Folk Around and Find Out: Cultural and Historical Sourcing for Music Cited as “Traditional” in a General Music Curriculum Series

Folk songs are abundant in music education materials, including general music curriculum series (GMCS), but are often missing cultural, historical, and general sourcing information, contributing to folklorization. In the present study, the researchers sourced music labeled “traditional” in one GMCS by employing a historical-descriptive research study with a critical folklore lens. Twenty songs from the series were selected and investigated to determine a process for sourcing folk songs. While discovering sources, the research team used four categories: songs with clear origins in a primary source, songs with a most common variant, songs without a common variant, and songs of questionable nature. The process of discovering and investigating sources revealed that sourcing (1) provides information that elicits networked awareness of the histories, cultures, and contexts surrounding folk songs and (2) supports musical content, cultural context, and teaching pedagogy that can improve and vary instruction.