Come on bum bum tam tam: funk as a starting point in music classes
In general, it is observed that there is a musical genre that is used as a kind of "guiding pattern" in the teaching of Music, which is classical music of European tradition. This does not mean that other musical styles are not present in elementary school II classes, but that classical music, its language and its history are used as structures of all Music teaching processes, however, studies such as Saether (2008) show that youth media music is a language shared by the vast majority of school-age young people around the world, regardless of nationality, gender, race or religion, so it is this musicality that should be the central structure of the processes of teaching and learning music.
In Rio de Janeiro, the city where the research is being carried out, it is well known that funk carioca is a rhythm known to all students and that most of them like. Although many criticisms of funk are well founded, it is conceivable that part of these criticisms is due to the fact that this rhythm is the cultural production of black people and favela residents.
However, this project points out that this genre has the potential to 1) teach different musical concepts; 2) enhance students' extracurricular knowledge; 3) broaden their cultural horizons and 4) raise awareness of different types of prejudice and discrimination.
This is possible because funk carioca is an extremely hybrid genre, which dialogues with different cultures. Through funk, you can teach, directly or indirectly, about American funk, rap, hip-hop, FreeStyle, miami bass, blues, jazz, rock, gospel, European baroque music , traditional Egyptian music, frevo, Angolan kuduro, terreiro music, among other musical styles.
The strong content of sexuality, the objectification of women and the promotion of criminality do not characterize funk, but it is agreed that such negative characteristics are present in some lyrics of this genre. This fact should not be ignored, but rather approached critically, leading students to also critically analyze what they consume.
Based on the above, the Viajando na Batida project literally seeks to make students travel around the world and across different cultures, having as a background Rio funk and not European classical music. The classes were planned in accordance with the National Curriculum Parameters, the Common National Curriculum Base, the Child and Adolescent Statute.
