SYSTEM OF MUSIC EDUCATION BASED ON BULGARIAN MUSICAL FOLKLORE

Abstract

With the continuous and deepening processes of globalization, the theme of preserving the national identity is becoming more and more relevant. Of course, for such a problem to have a viable solution, efforts should be directed at young people and especially at their school education. The effective, already tested system for music education developed by Bulgarian Professor Penka Mincheva, mainly on the basis of Bulgarian musical folklore, is one of the possibilities for solving the problem. Based on this system, our author team, led by Prof. Mincheva, created music textbooks through which adolescents can not only get to know, but also love Bulgarian folk music.

In  1st and 2nd grade we introduce the most frequently used Bulgarian folk instruments, which also form the folk orchestra. We acquaint students in a form accessible to them also with the most typical variations of the most common uneven meters. Such is    , as well     . From the second grade begins the study of folk customs, which are largely related to music. The musical literacy, which takes place in the third grade, is based on Bulgarian folk songs - for each note a song with a corresponding tonal content is chosen - the first song is performed only on the currently studied note "re", the second - on "re" and the new tone - "mi", the next - on "do", "re" and "mi", etc., until the tone "do²" is reached, which is explained to be the repetition of "do" and when we add it, the series already sounds complete. Relevant folk songs are also mastered. To make it easier for students to distinguish pitches, the sisters "Do", "Re", "Mi", "Fa", "Sol", "La" and "Si" are the heroines of a fairy tale. Another story explains the note values and their ratios. In the fourth grade the acquired knowledge is consolidated, the students compose and perform with the school percussion musical instruments accompaniments to the learned folk songs, the knowledge of the folk customs and dances is deepened, new terms are introduced through folk music. In the fifth and sixth grades the musical folklore areas of Bulgaria are studied, and in this connection the students get acquainted with the regional specifics of the melody and the way of singing, the characteristic meters, inherent musical instruments, peculiarities of the folk costumes, famous folk musicians from the region. The costumes and the characteristic dances for the folklore areas in the textbooks are presented by the Folklore Ensemble "Trakia", famous for the mastery of the dancers, the orchestra, beautiful and richly made folk costumes from all folklore areas, created according to strictly observed patterns of original clothing. In seventh grade continues the study of folk customs and traditions in even more detail. The students get acquainted with the peculiarities of the extremely impactful folk songs without meter, with beautiful ornamentation and rich melody. During this last year of our course, it becomes possible for students to learn and perform such a difficult folk song. The term "alteration" is introduced through a folk song in which the only changed tone between the verse and the refrain creates a completely different mood. In the course, in connection with the topics of folk musical instruments and customs, I select performances of the best students from the folklore specialties of the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv, to whom I assign performances of music related to the subject. Throughout all the course, works by Bulgarian composers appropriate for the age of the students are also studied. In electronic textbooks (online textbooks, including printed textbooks, music intended for listening, many additional tasks and new information) the learning material  is supplemented by photo galleries, various creative tasks, tasks for mastering the taught, for consolidating and checking the knowledge, schemes, tables, videos, which make the training even more effective and attractive. As the author of the electronic textbooks for the educational sets, I am proud to share that the electronic materials of the Prosveta publishing house have been awarded the special prize for the best electronic aids of BELMA (Best European Learning Materials Awards), which is a serious recognition and proof of the effectiveness of the system of music education of Prof. Mincheva and our textbooks.