One of the gifts of teaching music beyond the Western canon is the opportunity to teach music that does not hold score fidelity as an essential ingredient.
Vocal harmony music – vocal jazz, contemporary a cappella, and related genres – offers a multitude of opportunities to teach beyond the score.
- Rhythmic feel (and alterations learned by rote)
- Improvisation as functional to the score
- Freedom to change the score to meet the needs of the ensemble
The music of the Western canon asks us to interpret music so that our performance is as close to possible to some Platonic ideal. Vocal harmony music asks us to invent the music so that it sounds true to the moment and our own interpretation. One way is not better than the other; we must do both.