature, and the Tropicália movement of the 1960s, are used here as the theoretical basis both technically and stylistically. The conclusion is that the voice teacher who specializes in hybrid singing must be prepared to teach the singer how to change the vocal tract and make adaptations, so the voice will have adequate style, with stamina and vocal health.