Bomba is an emblematic Puerto Rican musical genre that emerged 400 years ago from the colonial plantations where West African slaves and their descendants worked. It remains one of the most popular forms of folk music on the island and serves as significant evidence of its rich African heritage. This article explores the main components of bomba…

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to examine student outcomes of a curriculum designed to address the overlapping aims and practices of music education and multicultural education ideals in a fifth-grade music class. The following questions guided the research: What are the student outcomes as a result of a traditional music curriculum…

This article presents, for the first time, descriptive research on the status of music education in Puerto Rican public elementary schools. General music education at elementary schools on the island has been part of the school offering for more than 50 years. As yet, music education at this level has not been recognized as an essential discipline…