Pedagogy’s Parroting Problem: how tradition suffocates style and imagination.

I argue that the classical guitar canon is built from iconic recordings: musical scores are merely secondary artefacts - addendums to the recordings. This twisted hierarchy has resulted in the shifting of emphasis in performance practice and stylistic awareness away from the composer’s music and onto the performer’s exemplars. But are these performers reliable advocates for the music they play? Or are they guilty of spreading fake news? What happens if their interpretations contradict the composer’s score, style, and artistic intentions? Introduction 0:00 1. Context 1:33 2. Six Case Studies in Fake News 4:35 - Rhythm and Bach 5:27 - If it ain’t got that swing... 14:24 - Schubert and Mertz: Affekt and Rhythm 17:17 - Falla’s ’Homenaje’ (1920) 25:29 - Ponce and Segovia: Inherited Interpretation 35:27 - Walton, Britten, and Bream 38:12 3. The Open Score 47:51 4. Conclusion and Discussion 57:18