A comparative study of Musical Language involving Secondary School students: Classical Music vs. “Festera Music”

Abstract

This paper is part of a larger research project that deals with the didactic use of Festera Music in the music classroom at secondary level. The principal aim of this research was to ascertain whether this kind of music may be suitable as proper curricular material at secondary school just as classical music is. We define Festera Music as music that is specifically composed and played at this festival. There are three kinds of pieces, all of them meant to be played in parades: Pasodobles, Festera marches and Christian Marches.

To develop this research two different teaching units were designed. The original idea was to work through audition to diferent kinds of music with the same kinds of parameters to find out if the learning process becomes easier with the Festera Music. To that end quantitative and qualitative methods were combined, the former to describe different variables of interest, and the latter to deepen our analysis and to complete the quantitative information. Our intention was to systematize data so as to be able to take them into account when proposing procedures for their study or when designing curricular materials to be developed in the classroom.