"Hillary Israeli" wrote in message
...
In ,
Leah Adezio wrote:

*I wonder if it is more a generational thing -- after all, those of us who
*are in our 40's now were schoolchildren in the late 60's - early 70s when
*folk music was coming to the forefront of the American musical scene, and
*with it, an interest in early Americana folk songs.

Well, I'm 33 (34 next month!).

*The music books we had in 3rd-5th grade (1968-71) were full of songs like
*'Erie Canal', 'Shenandoah' (probably sp), 'Red River Valley', 'Kumbaya',
'Go
*Down Moses' (I specifically remember singing this as a solo during class
*when I was in 3rd grade), 'Go Tell Aunt Rhody', 'Skye Boat Song', 'Where
*Have All the Flowers Gone', 'This Land is Your Land', 'Kukaburra',
'Waltzing
*Matilda' and the ilk. Yes, I know these aren't all American folk songs,
but

We had Shenandoah, Kumbaya, Go Down Moses, Where Have all the Flowers
Gone, This Land is Your Land, Kookaburra, and Waltzing Mathilda, for sure.
Definitely not those other ones, though

What music is taught depends heavily on the philosophy of the music teacher.
Orff or Kodaly trained teachers will lean heavily towards folk songs, both
US and international. Teachers who are more traditional/choral will do fewer
folk songs, and more choral works, which generally means either new music or
more classical music. Both Orff and Kodaly were predominantly musicologists,
and teachers trained in their tradition have similar focuses. The Macmillan
series is designed for Orff/Kodaly-type instruction, and is heavy on folk
songs, but other common resources such as Music Alive! barely touch on the
American folk song tradition. Music K-8, which is often used because it is
much less expensive than textbooks, includes maybe 1 folk song out of 10
pieces. (I use Music K-8 as a supplement, but use Macmillan as the primary
text for my classes, plus lots of other Orff resources. I don't use Music
Alive! at all.) Almost no music teacher goes cover to cover in the books,
both because there isn't enough time, and because you quickly learn which
songs work and which don't really work well with your children-and there are
always some in each book which fall totally flat with the kids-and which the
teacher isn't thrilled with, either. The grade 6 Macmillan book includes a
lot of '80's bubblegum pop songs, which the kids don't like at all-and
which don't serve any objectives which can't be reached by much more
appealing music.

--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
not-so-newly minted veterinarian-at-large