User:Janamikaelaa/Philippine folk music

Folk Music in Philippine Education
The curriculum of the Department of Education in the Philippines discusses the value of music and art in learning as a "means to celebrate Filipino cultural identity and diversity.” Philippine Art and Music Education is embedded in the curriculum. Students in their 7th grade have folk music integrated into their education. A teacher’s guide released by the Department of Education Schools Division of Bataan details the lesson plan for Music in Grade 7. The guide lists objectives that include analyzing musical elements in Philippine folk music and identifying the relationship among the music, people and culture of a given region.

In May 2020, over 30 teachers, in the central part of Luzon, worked on a book entitled Revisiting the Folk Songs of Region III: a Kaleidoscope of Rich Cultural Heritage with the intention of “reviewing and reviving” 124 folk songs. According to the Department of Education director Nicolas Capulong, this book “helps students develop their sense of cultural identity.” Capulong mentions that the book makes classroom folk song tutorials easier because it includes chords, vocal guides, short videos, and an instrumental backing. Before this book, teachers relied on a collection of folk songs from 1983 that Department of Education Symphonic Band conductor Rafael Rubio says has limitations.

Modernization of Philippine Folk Music
Several Filipino artists have modernized Filipino folk songs. In October 2020, a Philippine beer brand Red Horse launched an ad campaign that focused on paying tribute to Philippine folk songs. The campaign was tagged as an “aim to show how rock can be used to bridge old music to the appreciation of today’s generation.” The campaign featured rock band Mayonnaise and heavy metal band Slapshock. They gave their own take on classical, folk songs entitled Alak and Ugoy sa Duyan. In July 2021, the band Debonair District released an EP Diyalogo that merges the genre of jazz and folk. Toma Cayabyab, their lead vocalist, said that they arranged the songs with the hopes of “making the younger generation appreciate and love Filipino music.”