Curriculum Corner: Understanding Culture and Community through Folk Music

Peter Peter pumpkin eater,

Had a wife and could not keep her;

Put her in a pumpkin shell

 

 

Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack

All dressed in black, black, black

With silver buttons, buttons, buttons

 

 

The above examples are folk music and rhymes of America (albeit “Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater” is an English rhyme that we have adopted as our own due to our shared history with England). Chances are if you could fill in the blanks, you participated in a music class as a child, and you grew up in the U.S.A.

 

But what is folk music? Folk music is the music of the people: it is neither pop music, nor music composed by master musicians such as Mozart or Beethoven. Every country, region, and group of people have their unique set of folk music that is a result of their shared experience, culture, and music.  This music has been passed along, often without written notation, to the next generation of parents singing to their children and through kids playing games together. With each passing generation, the song develops, becoming more refined until we have the examples above, “Miss Mary Mack," and “Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater.”

 

Why this music? The music and performing arts curricula are rooted in folk music for many reasons. It has survived through aural tradition for centuries, proving its longevity. Folk music reflects the culture of the people who sing it and often tells the history of its people. By analyzing folk songs for their basic musical elements and then carefully sequencing the songs from simple to complex, Mr. Breen and I use these songs to develop music literacy skills. Also, with the decline of our American culture’s focus on community music making, it is essential that music teachers teach this music. Otherwise, our common knowledge will be lost for all generations to come. And finally, we teach folk music because the joy of music is alive in these songs.

Mama Lama kumalama kumala beestay

Oh, no, no, no, no nah beestay

Eenie meenie, gypsa leenie, ooh ah, ah ma leenie

Otchy kotchy Liberace, who are you?

 

When you listen to the 6th grade sing “Mama Lama,” you can see the joy on their faces as they delight in the words and hear their laughter as we sing “oh, no, no” and “eenie meenie.” This is their music.

 

Zoltan Kodály, the creator of the Kodály concept–a concept that both Mr. Breen and I are trained in–explained the importance of folk music to a country. He has said, "If we want to understand other nations, we first must understand ourselves. There is no better means for this than folk music. Getting acquainted with the folk songs of other countries is the best way to get acquainted with other peoples. [...] on this foundation can be built a musical culture which is national but which also opens the soul to the great works of all peoples."

 

The folk music that we learn at CSB reflects our community of families, our increasingly diverse American population, and world music.

 

 

How do we use folk music? By applying our shared training in the Kodály Concept, Mr. Breen and I systematically order all of the music we teach to ensure that our CSB students are learning music literacy skills while having fun. We analyze each folk song and integrate it into our curriculum for a specific purpose, such as teaching a melodic or rhythmic concept; celebrating a holiday; expanding the child’s singing range; teaching a musical concept like dynamics (soft/loud); repeat signs, or Da Capo al Fine; and learning movement/dance.

Currently, students in kindergarten music are learning chants and simple songs with the solfège: so and mi. As students progress through the music program, their understanding of music literacy develops. For example, in fourth grade a student learns the solfège: la, so, mi, re, and do, and harder rhythmic patterns, and by eighth grade a student is playing jazz chord progressions on an instrument and improvising. At all stages of music literacy development, students can use solfège to read music from the staff board, write music on the staff board, and hear and understand music.

 

At CSB, students learn between about 30-60 pieces of music every year. As the student gets older, the number of pieces decreases because the music becomes more complex and often longer.

 

 

How Can I Help? As music teachers, Mr. Breen and I are constantly on the lookout for music to incorporate into our curriculum that will continue to represent and inform our community. Some of our favorite songs we have learned from families in our community, including the extremely popular Lower School song, “Yeb Toop Doram,” researched by Mr. Breen and reinforced by Dr. Mandana Khalili, a second-grade parent. We welcome parents, grandparents, friends, and family to reach out to us with favorite childhood songs!

 

Folk music is the primary music in both Lower School and Upper School classes because it is the music of the people, it is simple, developmentally appropriate, fun, relevant for a child, and teaches not only music, but also history and culture of its people.

 

Please contact Mr. Breen or me, if you would like to discuss the folk music we use to teach or have a song to share!