Popular Folk Games and Dances

Folk Music in Music Education: Philosophical Foundations

This book is a fascinating look at early attempts to incorporate folk repertoire in early education. Though this source is not a direct link to primary-source recordings, the author describes research with cultural informants from a variety of backgrounds.In the forward, Hofer expresses many ideas still championed by the modern Kodaly educator. How do these quotes from the foreword resonate with your personal philosophy of music education?

"...the assimilation of vast numbers of foreign people into our own body politic, calls for more than a casual recognition of the elements which have helped fashion their national life... Their color and quality record the feeling and traits of a people."

"Too much modernizing and Americanizing should be avoided... Local color should be preserved and strengthened by story and illustration of all kinds."

The collection features ring dances, songs with improvised motions, several historic variants of London Bridge, and other intriguing pieces, sourced from Swedish, German, Flemish, French, Lithuanian, English, and American cultures.